When it comes to our beloved companion's routine preventive care can help to ensure a life full of health and happiness. Our Lacey vets offer some information on how routine preventive care can help protect your pet and save them from a visit to our emergency animal clinic.
The Importance of Routine Preventive Care For Pets in Lacey
Preventative care aims to maintain your pet's health and provide them with the care they need. Doing so gives your puppy their best chance at a long, healthy and happy life. Preventative care begins with routine prevention exams, scheduled once or twice yearly depending on your dog's unique needs.
These routine exams are physical checkups for your pet.
By bringing your dog in to see our vets, even when they appear to be perfectly healthy, you are giving our Olympia Pet Emergency team the opportunity to check in on and monitor your pet's health over time and diagnose and treat medical issues early and at their most treatable. It also allows us to provide preventative care like parasite treatments and vaccinations in order to keep your pup feeling their best.
Identifying health issues such as ear infections, gastrointestinal parasites or cancer before their obvious symptoms appear means that treatment can begin when it is most effective.
How Often Should My Pet Visit Their Vet at Their Lacey Animal Clinic?
Our veterinarians advise our clients to bring their dogs in for yearly routine wellness exams. However, every pup is different and has different needs. Because of this, the frequency you should bring your furry companion into our office will vary based on your dog's age, medical history and more.
Puppies can also be vulnerable to health conditions that adult dogs can resist with ease. This is true for senior or geriatric pups as well. You should bring your young or old dog in for a checkup much more frequently than you would an adult. For puppies under a year old, every month, and for geriatric dogs, twice a year.
What Can I Expect During Preventive Care and Examination Visits?
When you bring your dog into our Lacey animal hospital, our team will walk through their medical history and inquire about any specific concerns you might have with their health.
In some cases, we will have already asked you to bring in a sample of your pet's stool in order to conduct a fecal exam. We will take this sample and examine it for signs of common intestinal parasites which may be otherwise difficult to detect.
After these initial steps, your veterinarian will perform a physical checkup of your pet which will usually include any or all of the following:
- Listening to your pet's heart and lungs
- Checking your animal's weight, stance, and gait
- Inspecting the pet's coat for overall condition, dandruff, or abnormal hair loss
- Looking at your pet's feet and nails for damage or signs of more serious health concerns
- Looking at your pet's ears for signs of bacterial infection, ear mites, wax build-up, or polyps
- Checking your pet's eyes for signs of redness, cloudiness, eyelid issues, excessive tearing, or discharge
- Examining the condition of your pet's teeth for any indications of periodontal disease, damage or decay
- Palpate your pet's abdomen to access whether the internal organs appear to be normal and to check for signs of discomfort
- Examining your pet's skin for a range of issues from dryness to parasites to lumps and bumps (particularly in skin folds)
- Feeling along your pet's body (palpating) for any signs of illness such as swelling, evidence of lameness such as limited range of motion, and signs of pain
Each of these tests is intended to detect signs of health issues your pet may be experiencing. Our pets are not always able to show us when and where they are in pain so monitoring your companion as well as bringing them in for routine visits at your Lacey vet clinic will be important.
Will My Pet Need Their Shots During Their Visit?
Vaccinations are designed to protect your dog against contagious, common and possibly even life-threatening diseases. The vaccines that your pet may need will be based on where you live and your pet's lifestyle.
When it comes to vaccinations for your pet there are a set of vaccines that are commonly known as core vaccines as well as lifestyle vaccines that are recommended for pets who are often in contact with other animals.
Your adult pets will require booster shots regularly in order to maintain their protection against diseases. In most instances, boosters are given to your pet annually, or, once every three years. The vets at your Lacey animal clinic will let you know when your pet's booster shots are due.
Is Parasite Prevention Important in the Lacey Area?
Parasites are a health threat in the Lacey area! Mosquitos and ticks carry dangerous parasites which can invade your pet's body and cause fatal conditions. Because of this, our vets will always recommend ways for you to prevent parasites from invading your pet. It's also important to know that some of these parasites can be passed from pets to their loving owners!
Parasite prevention can help to protect your pet from conditions such as:
- Heartworm
- Fleas
- Lyme Disease
- Anaplasmosis
- Babesiosis
- Ehrlichiosis
- Hookworms
- Roundworms
- Tapeworms
- Whipworm
- Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
What is the Cost Associated With Preventive Care?
When compared to the cost of treating an advanced form of a condition, disease or disorder, routine preventative healthcare for your dog will save you money.
Not only that, but preventative veterinary care will also ensure that your dog experiences a minimum amount of pain or discomfort from any health issues they are experiencing. The sooner a medical issue is detected in your pet, the sooner it can be diagnosed and treated.
Note: The advice provided in this post is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice regarding pets. For an accurate diagnosis of your pet's condition, please make an appointment with your vet.