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Pet Article
HEALTHY PETS
As a pet owner you are no doubt aware of how important it is to take your pet to your
veterinarian should you need to, but how many of you forget that it is just as important
to make regular visits to your veterinarian when your pets are healthy!
As pet owners we should always remember that a dogs life span is much shorter than a humans
and therefore, going to the doctor every year for a dog is like us humans going to the doctor
every 5 years. A lot can change for your pet in just one year, by having regular check ups
your veterinarian will be able to monitor these changes and watch for any problems. An annual
check up is also a good time for you as a pet owner to report any problems or changes that
you may have noticed since your pets last check up.
Many of the initial changes that can indicate disease are often very subtle and can easily
be missed by the owner (i.e. the early signs of liver, kidney or heart disease).
In the wild, showing signs of illness is a liability, so animals often
instinctively hide signs of disease, which can make these subtle changes even
more difficult to detect. By having your pet in for annual check ups will help to
ensure that diseases can be caught early on.
Pet owners may not realize, but a cat or dog is considered to be middle aged at around 3 years
old and geriatric at around 7 years old! By having your pet take annual check ups you could
discover any disease early enough to be treated effectively before it became too serious, or too
late! This will not only save you as the pet owner money in the long run, but will help your
pet before and damage can be done permanently to it. Another important thing that pet owners
tend to forget is that normal can vary from animal to animal.
By taking your pet for annual check ups also establishes a relationship between your
veterinarian and your pet, which in turn will help establish what is termed as normal in your
pet. If a pet comes in with a problem which it has never seen before, it could be difficult
to determine what findings could be relevant to your animals problem and therefore what
findings are incidental an part of your pets normal state. As an example... a dog may
normally have a low number of red blood cells in comparison to other dogs, but if not blood
work has ever been done on your pet, it could be interpreted as a sign of disease. It is
therefore important that you and your veterinarian have a baseline for whats classed as
normal in your pet, making the diagnostic process more efficient.
In addition to watching for disease, annual check ups give your veterinarian a
chance to give recommendations about what diet could be most appropriate for your pet.
As a pet ages, its nutritional needs can change dramatically. Because pet nutrition has now
become so advanced, there is a diet available for almost every condition and stage of life
of your pet.
An annual exam is also a time when vaccines which prevent disease can be given, a
fecal exam can be run to check for intestinal parasites and a heartworm exam can
be done to make sure that there is no heartworm infection. Having an annual exam done for
your pet is an excellent way to avoid problems in the future. Ultimately it will save you
time and money and possibly, the life of a beloved family member.
Should you have any questions regarding preventative medicine, you should contact your
local veterinarian.
Mark Woodcock
1 Flea Control
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