PREVENTATIVE CARE

WHAT IS PREVENTATIVE/
WELLNESS HEALTH CARE?

We all know that diet, exercise, friendship, prayer/medication/yoga, and good sleep helps us to stay healthy! This list also includes annual physical examination and testing to evaluate for problems that may be sub-clinical (not yet causing disease). This list is no different for your pet! Catching things early, or better yet preventing them all together, can be harder in small animals as they can not voice when they are hurting or not feeling well! Wellness care is designed to keep you and your pet alike from getting sick or catching illness early to improve the success of treatment.

WHAT KIND OF WELLNESS CARE DOES MY PET NEED?

This is dependent on your individual pet! Every pet is different and there is no "one fit all" approach to wellness care! Our doctors evaluate each pet and tailor the needs according to medical history, physical examination, and what the family observes at home. There are a few services and diagnostics that every pet needs no matter age, weight, breed, species, etc. These include recommended vaccinations, parasite testing, and wellness bloodwork. Other aspects may include nutrition counseling, exercise recommendations, behavioral training, medication monitoring, etc.

ISN'T THE PHYSICAL EXAMINATION BY MY VET ENOUGH?

Your pet's physical examination evaluates eyes, ears, nose, teeth, lymph nodes, abdominal structures, heart and lung auscultation, joints, skin, and weight. These are all things observable by your veterinarian. There is so much that can not be seen, heard, or felt by human hands. The internal workings of the body must be evaluated by bloodwork, urinalysis, fecal checks, blood pressure, radiographs, and some times more advanced testing such as ultrasound, ECG, etc.

MY PET IS YOUNG, DO I NEED TO WORRY ABOUT WELLNESS BLOODWORK?

There are two main reasons every young pet needs wellness diagnostics performed annually.

1. While the majority of young pets are healthy with normal bloodwork, there are times that disease is apparent without any outward signs to owners.

2. Some diseases can occur when bloodwork is normal. Chronic kidney failure can only be diagnosed on bloodwork once 75% of the kidneys are not functioning. Starting young allows us to track levels over time revealing patterns of change from early normal levels. Seeing rising levels (even if normal) indicate an emerging problem that needs addressed.

WELLNESS
HEALTH
CARE

HEARTWORM TEST

This test checks for adult heartworms living in the heart! We utilize a 4DX test which also screens for 3 tick transmitted infections (ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, anaplasmosis).

FeLV/FIV/HW

Feline Leukemia Virus

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus

Heartworms

This is a test for common, and potentially deadly, feline infections. The American Association of Feline Practitioners recommend testing for this annually.

FECAL CENTRIFUGATION

Intestinal parasites are organisms that live in the intestinal tract. It is important to have your pets checked at least annually to prevent disease but also to decrease chances of transition to you and your family. Many of these parasites are zoonotic meaning that can be transmitted to humans. Over the years we have also estimated that approximately 15% of our fecal samples that were positive for an intestinal parasite were on normal stool samples.