Vaccination Schedule
Typically, we recommend beginning your kitten's vaccination program between 6 and 8 weeks of age, with boosters every 3 to 4 weeks apart until he or she is 16 weeks of age.

In most cases, we vaccinate for the following diseases:

• Panleukopenia Virus
• Herpes Virus
• Calicivirus
• Rabies
• Feline Leukemia (outdoor cats)
• In addition, we recommend testing all kittens for Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. (more on that later).

You will find detailed descriptions of these diseases in your Kitten Care Kit which you will receive at your first visit (if you don't receive your Kitten Care Kit, please ask for one).

Deworming
Kittens can pick up intestinal parasites from their environment. But what many new pet owners don't realize is that kittens can also get roundworms and hookworms from their mother before birth. For this reason - and because humans can potentially develop serious problems if exposed to immature forms of roundworm or hookworms - we routinely recommend deworming all kittens several times between the ages of 6 and 12 weeks.

FeLV / FIV Testing
Both Feline Leukemia Virus and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus are similar to HIV, the Human Immunodeficiency Virus which causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in people. Neither FeLV nor FIV can infect humans and HIV cannot infect cats. Like HIV, both viruses can be transmitted from mother cats to kittens. While neither disease is curable, both are manageable with early detection. Therefore, we recommend all kittens be tested for both viruses within the first few months of life.

All kittens who may spend even a small amount of time outdoors should be vaccinated for Feline Leukemia. The initial series requires two injections, 3-4 weeks apart followed by yearly boosters for life. Unfortunately, there is no vaccination currently available for Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, although there is currently a great deal of research into transmission, prevention, treatment and development of a vaccine for the virus.

External Parasites
The most common external parasites we encounter are fleas, with ticks being common in late winter/spring/ early summer. We have a variety of flea control products available which are effective and safe depending on your kitten's age. Advantage and Frontline are also two excellent products used to kill fleas on kittens and adult cats. Flea control is a very complicated process so please feel free to ask any questions you have about the variety of flea control options available.

Spaying / Neutering
It is very important to bring your kitten in for one of these common and safe surgical procedures to help lengthen and improve the overall quality of your pet's life.

For females, spaying eliminates or greatly minimizes problems with:

• unwanted pregnancy, which helps prevent pet overpopulation;
• attraction of male cats during "heat" cycles;
• potentially life-threatening uterine infections; and
• breast cancer, which is almost always malignant in cats.

For males, neutering eliminates or greatly minimizes problems with:

• aggression and dominance;
• roaming, which helps prevent pet overpopulation;
• territorial marking with urine;
• "stud tail", a messy and smelly condition of intact tom cats.

We hope we've covered all the major topics here but we know new kitten owners - just like new parents - still face new questions almost every day for awhile. Please feel free to contact us at any time.