Vet wants to see my 13 year old every six months now. Is that necessary or is it just a nice little earner?

Going to say the thing everyone thinks and nobody posts. Took Alfie's older brother Bruno in for his annual, he's 13, and came out with a card for six months' time plus a suggestion of a "senior blood screen" at the same visit. Between the consult, the bloods and the vaccinations that's a good chunk of money for a cat who, as far as I can see, is absolutely fine.

I'm not accusing anyone of anything. I just want to know from people who've actually done it whether the six month thing found anything, or whether it's the pet equivalent of the dentist telling you to come back so they can look at the same teeth again.

Ours found something. 15 year old, "absolutely fine" by every measure I could see, went in for a routine senior screen and her kidney numbers were early-stage off. She had zero symptoms I could name at the time. Six months later she'd have been symptomatic and we'd have been starting from further back.

I do get the suspicion though. I felt it too until that result landed.

Middle ground from me. I do the six monthly weigh-in and physical, which at our practice is a nurse appointment and costs very little, and I do bloods yearly rather than twice a year unless something's changed. The vet was fine with that when I asked directly. Worth asking rather than assuming the recommendation is all or nothing.

The weighing is the underrated bit. My cat lost 400g over a year and I could not feel it under a long coat, but the scales knew.

Vet moderator, and I'd rather answer this bluntly than defensively, because you're not the only person thinking it.

The direct answer: six-monthly checks for cats from around 11 onwards are the current professional recommendation, and the reason is arithmetic rather than commerce. A cat ages roughly four human years for each of ours at that stage, so annual visits mean gaps of the order of four human years between examinations, in the life stage when chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, hypertension, dental disease and arthritis all tend to arrive. Every one of those is easier and cheaper to manage when it's found before the cat looks unwell, and every one of them is routinely missed at home, because cats compensate beautifully until they can't.

What the visit is actually buying you is trend data more than a verdict: weight against last time, body and muscle condition, blood pressure, a look in the mouth, and a feel of the thyroid and kidneys. A single set of numbers tells you much less than three sets in a row, which is the honest reason we want you back rather than a desire to see you twice.

two_tabbies is right that it's negotiable. If cost is the constraint, say so at the appointment. Many practices will prioritise: a nurse weigh-and-check between vet visits, or bloods annually with blood pressure at the interim, is a reasonable compromise and a much better outcome than skipping altogether. The site's guides to senior cat vet check-ups and how much a vet costs cover what the visits include and how to plan for them.

None of that is a judgement on Bruno specifically, who I've never met. It's the general case, and the general case is that "he seems fine" is exactly the cat these visits are designed for.

The line about cats compensating until they can't is going in my notes app. That's exactly what happened with Otis's dental. He was eating normally right up until the day the vet showed me the state of the back of his mouth and I felt like the world's worst owner.

Fair enough, and thank you for not being precious about the question. I've rung and booked the six month slot as a nurse check with a weigh-in, bloods to stay yearly for now unless she flags something. Felt like a much less awkward phone call than I'd built it up to be.