Consistent preventative care, including examinations and vaccines, can go a long way toward ensuring your pet enjoys a long and well-balanced life. The objective is to determine health problems in their earliest stages, when they may be more manageable. For this reason, routine checkups at the veterinarian are recommended. Being proactive can help you avoid developing certain conditions or illnesses in the first place.
When should you take your pet in for a checkup?
Owning a pet means being responsible for its well-being throughout its expected lifespan. Also necessary to pet ownership is ensuring regular trips to the animal hospital or vet clinic for checkups and treatment. However, when is the right time to take your pet to the vet? In this article, we’ll look over the various age thresholds at which taking a pet to the vet becomes necessary.
Newborn
If you want to ensure your kitten or puppy is well-protected by immunizations, they must see the vet frequently when they are young. This initial set of pet immunizations is provided every three to four weeks, starting at six to eight weeks of age and continuing until the pet is sixteen to twenty weeks old. For the same reasons, veterinarians will advise frequent checkups for your pet throughout its first year to ensure its organs are regularly developing, it is gaining weight properly, and its teeth and bones are growing normally.
This is also the time when your vet will conduct the spay or neuter procedure and deworm your pet to get rid of any worms in the digestive system. If you have a new puppy or kitten and want to know how to take care of them properly from an early age to ensure they stay healthy, click here.
Adult years
When pets reach adult years, your veterinarian will highly recommend yearly checkups at the minimum. The goals of these consultations are to:
- Examine your pet’s physical condition carefully
- Give your pet booster shots to ensure it stays protected against harmful illnesses
- Provide tips for affordable cat vaccinations that can help shield your pet against health conditions to which it is uniquely vulnerable due to its environment, way of living, or other factors
- Keep your pet free of internal parasites, heartworms, and external parasites such as fleas and ticks
- Inspect your pet’s oral cavity and tooth structure, and recommend any essential oral care
- Do an evaluation of your pet’s diet to ensure it’s appropriate for your pet’s breed, age, health, and way of life
- Raise any inquiries or concerns you have concerning your pet’s behavior
Senior years
Animals, like people, have a greater need for medical attention as they age. This is why veterinarians encourage semi-annual exams for senior pets rather than annual. Along with physical and any required vaccinations, senior pets may need additional health tests throughout their visit. The pet may have a series of diagnostic procedures, including an evaluation of its medical history, a physical examination, and a complete blood count and urine analysis to analyze its internal organ function.
When taking your senior pet in for a checkup, discuss any changes in your pet’s health or behavior, so they may get the best treatment possible. On the other hand, you can consult a dog dentist for help if your senior dog needs a dental exam to ward off oral illnesses.
Conclusion
No matter how old your precious pet is, you need to be sure they get regular care so you know they’re in good shape. Similar to our health, the best approach to ensure your pet lives a long and well-balanced life is to keep them from getting sick. You can help your pet by regularly taking it to the vet for checkups. Because, after all, we intend to spend as much time as possible together appreciating life’s pleasures.
