Annual Care for Your Pet

If you own a pet, it is important for you to take it to a veterinarian at least once a year to get a complete checkup.?Your dog or cat will need to be checked out thoroughly to ensure there are no health problems.?As you know, diagnosing conditions in their earliest stages makes them much easier to treat.

If you own a pet, it is important for you to take it to a veterinarian at least once a year to get a complete checkup.?Your dog or cat will need to be checked out thoroughly to ensure there are no health problems.?As you know, diagnosing conditions in their earliest stages makes them much easier to treat.

If the condition is allowed to progress, it will be much more difficult.?Whenever you take your pet to the veterinarian for its annual exam, he will check various areas of your pet's body and perform various tests.

At some point during the examination, the veterinarian will check the condition of your pet's heart and lungs.?Problems with these two organs are usually very serious, so you will definitely want to get them diagnosed as soon as possible.

During an annual exam, your pet will also need to submit to a stool test.?Testing the stool will enable the veterinarian to detect the presence of various parasites.?Some of the most common include hookworms, roundworms, and coccidia.

Your dog or cat will need to have some blood work done as well.?Blood tests are able to detect additional parasites which are not detected in a fecal exam.?One serious parasite is the heartworm which can lead to failure and death.

All domesticated animals are required to receive various vaccinations.? Therefore, annual exams are a good time to have them administered.? Rabies, a serious and often fatal disease, can be prevented with vaccinations given every one to three years.?Your pet will also need booster shots to prevent other conditions.

The veterinarian will also check various other parts of your pet's body during the exam.?Just like humans need their teeth checked and cleaned periodically, pets do too.?They can get cavities and tooth decay as well.?It is also important to take into consideration the condition of your dog or cat's coat.?Its condition can signal an underlying disease of some sort.

Taking your pet for an annual exam becomes even more important as he or she gets older.?Body systems break down as they age, and they will need to be monitored.?Major organs like the liver and kidneys should especially be checked.

As you can see, it is very important for you to take your pet to the veterinarian for an annual exam.?Conditions are much easier and less expensive to treat whenever they are still in the initial stages.?Your pet will certainly thank you for it.