The Importance of Regular Check-ups for Your Pet’s Health

There’s nothing better than coming home after a long day of work or a trip to the grocery store and being greeted by your pets. Healthy pets are happy pets, but it’s up to you to ensure your pets stay healthy. You must feed them the right food, brush their teeth, and keep them active.

Taking your pets to the vet is another key to keeping them healthy. Even if your pets are in good health, you should occasionally bring them in for a routine checkup. These checkups don’t take long and can help your pets stay happy and healthy. Here’s why scheduling routine checkups at Rolling Plains Veterinary Corporation is important.

Monitoring Weight

Maintaining a healthy weight is crucial for both cats and dogs. Many animals have a tough time controlling food-related impulses, which can lead to overeating if you’re not careful. As a pet parent, you must ensure you only give your pets as much food as they need. Feeding cats and dogs whole cans of food or table scraps can make them overweight.

Obesity can put your pets at risk for diabetes, arthritis, and other health issues. Your vet can weigh your cat or dog at each checkup to help monitor their weight. If your pet is gaining too much weight, your vet may recommend a diet.

Checking Vitals

When you take your pet in for a routine checkup, your vet will take a look at their vitals. You might notice your dog’s heartbeat when you’re cuddling, but it’s hard to figure out their heart rate and what that means for their health. Most vet visits include a basic checking of vitals, including listening to the lungs and heart. Your vet may want to run additional tests if they notice something is off, which could be anything from an X-ray or other imaging tests to blood work.

Discussing Food and Supplements

Keeping your pets healthy means ensuring they get the nutrition they need. Unfortunately, many cheap dog and cat foods at stores aren’t especially healthy. If your pets are having issues with their food or have stopped eating certain brands or flavors, you can talk to your vet for tips. Your vet can help you choose a healthy food brand for your dog or cat.

If your pets have physical ailments or lack certain nutrients, vets may also recommend supplements. You should never give your pets these supplements without talking to your vet first, especially if your pet has a chronic disease.

Checking Ears and Nails

Ear infections are fairly common in both dogs and cats, with some breeds being more susceptible. During routine checkups, your vet will usually look at your pet’s ears to check for redness and swelling, which are signs of an infection. Your vet may also clean your pet’s ears if they haven’t been cleaned in at least a month.

Nail health is also important for cats and dogs. Most pet parents know how important it is to trim their pets’ nails, but it’s not easy. If you have a hard time getting your pets to stay still or you’ve trimmed their nails too short in the past, a vet or groomer can help.

Looking for Signs of Illness

Routine checkups give vets a chance to get a closer look at your pets to ensure they’re healthy and happy, but that’s not always the case. In some cases, routine checkups are the reason a medical condition or injury is diagnosed early on. You might not know why your pet is acting strangely or not eating as much, but vets have the experience to accurately identify problems in pets. If your pet hasn’t been to the vet for a checkup in a while, you should schedule an appointment to make sure they’re healthy.

Aging Healthily

Watching your pets get older is tough. Dogs and cats can lose a lot of energy and develop numerous medical conditions as they age, but it all depends on their diet and lifestyle. Just like humans can age gracefully by eating right, exercising, and taking supplements, so can your pets. As your pets get older, it’s smart to take them in for routine checkups to figure out what you can do to keep them healthy as they age. Depending on your dog or cat’s age, your vet may recommend specialty food brands, supplements, and lifestyle changes to prevent age-related health problems.

Keeping Up with Vaccines

If you’ve had your dog or cat since they were just a few months old, you’ve probably experienced the whole vaccination process firsthand. Pets must get certain vaccines at certain ages to reduce their risk of diseases like rabies, parvovirus, and feline calicivirus. The thing that a lot of pet owners don’t realize is that those vaccines aren’t just for puppies and kittens. Even when your dog is several years old, you should take them in for DHPP and rabies boosters every three years. Cats need to keep up with FVRCP and rabies boosters and an annual FELV booster for cats with sustained exposure. Rolling Plains Veterinary Corporation vets can help you stay on top of this schedule.

Schedule Your Next Checkup

As a pet parent, you have a lot on your plate, especially if you own several cats or dogs. Aside from walking your dog and keeping your cat stimulated at home, scheduling routine vet checkups is the easiest way to keep your dog healthy for as long as possible. If your pet hasn’t been to the vet for a routine checkup in a while, call Rolling Plains Veterinary Corporation to schedule an appointment today.

Categorised in: Cat Care, Dog Care, Veterinary

This post was written by Dr. Marc Phillipot