Keeping Your Adult Dog Healthy
Your adult dog should visit us at least once yearly. During this visit, he will receive the following test and treatments:
- Thorough “nose-to-tail” physical examination: Checking your dog’s teeth, gums, lymph nodes, eyes, ears, heart, lungs, skin, body weight/body condition score, abdomen, and joints allow us to catch health problems early when they can be most readily treated.
- Vaccinations: Not every dog needs every vaccination. We find out your dog’s lifestyle, age, previous vaccinations, and current health in order to determine which vaccines are necessary for him.
- Intestinal parasite testing and prevention: We test dogs for intestinal parasites using a fecal test. This test looks for many parasites including some which can spread to people. We will recommend the best parasite prevention program for your dog.
- Heartworm Disease Prevention: Heartworms are spread to your dog via mosquitos. They cause serious damage to the heart and lungs and can lead to coughing, collapse, and death if untreated. Thankfully, treatment is easy and safe – a monthly tablet or topical heartworm preventative can be given. All dogs should receive this medication, including indoor pets. Since heartworms can be contracted by even one mosquito, being indoors does not eliminate the risk.
- Lab Test Screenings: Just as with people, periodic blood and urine tests are needed in dogs, especially as they reach middle age. The frequency of testing depends on the age and health of your dog. We are able to perform many tests with our in-house laboratory machines, giving results in as little as 20 minutes. Other tests can be sent to our outside laboratory, with results as quickly as 24 hours later.
- Nutritional Counseling: As part of your dog’s yearly wellness exam, we will advise you which foods are good for your dog and whether he or she needs to gain or lose weight.
- Behavioral Consultation: During your dog’s yearly examination, we allow time to answer questions about common behavior concerns. If we see indications of a more serious behavioral disorder such as separation anxiety, we can provide a more in-depth evaluation, diagnosis and treatment.
Your pet’s wellness exams help us understand your expectations as a pet owner. Our team of professionals are ready to help you and answer any questions you may have.
Please give us a call today to schedule your dog’s wellness exam!