Part of being a responsible cat owner is knowing how to recognize when something isn’t right. While the thought of your beloved companion getting sick is a frightening one, no cat is immune to illness. Even if you are a perfect pet parent and do everything right when caring for your cat, they could suffer from a wide range of health problems.

With Christmas behind us and the New Year on the horizon, you’ve likely been thinking about your goals for 2022. While you’re dialing in those New Year’s resolutions, why not consider setting some goals for your feline friend, too? The dawning of a new year is an excellent time to establish habits that will benefit your cat for the rest of their life.

Thanksgiving is a time to gather with family and friends to share a special meal, and it’s natural to want to include your furry family members in the festivities. Unfortunately, this holiday can be hazardous for pets. Many of the foods we associate with the holiday contain ingredients that are unsafe for dogs and cats. And of course, you must take special care if you plan on traveling over the river and through the woods with your canine companion or feline friend to enjoy your holiday meal.

There’s nothing quite as exciting as bringing home a new bundle of joy — especially when it’s a furry one! Adding a kitten to your family is a fun and rewarding experience, but it’s important to remember that a new home filled with brand-new sights, sounds, and smells can be frightening for a tiny kitten. After all, your new baby likely just left behind their mother, a litter of playful siblings, and the only home they have ever known.

Fortunately, there are things you can do to make the transition a bit easier.

When any holiday rolls around, we want our pets to be involved in the fun festivities since they’re a beloved member of the family. However, a few holidays require keeping an extra eye on our fur friends, and Halloween is one such holiday. When pets’ stress levels are elevated and outdoor dangers pose a threat to their safety, it’s best to be on high alert. Below are some tips to help keep your pets safe and stress-free on this spectacularly spooky night.

October may be mostly about ghosts and goblins, but it also marks another significant and distinctly less eerie event, National Pet Wellness Month. Keeping up with your dog or cat’s wellness care needs is an essential step in maintaining their health and helping them enjoy several happy years by your side.

Vaccinating your cat is the best way to protect them from a wide range of contagious — and potentially deadly — diseases. From Rabies to Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, your feline friend could fall victim to many illnesses if you fail to keep them up to date on essential vaccines. Even if you keep your cat strictly indoors, it’s vital to keep their vaccinations updated. It only takes seconds for a cat to slip out a door or window, and if mice or other pests find their way into your home, you never know what types of diseases they could be carrying.

Just about anyone can be a cat owner. But it takes a special person and some serious effort to be a great cat owner. Sharing your home with a feline friend is about more than feeding them daily and keeping their litter box clean. It’s about creating an environment that meets their needs, keeping them safe, and ensuring they get to spend lots of healthy, happy years by your side. As veterinarians, clients often ask us how they can be better cat owners and what they can do to give their pets the best life possible, especially if they’ve never had cats in their lives before.