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A Wellness Check You Can Perform at Home (unless you're my peeps)

A Wellness Check You Can Perform at Home (unless you're my peeps)

The Animals & Society Institute, an organization that studies and promotes human-animal relationships, has declared this week as their first ever Human-Animal Relationship Awareness Week and so it's a perfect time to peek into the pamphlet Happy Cat Happy You. These quick tips for building a bond with your feline friend are suggested by the authors at the Catnip Newsletter and compiled for Tufts Institute. This is a series that I'm running which is not sponsored by anyone. I'm just offering my stunning opinions.

TW says this one is a good one but I'm not so sure. I don't see how feeling your cat up in personal spots could bring me closer to the peeps. It can bring my chompers a lot closer to their yummy fingers though.

I'm referring to Tip Seven which advises Head-to-Tail Checkups. It goes on to say you should use a  weekly hands-on petting session to scrutinize your cat's entire body, "looking for lumps, bumps, sore spots, or changes in fur and skin" and not to "forget to check the eyes, ears, and mouth. Your observations may help to catch a medical problem in its early stages."

The last time TW tried feeling me up, this is what happened to her wrinkly hand. TW is modest so the bandaid is covering the carnage. 

A Wellness Check You Can Perform at Home (unless you're my peeps)
Sorry for the lousy quality.

This is what happened the last time Pop tried to "touch me funny."

A Wellness Check You Can Perform at Home (unless you're my peeps)

I do good work, don't I?

All joking aside, TW says this is very important. After the peeps moved to the condo, TW noticed Autumn was kind of lumpy. She thought she may have been feeling bones since Autumn was on a strict diet. After all, she was going for her wellness checkups and the vet was also feeling her for anything unusual. At the time the peeps had no idea that the vet they were going to—the one they adopted both Autumn and myself from—didn't know what they were doing.

A Wellness Check You Can Perform at Home (unless you're my peeps)
Autumn

The lumps didn't seem to be growing and TW didn't have the resources, support and knowledge that all her blogging friends provide her with now. She let it go until Autumn stopped eating at which time a vet visit was in order. The vet misdiagnosed her which proved to be deadly. Her "gum infection" didn't clear up with a couple of courses of antibiotics. Once she started hiding behind the rocker, TW knew something was wrong. She was taken to a different vet practice. An ultrasound revealed she had cancer which had spread all through her body. Sadly, Autumn didn't come home with the peeps.

A Wellness Check You Can Perform at Home (unless you're my peeps)
Not all petting is bad.

Even though I won't allow any hands-on examinations, TW does check to make sure my eyes and ears look clear and that nothing seems to be going on in my mouth. Pop knows that if he sees me having any discomfort while I'm getting fURminated, he needs to act.

In conclusion: if you feel something; say something. Don't rely on a vet to find it.

Would you like to comment?

  1. I love hands-on examinations! As long as nobody take my temperature. That makes me unhappy.

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  2. CK...this was the first quality perfect bloggie. Don't always rely on the vet. Do your own exam and get used to how your cat feels when he or she is NOT sick. Then you notice when something is wrong. Not quite the same thing but mom had been saying for MONTHS to any fur who would listen that I was "not myself". Nothing terribly specific, just off kilter plus all that horking. FINALLY when I got very nice a few months ago another vet in the practice prescribed Fprtiflora. I have never looked back. You did a service here CK. smoochies.

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  3. Fortiflora. Mom forgot to bring her glasses in...sorries.

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  4. I'm so sorry about sweet Autumn, CK. At-home check up is very important and we cat parents know when something is different even when vet doesn't notice anything. Thank you for the important post!

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  5. Excellent advice, CK. We're sorry about Autumn and send hisses to those crumby vets.

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  6. Most of us don't mind that kind of exam CK, but Sister Sascha is like you CK, it's a don't go there!

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  7. We are sorry about Autumn. None of us are big fans of all-over exams, but the head peep tries to check us out sneaky-like as often as she can.

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  8. Ck...yur sisturr autumn bee a gorgeouz gal.....we iz sorree bout that nastee C ~~~~~~~ ♥♥♥ thiz bee sum good add vize but yea; we tell de food serviss gurl all de timez....whoa ladee watch it ther will ya.....♥♥♥

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  9. That's so sad about Autumn. This really is a great tip. I'm sure my cats in the past have felt I'm groping them but it's for their own good!

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  10. That is very sad about Autumn. I think it is a good idea to check our kitties over often. One time, I found a mast cell tumor between Lucy's toes when trimming them so now I always look for those on all my cats.

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  11. You're so right, CK. Though sometimes the mom finds stuff and drags us to the vet only to find out it's really nothing.

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  12. Very sage advice, darling....though I am so distracted by your beauty I could barely pay attention. XOXOXO

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  13. Excellent idea to check us out...maybe not too often but at least once a month. Mom better not poke my private parts or she'll be sorry.

    Shoko

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  14. Good advice, you're right, CK. We're sorry for Autumn. Purrs

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  15. I love my mom's all over body rubs and she keeps tabs on how everything looks & feels. I'm not too keen on her looking under my tail, but she's pretty sly about it and sneaks a peek every now and then. When mom lays me on her lap with my belly up for a thorough petting & look-see, she often thinks about kitties like you who really don't enjoy being petted. She wishes you enjoyed it, but knows not all kitties are the same and you're happy being you (and getting in some good swipes and bites).

    We're sorry Autumn's cancer wasn't diagnosed earlier. It's very sad when you don't have a chance to try to make things better.

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  16. ABSOLUTELY RIGHT, CK! A few hours after I published the first post on our blog ... I felt a lump on Bear's back. We were very lucky and it wasn't any of the nasty things I envisioned ... but I was glad that I didn't try to explain it away. Afterward though, I was a hawk and manhandled Bear on a regular basis - I was terrified and my complacence was shot. It was a tough 6 months afterward for both of us ... he was about as appreciative as you are to be "felt up."

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  17. Very good advice, CK. Sophie loves full body checkups...Dexter and Olive, not so much.

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  18. You got it in one. We ned to take Harvey to the vet. He has mark on his hind leg that has not gone away. Here's hoping it's nothig serious but we are off to the vet like you say.

    Marjorie and the Dash Kitten Crew

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