On A Standard Annual Physical Examination, Your Vet Should Check:

• Teeth for tartar/gum swelling
• Ears for ear mites and other fungus problems
• Body for ringworm (with black light)
• Standard bloodwork
• Fecal exam for worms
• Booster shots for rabies, FeLV, panleukopenia, rhino&co, etc.
• Eyes for normal pupil response and normal retinal appearance
• Weight, heart rate, temperature

Fecal Samples

Any time you bring your cat to the vet, try to bring a fresh fecal sample. Put a small, fingernail-sized sample into a plastic bag, or ask your vet for a supply of fecal samplers. The vet cannot always get a fecal sample from the cat, and this saves you extra trips to return the sample and then bring the cat in if the tests are positive.

If you are afraid your cat will not cooperate and give you a fresh sample before you need to go in, within 12-18 hours before your appointment, a sample can be placed in the refrigerator. Samples over 18 hours hold, however, will probably not be of use.

Cat Reactions

Cats largely dislike being taken to the vet. They hate riding in the car most of all, and the smell of fear and other animals in the office often distresses them further. Get a pet carrier. A plain cardboard one will do for infrequent trips; get a stronger fiberglass one for more travel or destructive cats. Carriers keep your cat under control at the vet's and prevent accidents in the car en route. Popular suggestions to reduce your cat's anxiety during vet visits:

• Make sure to drive your cat around (WITHOUT going to the vet) to get it used to the car.
• Use the relaxant acepromazine.
• Find a "cats only" vet.
• Find a vet who will make housecalls.
• Find a vet who manages the lobby efficiently to reduce waiting time.
• Keep your cat away from dogs in the waiting room.
• Keep your cat in a pillowcase rather than a carrier or box.

Further Steps

From kitten-hood, accustom your cat to being handled. Look into its ears (clean, white and light pink), eyes (clear, no runniness, inner eyelids may blink but should remain open), nose (clean and pink (or its normal color) and mouth (clean, light pink gums) regularly.

Hold it still and look at its anus; pick up its paws and look at the pads and claws. This will have the added benefit that you will notice any changes from normal quickly and be able to call up your vet if something is wrong. Do arrange for the kitten to meet plenty of people; this will socialize your cat and it will not hide from people when adult.

Vet Bills

You should be prepared to handle routine costs from year to year incurred by yearly physical exams, occasional fecal samples (and worming medication), plus yearly vaccinations.

However, accidents and major illnesses can happen. Sometimes, pet health care insurance is one way people use to control these costs. Other times you might try vet schools which may give you reduced rates for their students to have the opportunity to work with your cat, especially if the problem is rare or uncommon. You might be able to negotiate a monthly payment toward a large bill, or a slightly reduced one in exchange for a bit of labor or other work (for example, one accountant prepared his vet's taxes in exchange for reducing the cost of surgery that his dog had had).

The humane society may know of lower-cost clinics or vets who are prepared to cut prices for people who are not particularly well off. It can't hurt to call around and ask. But as other posters have mentioned, being a vet is a business, too, and vets tend not to have high incomes. They also have many of the same expenses as an MD (equipment, office staff) and the additional expenses of running their own pharmacy (and animal medicine is just as expensive as people medicine).

"Basic Cat Care," www.thecatconnection.com/care/basic.htm , Cindy Tittle Moore.