The Importance Of Preventative Pet Care
Just because it’s cyclical doesn’t mean it’s not essential.
Preventative pet care that includes routine screenings, checkups, and vaccinations can help ensure your pet lives a longer, healthier life. In addition, it helps identify your pet’s risk factors and keep an eye out for everyday health problems for a particular breed. In these cases, early disease detection could be the key to finding the best course of care for your pet.
So, what does preventative pet care entail? Here’s everything you need to know.
Benefits of Preventative Pet Care
Preventative pet care involves a multi-faceted approach to detect health issues before they become more pronounced. Based on the findings of a routine exam, your vet will make specifically tailored recommendations aimed at improving or maintaining your pet’s health and quality of life. Some benefits of this include:
1. Prevent heartworm and other parasites
Parasites and, in particular, a heartworm can be fatal in pets. Treatment typically involves a series of injections that can be expensive. That’s why preventing the disease from taking hold in the first place is essential. Unfortunately, at this point in veterinary medicine, heartworm disease can only be prevented through preventative medications. The good news is that heartworm-preventative medicines also kill and protect against other pesky pet parasites like hookworms and roundworms.
2. Ensure great dental hygiene
It’s common for vets to check for dental disease at annual checkups. Most pets will deal with some degree of dental disease at some point. Left untreated, dental disease could lead to life-threatening infections or even liver and heart disease. Taking your pet to the vet for regular dental cleanings is just one way of preventing the disease and catching it in time to preserve your pet’s long-term health.
3. Early detection of disease
Pets need regular wellness checks to monitor for potential health problems. Your pet’s age, lifestyle, genetics, and even weight could be risk factors that make them susceptible to certain diseases. Routine checkups not only allow for the early detection of these diseases but also ensures that any risk factors are addressed before they become life-threatening.
4. Provide adequate health care for an aging pet
Due to progress made in veterinary care, pets are living longer and longer. As such, they’re now subject to lifestyle diseases and other senior issues that come with old age. Senior pets can develop many of the same diseases seen in older people, including heart disease, diabetes, bone disease, and cancer.
Preventative pet care is the best way to ensure your pet receives the best care possible at every stage of their life. Senior pets require increased attention, which means more frequent visits to the vet. You may also have to adjust their diet and home to make them more comfortable.
Preventative pet care is Key
Vaccines and medical checkups are as necessary for pets as they are for humans. Your vet will also answer any questions you might have about dietary and lifestyle practices during your regular wellness exam.
Contact Hebron Veterinary Hospital
Contact us at (860) 228-4324 or visit our contact page if you need help with your pet. We are here for you. Also, be sure to give us a call if it’s time for any of your other pet’s regular wellness or preventative care visit.