Many owners think that visits to the veterinarian should exclusively be saved for when their pet is sick. While you should definitely take your furbaby to visit a professional if you suspect that they are injured or unwell, our vet also plays a vitally important part in making sure that your pet doesn’t get sick in the first place.
Pet wellness care, also often referred to as preventative care, is a service offered by most veterinarians that has several important benefits.
Protecting your pet from infectious diseases
Vaccinations certainly play an important part of pet wellness care, but contrary to popular belief, they are not the only aspect of it. There are a number of serious, infectious diseases that can affect our animals. Vaccinations work by triggering your pet’s body to produce antibodies to fight these diseases, so that if she does become infected with the real condition, she can effectively fight it.
Monitoring the health and wellbeing of your pet
Animals have a natural instinct to try and mask any vulnerabilities that they may have, and this includes hiding when they are feeling unwell until it becomes impossible to cope. Unfortunately, this makes it all the more difficult for owners who may not realize that their precious pet is suffering until the illness has had a significant effect on her body.
Nevertheless, pet wellness testing enables our vet to keep a running record of the health and wellbeing of your creature, as well as examining individual results on their own merit. Using the information at hand, our vet should be able to determine if your animal is experiencing health problems. In many cases, unfavorable patterns of results or signs of illness show up in these appointments early and before the underlying problem can cause significant damage to her body.
Preventing further damage and deterioration, and the unnecessary suffering of your pet
By spotting, diagnosing and treating any developing conditions early on, you can not only save yourself the expense of extensive treatment bills, but more importantly, you may also be able to prevent considerable damage being done to the health of your adored pet. In doing so, you may also be able to hold off the development of unpleasant and debilitating symptoms.
In some situations, pet wellness care can also prevent secondary health problems. For example, ticks are well known for carrying disease. Therefore, not only might your pet have to contend with the effects of living with a tick bite, she might also be exposed to a serious, infectious disease such as Lyme disease.
What is included in pet wellness care?
Exactly what is included in pet wellness care tends to vary between veterinary practises and will be based on the specific health needs of your pet. However, there are some services that are typically included across the board. These are:
- Blood tests (full blood count and blood chemistry profiles)
- Urinalysis
- Fecal testing
- Nose to tail physical examination
- Dental examination and cleaning
- Vaccination advice and any boosters that may be required
- Parasite prevention advice, support and treatment
A good veterinarian will put together personalized pet wellness care programs and tailor these throughout the lifetime of your furry family member. This will help ensure that she is adequately monitored at all times, and that the frequency of appointments can be increased if necessary – for example if she is pregnant or of she enters her golden years. Initially our vet will probably only want to see your pet for wellness testing around once a year. However, if your creature is already in poor health or of senior age, these may be boosted straight to six-monthly appointments.
With the education, training and experience to be able to make informed decisions about the health and wellbeing of your furbaby, we strongly recommend that you listen to our vet’s opinion about pet wellness testing.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of pet wellbeing, or if you would like to arrange an wellness care appointment for your beloved animal, please do not hesitate to contact our team.
