Using the vet - how does it work?

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New rescue cat owner here, and very much figuring out things as we go. I've not had a pet before so I'm not sure how it works with a vet. Can you just walk in and get your cat treated? Can you make an appointment with any vet surgery you want? Do you need a contract with them?

Also, will the vet take care of claw clipping? How often should we get this done? And should we treat our cat for fleas and worms each month?

Grateful for any advice. Thank you.

Welcome to being a cat slave!

You register with a local vet and get on their system, they will do claw clipping but likely to be costly.

You do need to treat for flea and worms every month, the only stuff that works is from the vet and they won’t give your prescription unless you have a yearly check up and vaccinations done. We tried OTC and mail order flea treatments and had to treat a flea infestation in our house.

We now actually use a 3 monthly treatment as our rescue is so nervy. We also need to have a vet come round for the check up and vaccinations as we can’t get her into a box to go the vet.

I would look for a pet health club practice near you. I use it for my dogs and it is gear. It saves a lot of money on all of the vaccinations etc.
you can search on the website for your local practice
https://www.thepethealthclub.co.uk/find-a-vet?useGeolocation=true/&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADqD6WBSJL2mnhfkmGALh8Yk8n9QO&gclid=CjwKCAjw74e1BhBnEiwAbqOAjNFyNjld_12paHPXBFL1vIhPHFjAUC8l-JuXiSqaBt69upw_GHogPBoCEgAQAvD_BwE

If you need long term meds for anything it's cheaper to pay for a prescription from the vet and order online. I used pet drugs online.

Cat food I use zooplus. Reasonably priced and lots of choice.

Try to find a practice that is a cat friendly one, much less stressful.

Our vet nurses do claw trimming, £20ish, but if a cat goes out a lot they shouldn't need claws trimming. You can learn to do it yourself, it's easy enough.

Ours are with a vet health scheme, it does save a bit over the year.

Advantage flea drops and Drontal wormer online work out cheaper though if you don't want to join a health plan. I use the 3 month treatment for ours which you can only get from vet/on prescription.

Definitely get long term meds on prescription, way cheaper! Our vets charge £21 for a prescription but the drugs ours have mean it's still a huge saving.

Flea treatments monthly, worming normally every 3 months unless your cat hunts a lot in which case worming may need to be more frequent.

You shouldn't need to have your cat's claws clipped. I've only ever had to do this on one of my cats, when he got to 19 years old and no longer managed his own claws.
Agree with the above - register at a local vet, any long term drugs get on prescription, get annual jabs done on time.
We are in a minority here but we treat fleas and worms as a cure rather than a preventative. All our cats go outside and catch rodents but oddly we've had no fleas at all since 2020. With four cats currently we have saved a hell of a lot of money by not buying monthly flea treatments in that period.
We don't bother with pet club schemes either.

The most important thing you need is a good camera phone with a lot of memory. Oh - and to post in this area it's a convention to share a picture of your new cat please (cat tax) 😺

Another believer in treatment rather than preventative flea measures. Monthly flea treatments are why fleas are becoming resistant to flea treatments.

Long lasting 3 month treatments and making sure to use a good flea spray in the house at the same time as initial treatment should keep fleas away. Make sure to regularly use a flea comb for any they bring in and you will save money too.

You can trim claws easily yourself. Much less stressful than taking them to the vet, and often not required frequently at all. Cats Protection website has helpful videos and lots of advice for new cat slaves.

Make sure you have lots of scratching posts and pads, they like cardboard. Lots.

Plenty of places to hide, high up places to hide too and to view their kingdom. Doesn't need to be expensive, cardboard box on top of a wardrobe, window sill mats on a few floating shelves or on top of a kitchen cupboard (if you like being supervised).

Litter trays in quiet places, one tray per cat plus one is the golden rule.

Providing a rescue cat with an environment they feel safe and stress free will help you not need to see a vet for stress related issues.

Good luck and wish you many happy years with your new boss 😹

Just to add I've owned cats my whole life and never had to trim their claws!

Also our vet was quite happy to let us pay for a prescription and buy the flea and worming treatments online. The price direct from the vet was extortionate!

Try and get some local recommendations for a decent vet from your local Facebook group or similar?

Can’t believe nobody has mentioned pet insurance yet. It will help with any costly vet’s bills, I highly recommend Petplan who pay very quickly and cover problems in more than one policy year so long as you get the covered for life policy.

Some people will say they save instead but that’s really not an equivalent to the amount they cover. This is separate / additional to health club membership. It will save you money in the long run.

As others have said, choose a vet and go and register your cat so she is on their system. When I get a cat/kitten I always take them to the vet within the first couple of weeks for a health check. Take her vaccination card in with you so they can log that on the system. They will also note her microchip details.

If your cat goes outside she won't need her claws clipped but if she stays indoors she probably will. You could ask the nurse to show you how to do it the first time, then do it yourself in future, it isn't difficult.

I treat for fleas once a month and worms once every 3 or 4 months.

Pet insurance is a good idea. My cats are with PetPlan or Agria, I've found both equally good.

Get insurance
Phone a vet and register
Never clipped a cats claws in over 40 years of cat ownership

When you register with a vet they'll want to see the cat for a check up. Get insurance a few weeks BEFORE that first vet visit otherwise you will potentially end up with policy exclusions forever (this was a big learning on our part)

We have to clip our cats claws because his grow super fast at the back, we bought some clippers and do it ourselves (he hates it so DH picks him up and 'dangles' him while I clip, it takes less than a minute)

Check the hours your vets operate. Ours has late night/weekend sessions which are important (as we both work full time and ours always seem to get ill on a Friday night!). The vet my friend uses only open 9-6 mon-Fri and anything outside of that is considered emergency hours and that is EXPENSIVE

You'll need to ring the vet to register your cat - they'll want to see them for an appointment to make sure the cat is healthy, micro-chipped etc.

I've never treated any of mine for fleas and they're all indoor/outdoor. I don't treat the dog either. If any ever showed symptoms I'd treat, but that's never happened in well over a decade of pet ownership.

I do worm them though - we use Panacur and give it monthly. The cats have it syringed in, the dog has it mixed with his food. I just buy it off Amazon and it costs about £15 a bottle which lasts 2-3 months for four animals.

I've never clipped their claws either, they keep them short naturally by going out and using their scratchers.

Unless you have a solid savings account, get insurance!