It starts with conversation, not the stethoscope
A routine appointment opens with your report, because you see the cat daily and the vet sees her for minutes. Expect questions about appetite and any change in how much she drinks, what comes out in the litter tray and how often, activity and play, grooming, behaviour changes, and whether she goes outdoors and meets other cats. Specifics beat generalities here: saying she has been leaving the last mouthfuls for a month, or that she now drinks from the tap daily when she never used to, gives the vet threads to pull. Mention anything you have noticed even if it seems trivial — a new lump, occasional lip-smacking, jumping up less confidently — because the examination that follows is partly guided by what you say in these first minutes.
Weight, condition and the vital basics
Your cat is weighed, and the vet assesses body condition by eye and by hand, feeling how much covering sits over the ribs and waist. That number is compared against previous visits, so a slow drift in either direction is spotted even when the cat in front of everyone looks unchanged. Depending on the practice and the cat, temperature, pulse and breathing rate may be taken, and the vet looks at gum colour and how quickly the gum blanches and refills when pressed, a quick window on circulation.
Head, teeth, heart and lungs
Working forwards, the vet examines eyes for clarity and discharge, ears for mites, wax and soreness, and then the mouth — and the mouth gets real attention, because dental disease is one of the commonest findings in adult cats. Teeth are checked for tartar, broken tips and sore or receding gums, and the vet may show you a tooth that needs treatment or demonstrate where plaque is building. A murmur found at a routine visit in a cat who seems well is a good example of why these appointments exist; it may simply be monitored, but now it is known, recorded and part of future decisions rather than a surprise during an illness.
Abdomen, joints, coat and the rest of the survey
The vet's hands move over the abdomen, feeling the bladder, gut, kidneys and any unexpected fullness or discomfort, then over the body for lumps in the skin and coat, checking fur condition, fleas or flea dirt, sore patches and overgroomed areas. Legs and joints are flexed gently and the cat may be watched walking a few steps, particularly an older cat, since stiffness hides well in a cat who is carried everywhere.
Prevention and lifestyle, reviewed against your actual cat
The closing part of the appointment looks forwards. Vaccination status is checked against what is due, and parasite prevention is reviewed honestly against lifestyle — a rooftop-terrace indoor cat and a farmland hunter do not need identical cover. Diet and weight plans are discussed if condition has slipped either way, and the vet will raise age-appropriate screening, such as blood tests for a cat entering her senior years, explaining what they would add. This is also your moment for queued questions: the odd cough, the new habit of waking you at night, the plan to adopt a second cat.
What to bring, and what to take away
Arrive with the carrier familiar rather than fetched from the loft that morning, any vaccination card you hold, and a short note of changes, questions and current food. Afterwards, note what was found, what was advised and when the next visit is due while it is still fresh, including early warnings the vet flagged to watch — a tooth to monitor, a weight target, a murmur to recheck. Filed with the vaccination record and past results in KinsLe's Pet Passport, those notes turn each routine appointment into one chapter of a continuous record, so next year's check starts from evidence instead of recollection.