For cat lovers, maintaining their health is very important and sometimes we don’t know what to look for to make sure they are healthy. Here are the signs to watch for when our cat is healthy:
General visual inspection
Body condition and muscle composition should be observed. Cats are strict carnivorous animals, they must look thin. With optimal muscle mass in the head, ribs, chest, spine and with no skin hanging on the sides of the abdomen. The Veterinarian can teach us how to evaluate that the condition of our cat is correct.
Skin and hair
The skin should be seen free of scabs, dandruff or scales. If the cat has light skin (pink), it should never appear reddish or dark brown or black (unless it has a mole). Hair should look shiny, feel soft and silky. And it should not present excess hair loss.
Teeth
These should look clean and without excess dental tartar. If a greater accumulation of tartar is observed, you should brush your teeth or visit the Veterinarian for a thorough cleaning.
Water intake
It should be observed if he takes enough amount of water. If it is a cat that goes outside, sometimes it is difficult to see if it takes enough water or if it hunts small prey, but we can see if it urinates without problems, which is a reflection of whether they drink enough water. If it is a cat that lives inside the house, we must make sure that it takes a good amount of water from its plate or support ourselves with wet food. A ceramic or metal plate or fountain-type drinkers favor them to drink water. Cats like very much when the water is in motion.
Ability to urinate
It should be noted that he urinates without difficulty or pain. The fact that the cat consumes a good amount of water helps us to urinate properly without discomfort. Since if we observe that he cannot urinate or that he does it with pain, we must turn to the Veterinarian for prompt attention, since our cat could be presenting a problem in his urinary tract.
Feces
The excrement of cats in a normal way has a strong smell (since they are carnivores), it must be well formed (neither liquid, nor dry like stone). If we observe any change in the excrement we must go to the advice of the Veterinarian to rule out any intestinal process.
Grooming
Observe that he is grooming normally. The cat bathes by licking its body, this is called grooming. It is reported that they can do it 2 to 3 times a day on average or when they get dirty from something specific. If we observe that our cat is groomed all day, we must go to the Veterinarian and rule out situations such as allergies, skin infections or fiber deficiency in the diet.
Alertness and normal daily activity.
We know our cats perfectly, we know that each of them has a daily routine of activities that is defined from when they are growing until they reach adulthood. Therefore, if we observe a different attitude than the one we see routinely every day, it is necessary to turn to the Veterinarian to identify what is causing these behavior changes in our cats.
