January 2013 – The Importance of Wellness Exams
All pets need routine care throughout their lives. Our veterinarians and team members have been working for years to educate our wonderful pet owners about the minimum preventative care pets need to stay healthy. These requirements change drastically and quickly from kitten/puppyhood to young adult to senior, and yes, the golden geriatric years.
Our pet owners are so thankful that we are not just a vaccination clinic. Belle Mead Animal Hospital is an actual Wellness Center where team members take the time to explain how to prevent disease and maintain health and quality of life. After all, we are Your Other Family Doctors with an exceptional team working hard to protect pets and families every day.
Physical Examinations or Wellness Visits from “nose to tail” is where prevention and care begins with pets. There is nothing more valuable than a yearly checkup or wellness visit. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, especially when you’re a silent, helpless pet with no voice. Veterinarians are highly trained and astute at using their eyes, hands and ears to detect seemingly invisible conditions that even loving and connected owners have no way of knowing.
Regular wellness exams open up opportunities for pet owners to discuss and learn how to better care for their pets at home. It is amazing how new information and new diseases are always emerging that people don’t know about. We schedule a minimum of 30 minutes for any appointment to ensure we give you enough time.
Checkups are so important because pets can’t talk and tell owners how they feel. It is actually remarkable how pets have evolved to hide disease and how many times there are dangerous illnesses happening under their owner’s radar, going undetected and untreated.
Indoor pets need checkups or wellness visits just as often as outdoor pets. Indoor pets, although less likely to get into a fight with another animal or contract an infectious disease, are just as likely to get urinary tract infections, bladder stones, heart disease, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, and many other ailments. How come? Genetics are powerful, just like the family with heart disease or diabetes.
Senior or older pets greater than seven years, and especially 10 years of age or older, actually would benefit from twice a year, semiannual wellness visits as a great preventative care option. Senior blood work and urine analysis can also prove valuable in detecting some internal problems that might not be visible otherwise.
Pet owners are learning and believing that the one thing that can help their pets live years longer and healthier is a once or twice a year wellness exam with a good veterinarian who takes the time to document a good history and genuinely talk to the pets owner. Many times the answers are in the history.
Early detection and awareness could prevent many problems and more expensive treatments. Please feel free to call our office if you have any questions (908) 874-4447.
Belle Mead Animal Hospital, Your Other Family Doctors