How To Perform Your Own Personal Pet Check-ups

For all pet owners, regular monitoring and examinations of your pet will give you a better idea of the animal\'s overall health and prove as good quality time for both you and your pet. Also, this may help you catch a problem in the early phases and certainly before it becomes life threatening.

The list of things you can do during this time could be long but below we\'ve taken the time to list a few of the most basic and easy to read signs of being off color. In addition to the usual, these steps may help you in deciding your pet\'s actual state of health.

CHECK YOUR PET FOR:

1) Build up in and around the tooth area. Also, bad breath - which may suggest gingivitis or other kinds of tooth or gum problems. Gingivitis is a gum disease that results in swollen, inflamed gums. Even worse, let dental health go and your dog could develop a serious bacterial infection that can spread through the dogs bloodstream causing damage to vital organs.

2) Clean ears. Is there wax build up, ticks, mites or other parasites inside your dogs ears? Is there a bad odor present? Are they dirty and in need of a thorough cleaning?

3) Are your dogs eyes discolored or irritated? Is extensive matter present? Are their tear trails and extensive tearing up visible around your dogs eyes or on its face?

4) A \'greasy\" coat? Is your dogs skin a grayish white in color or a reddish color showing irritation? Did you find any evidence of fleas or other parasites anywhere on your dogs coat? Is the smell of the animals coat on your hands, after checking it with your fingers, fishy, rank or offensive?

A \"doggy\" odor, while very common, is still a sign of a low level of health. If your answers to many of the above areas are \"YES\", then you should plan some type of action to discontinue this cycle of bad health in your pet right now.

First and foremost, diet is the best place to start. Check your dogs present food ingredients and you may find that you need a better food right away. Also, it is also important that you consult with your veterinarian and/or check into possible alternative therapies to help with your dogs health to make it even healthier.

In the end, your pet\'s overall health is up to you, so any of these early warning symptoms above should not be overlooked in your pet. The healthier your pet is, the longer it will live and the better quality of life it will enjoy. Do the best you can to keep your pet healthy. A clean bill of health is the most valuable gift you can present to your pets - next to your love and attention.