Resolve to Keep your Pet Happy and Healthy this New Year
With a new year comes change, a fresh start, and resolutions. I want to encourage you to set a New Year’s resolution for your pets to continue to keep them as happy and healthy as possible. Do not fear (pun intended), Buckeystown Veterinary Hospital is here to help! Our approach to veterinary medicine is to work with you to create a tailored health plan and, if needed, treatment plan that meets your and your pets’ needs.
The process begins with our examination of your furry one and just as importantly, having a discussion with you. Our goal is to give you the information you need to make the best choices for your loved one. Start off the year right and give us a call to keep your pet as happy and healthy in this new year!
Why does my pet need a wellness exam?
“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is probably something we have all heard, but it holds true for your pets too. As an owner you may dread the day your beloved animal might come down with a serious illness or problem. However, it doesn’t always have to be a surprise. Wellness exams (preventative visits) can help us catch some problems early enough, so we can be proactive instead of reactive. The more information we are able to get can also help set expectations of what might come. The discussion you and I have is one of the best sources of important information. You know your pet better than anyone else, so we need to hear from you. Have you noticed any change in eating, drinking, or eliminating habits, or any unusual behavior? The answers to those questions can help us guide our physical exam and diagnostic recommendations.
Our physical exam allows us to monitor many important body systems and organs and notice sometimes small changes that can be difficult to detect. We check your little one’s eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, and superficial lymph nodes, listen to the heart and lungs, observe skin, hair coat, joints, points of pain, and much more! If we notice any areas of concern we can discuss the options for further diagnostics, if indicated.
We may recommend twice yearly visits for senior pets to help detect health concerns and to prolong your pet’s lifespan and quality of life.
How can Health Screens benefit my pet?
The physical exam and our discussion are vital to ensuring your pet is happy and healthy! Based on our findings, we can then discuss any screening tests or other diagnostics that might be indicated. The diagnostics we recommend are directed and purposeful. Information is good, but useless information is useless. For many wellness visits (preventative exams), you are likely to hear your veterinarian recommend certain health screens (blood work). These health screens allow us to do a thorough and complete physical exam. They let us check on things we can’t examine with our hands or eyes or smell. It gives us information on red blood cells, white blood cells, blood sugar, the kidneys, the liver, and other important systems.
We are fortunate to be able to bundle many of the tests together, so we can see a more complete picture of your pet’s health. The largest benefit is that it can save on costs. By grouping these tests (many of which we recommend yearly), there are substantial savings compared to doing them individually. Many times over my career I have been faced with tough cases that end up being tough on finances too. These health screens can help us better assess your pet’s health and the cost savings will help lighten the financial load.
Why are vaccines recommended for my pet?
Keeping your pet happy and healthy includes not only personalized care, but personalized vaccine and diagnostic recommendations as well. Vaccines are an integral component of the health of your loved ones. The vaccines we recommend are to help keep your pet safe as well as the entire population of pets. On top of core vaccines (vaccines that all pets should have), there are risk-based vaccines. After getting to know you and your pet we can determine if your pet might be at higher risk for certain diseases that can be vaccinated for.
In this new year, let’s work together to help keep your pet as happy and healthy as possible! You can schedule an exam by giving us a call or conveniently online. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions!
–Jonathan Fear, DVM