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VETTING IN

People often ask why there is Vetting in for cats before allowing cats to enter shows.

There are many reason but generally it is to prevent spread of disease and also to ensure the cats/kittens brought to show are in good enough health and condition to be shown. Vets at vetting in may check for:

EAR MITES - these are easily spread from one cat to another, and if not treated can cause complications resulting in more severe infections of the ear. Lets face it, they must be very uncomfortable for the cat/kitten involved, and we don't want them to spread to our cats/kittens if we can prevent it.

FLEAS - Fleas easily spread from one cat to another and must be really uncomfortable for the animal. Fleas can spread without any contact with the other cat/kittens.

Fleas can also spread problems such as MYCOPLASMA which are small bacteria that can cause respiratory problems (sneezing, coughing etc) and genital, urinary problems. It is anaerobic (survives without oxygen) and is contagious.

Viruses - signs of these are checked for at vetting in as they are airborne and can easily infect many cats in a show, especially when the cats/kittens rub their faces on the wire mesh of the pens.

Internal parasites - it is often difficult to check for internal parasites as they cycle and therefore don't always have the trots, although it is possible to see the results of diarrhoea on the anus or feeling the abdomen. Isospra, Guardia, Worms, Tritric, Entomeba Histolytica, etc are easily spread when cats go into judging pens after a cat that has any of these problems - they don't have to defecate to spread as they spread problems by passing wind or rubbing their anus on the pen floor.

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