Three tools
Nothing due slips past you
One due-list engine behind all of it, built on published feline schedules.
Care calendar
Everything that comes due, from one engine: core and non-core vaccines, parasite prevention, wellness exams, dental, the litter box and the grooming rota.
- 2020 AAHA/AAFP Feline Vaccination Guidelines, kitten series included
- Flea, tick and heartworm prevention year-round, with cat products only (CAPC, American Heartworm Society)
- Intervals, products and next-due dates you can set to match your vet
- Non-core vaccines start switched off: you decide with your vet
Play
Cats need play, not walks. Minutes logged against a daily target set by life stage. Three logged days in a week and the app stops guessing your cat’s activity level and starts measuring it.
- Two or more short hunting-style sessions a day, ending with a catch (AAFP/ISFM)
- Kitten 30–60 min a day, young adult 20–40, mature adult 15–30, senior 10–20
- Wand and chase, zoomies and climbing, puzzle feeders, harness or catio time, fetch
- Measured activity feeds straight back into the feeding calories
Home, socialization & training
Three checklists you tick off as you go, from AAFP/ISFM, Cat Friendly Homes and Fear Free guidance: the things that are easy early and hard to fix later.
- A 14-point home check on the five pillars of a cat-friendly home
- Kitten socialization: handling, the carrier, car rides, happy vet visits, sounds
- Cooperative care: into the carrier on cue, pills, nail trims, a mock vet exam
Vaccines
Vaccine reminders, guideline-based and never pushy
The full cat vaccine schedule, kitten series to adult boosters, is in our free guide.
Core, by the guidelines
- FVRCP: panleukopenia, herpesvirus and calicivirus. Kitten doses every 3–4 weeks until 16–20 weeks, a booster at 6 months, then every 3 years.
- Rabies: first dose at 12–16 weeks, a booster at 1 year, then every 1 or 3 years by product label and local law.
- FeLV (feline leukaemia): core for every kitten, two doses 3–4 weeks apart and a booster at 1 year. Adults yearly if they go outside or live with a FeLV-positive cat; otherwise every 2–3 years, or stop, as your vet decides.
2020 AAHA/AAFP Feline Vaccination Guidelines
Non-core, your call
Chlamydia felis (multi-cat homes with conjunctivitis outbreaks) and Bordetella (shelters and boarding with respiratory outbreaks) are listed with the reason a cat might need them, and both start off. The FIV vaccine is listed too, switched off: it is no longer sold in the US or Canada, and a vaccinated cat can test positive on the FIV antibody test.
FelineSense never nags you toward a vaccine your cat does not need. It tells you what exists, why, and leaves the decision where it belongs.
AAHA/AAFP 2020 · AAFP Feline Retrovirus Guidelines 2020
Parasites
Flea, tick and heartworm prevention for cats
Cat products only, all year round.
The flea treatment that kills cats
Permethrin spot-ons and sprays made for dogs cause tremors, seizures and death in cats. A cat can be poisoned just by cuddling or grooming a housemate freshly treated with a dog spot-on. The flea and tick reminder carries that warning, and the safety checker marks dog flea products as toxic. Use only products labeled for cats, at the dose for your cat’s weight.
If a dog flea product has touched your cat, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center on (888) 426-4435 now.
Flea & tick
A monthly reminder, year-round; some products last 3 months, so the interval is yours to set. Log the product and the vet report shows it.
Heartworm
Cats get heartworm too, and there is no approved treatment for it in cats. So prevention is monthly and year-round, indoor cats included.
Deworming & faecal test
Kittens every 2 weeks from 3 to 9 weeks of age, then monthly to 6 months. Adults: a faecal exam once or twice a year, and deworming as the vet directs; hunters more often.
Sources: Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) · American Heartworm Society · ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
The small jobs
Vet visits, litter, grooming and a cat-friendly home
Every default is a starting point. Your vet’s schedule and your local rabies law always win, and you can set the next-due date they give you.
Vet visits
A wellness exam yearly, and every 6 months for seniors over 10, with blood pressure, kidney and thyroid screening. A FeLV/FIV test for every cat, and again after any exposure or bite. A yearly dental check, because cats hide tooth resorption and gum disease. A monthly body condition re-score.
Litter box and grooming
Scoop the box daily and change it fully each week: cats avoid a dirty box, and that is how accidents start. Nails every 2–3 weeks, brushing weekly (daily for long coats), an ear check every 2 weeks. Tooth brushing and a scratching-post check are there to switch on.
Five pillars, fourteen checks
The AAFP/ISFM five pillars of a cat-friendly home, as a checklist: a safe place for each cat, separate food, water, litter, scratching and resting spots, daily hunting-style play, a predictable routine where the cat chooses contact, and respect for scent. One litter box per cat, plus one.
Kitten socialization
Kittens learn most easily at about 2–7 weeks, often before adoption, then keep going gently for life. Calm, positive exposure to the life the cat will live: handling, the carrier as a safe place, car rides, happy vet visits, household sounds and friendly cats.
Sources: 2021 AAHA/AAFP Feline Life Stage Guidelines · AAFP/ISFM Feline Environmental Needs Guidelines 2013 · AAHA Dental Care Guidelines · AAFP Feline Retrovirus Guidelines 2020
In the app
What it looks like
