How Often Should Your Pet Be Seen By Your Veterinarian?

Our pets age much quicker than human beings. For example, a ten-year-old Golden Retriever is approximately 70-80 human years old. This age range explains why it is extremely valuable for pet owners to realize that their canine companions are here with us for a short period of time. We must provide high quality pet care for their entire cherished life span.

Wellness is a word used to describe health. Senior wellness means evaluating their health as they become older by physical exam and the total baseline blood values during their life stages. Certain medical conditions cannot be diagnosed by looking, listening, and touching. Canine guidelines include comparing current blood values to their baseline values to effectively handle and treat common illnesses. For example, a Wilmington, NC, senior pet needs dissimilar nutrition than a growing puppy. Be mindful, the biggest issue we see in our pets is obesity. By modifying their daily intake of food, based on veterinarian expertise, you may assist in curbing their hunger by satisfying their nutrition. Obesity leads to parallel medical issues that affect us. These include weakening of our bones and joints, decrease in our blood flow as well as the chance of developing diabetes in our pets too!

Luckily, in veterinary medicine, our pets are truly incapable to explain the details of their problems. It truly takes a highly experienced Wilmington, NC, veterinarian to be able to evaluate, diagnose, and treat our senior pets. There may be small clues a pet owner might notice on a day-to-day basis. These clinical signs include: their senior pet has a change in their desire for food, water consumption, and behavior change such as restless and agitated, unable to rise or jump. This list goes on and on. There are productive treatments for diseases of the kidney, heart, liver, and intestines.

According to the current senior wellness guidelines, a Wilmington, NC, senior pet ages in three months approximately 2 years. As a consequence, it is necessary to evaluate your senior dog every 6 months. The tests that should be appraised include total blood count, chemistry panel, urinalysis, thyroid testing, blood pressure, and electrocardiogram. These tests are believed to be the minimum standard of care for our senior companions. These simple wellness steps can allow you as the pet owner to provide the best health for your companion.

We see consistently that our senior pets bank on us to keep them in high spirits, stress free and pain free. It has been proven that pets can lower our blood pressure, keep your heart healthy and keep our spirits high. There is no reason why we can not identify their conditions and treat their problems better and quicker. Wellness testing should be conducted every 6 months to give us a chance to know the health status of our companions.

If your senior pet has problems going up and down the stairs and appears inflexible in the morning, then you should have your senior companion’s spine and joints evaluated. Veterinary medicine has numerous new advances similar to human medicine. The new diagnostic technologies include digital radiography and digital ultrasound. With these diagnostic tools, veterinarians can pinpoint skeletal and joint abnormalities. A couple of common conditions include joint disease known as osteoarthritis and intervertebral disc disease. There are multiple ways to help manage these conditions. Once diagnosed, think about using a natural product that follows FDA standards for joint support known as Dasuquin. The human equivalent is Cosamine. This joint support suppliess great results. Also, nutritional support includes Hills Science Diet JD for small, medium and large dogs.

By simply discussing your senior pet’s history, a thorough veterinary physical exam and the minimum standards of tests including total blood count, chemistry panel, urinalysis, blood pressure and electro-cardigram, your senior companion can get the best medical care that you and I can give. Your senior companion can have a terrific senior life if you follow the senior wellness guidelines. Your veterinarian can personalize a treatment plan and follow-up. Continue to monitor them periodically for any changes. If you could monitor them every time they age one more year, then we would have to evaluate your senior pet every 45 days. Wow, this sounds like it is too often. But in reality, your senior pet is 2 to 3 years older in only three months. As a consequence at your senior pet’s annual visits, they have aged 6-7 years. After all, do you go to your physician every 6-7 years?

Now you should understand the significance of the senior wellness. Age is not a disease.

Iva L. Nusbaum, DVM
North College Road Animal Hospital
Wilmington, NC 28405
www.wilmingtonvet.com