The Importance of A Physical

We are often asked how often pets should visit the veterinarian.  Pets just like people tend to have more medical problems as they age.  Young patients have more veterinary visits to complete their vaccinations. The adult life stage of pets have fewer examinations than the old and the young.  How often your pet visits the veterinarian really depends on the age and health status of your pet.

Senior patients who are over the age of 7 years can benefit from examinations every 6 months.  Many medical disorders have a better outcomes when treatment is started early.  The most common problems we see in older pets are arthritis, renal disease, liver disease, heart disease, thyroid problems, and certain cancers.  Some patients with more serious diseases may need to have closer monitoring and more frequent examinations.  It is also recommended to visit the veterinarian once every 6 months for patients who are on long term medications.  All medications have side effects and it is important to make sure they are doing more good than harm.

Young patients need more frequent veterinary visits to make sure they are building immunity from their vaccinations.  We like to check how well they are growing.  Pets who are not growing often have an underlying illness.  Often we can assess how much a pet will grow based on its rate of growth.  Most core vaccinations are started at 6-8 weeks of age and continued every 2-4 weeks until about 16 weeks of age.  The veterinarian can also assess if there are non-core vaccinations your pet may require based on their exposure risk.  Parasite prevention, heartworm disease, general care, and basic training are also discussed during these first few visits.  It is also important to monitor for growth abnormalities and congenital diseases in these little babies.

The adult stage of your pet is between 1-6 years or age.  Adult patients can visit once a year for an annual examination, updated vaccination status, intestinal parasite check, and heartworm disease monitoring.  Again, diseases are easier to treat when caught early.  However, if your pet has an ear infection, itchy skin rash, etc.  we can see them more frequently to address the particular condition.   The most common diseases noted in adult patients are ear infections and dental disease.

We in doubt just ask your veterinarian and we can direct you to the best course of action for your pet.   An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

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