SEAL POINT SIAMESE CAT CLUB

From the diary of a vet

An occasional column by SPSCC Vice-Chairman  

. . . a vet with her own busy practice, and a very familiar

 face at the vetting-in table of many shows! 

Jane has previously tried to breed Siamese, under the

 prefix Bryher, and continues to breed beautiful

flat-coated retrievers under the Rehyrb kennel name,

 now onto the 6th generation!

Vaccination Certificates at the SCC Show

Vetting in at the SCC went very smoothly, today. I had the pleasure of seeing all of the

Siamese while our RVN, Amy, had the challenge of the Rexes. The Bengal went home

after refusing to be examined, but everyone else was on their best behaviour = always

reassuring!

Vaccination certificates were, once again, variable in content. The certificate must

be identifiable with the cat, and the owner – plus be up to date! If you are going to a

show please check the vaccination certificate before you arrive, especially if the cat is a

new member of the family.

Put in the cats' registered name i.e ‘Bigfluffy I’m A Star’ rather than ’Rosie’. Make sure

the date of birth, breed & colour is correct and that it is your name and address in the

box! Breeders can put their names on the certificate in a way to leave space for the new

owner.

Vets should only sign certificates that are identifiable with the cat – and those vets that

don’t are actually breaking the Rules of Certification. They should also not give breeders

semi-completed certificates for them to add in details later – even if the colour may

‘change’!

At some point you may find yourself with a ‘failure to provide a vaccination certificate’

form. if we cannot relate the information to the cat. I had one today with no colour, an

incorrect date of birth (by two days) and only the pet name – oops!!

Once in the hall, there were only a few cats to check – and mostly in the Rex’ side of the

 hall. Bites were untidy – or downright abnormal!!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their day!

Insurance – or being able to afford the accidents!

The recession has had the inevitabl knock-on effect on the care that owners can afford

for their pets. The cat with the badly fractured leg was very nearly euthanized, as the

owner could not afford the surgery to repair it - even though the break was repairable.

I am so glad the owner settled for the cat to lose only its leg and not its life, and the cat 

is now out and about on three legs, as fast as ever – let’s hope she avoids cars in the

future.

Some clients are hoping to save money by ‘forgetting’ the cat’s booster vaccinations – a

false economy when it comes to cat ‘flu.

Even if the cat’s protection against panleucopoenia will probably last a few years, the cat

will be susceptible to ‘flu viruses and I anticipate an increase in ‘flu cases in adult cats,

next year.

If you have insured your cat, read the small print carefully.

Several clients have exceeded the insured limit recently, and in one case the owner has

had to take their pet off its lifesaving medication, as she cannot now afford the ‘gold

standard’ care.

One decision is whether to opt for an annual policy or for a ‘continuous care’ one – if

your cat develops a condition that is long-term, then the second type will continue to pay

out, while the first will put an exclusion on the policy, when it comes up for renewal.

The Club are grateful to Jane for taking time out from her very busy workload to offer these interesting insights. We look forward to the next diary entry!!