Pet health care, which includes preventative care, is essential for pets. Regular dental check-ups and grooming should be part of your pet’s health care routine. Preventive pet care enhances our beloved pets’ health, wellness, and overall quality of life; this is something all pet parents would like for their furry companions.
Preventative Pet Care Guidelines
Let’s look at ways to prevent diseases rather than treat them. Here’s a brief overview of preventive care and the reason why it’s crucial to your pet:
Dental Care
Animals with clean mouths are more likely to live longer lives. It’s not just the bacteria that reside in the mouth that cause periodontal disease. Microorganisms can enter bloodstreams and move to vital organs such as the liver, kidneys, and the heart, where they can cause severe health problems. Based on the conditions, pets’ teeth must be cleaned at least every 2 years. Regularly cleaning your pet’s teeth will keep their pearly whites in good condition.
Weight Maintenance
It is essential to exercise regularly to maintain a healthy weight, develop strong muscles, and ensure that pets are mentally stimulated. Active or working dog breeds require lots of physical activities. But, puppies shouldn’t be overexerted because this could cause joint pain later.
Based on the condition and the breed of their pet, they should exercise for at least 20 minutes per day. Studies show that pets with less weight have longer lives and have fewer health problems. To assist your pet keep a healthy BMI, the vet will give you the body condition score and nutrition and fitness guidelines.
Examinations
At least once a year, a vet should check all healthy pets. If they’re senior or suffer from a medical condition that requires frequent examinations. Heart murmurs or irregular heartbeats, larger lymph nodes and abdominal tumors, skin tumors, enlarged or shrunken kidneys or livers, and spleens that may indicate a systemic condition can all be identified in a dog or cat wellness exam.
A thorough orthopedic exam is required to see if your pet suffers from arthritis and needs pain medications. Whether you need to treat your pet for flea and tick control or diagnosis of skin infections (bacterial or fungal parasitic) is required or not will depend on the result of a dermatological examination of the pet’s coat. Loss of hair might be a sign of hormone imbalance or systemic illness.
Vaccinations and Parasite Control
It is essential to have vaccinations and know about parasite prevention to protect pets against various diseases that could be fatal. Contact your veterinarian when you get your new pet to ensure they are completely protected from illness. The vaccinations should be administered to your pet as soon as they are born. When your puppy or kitten is old enough to be given the shots, they should be scheduled at least every six months.
Veterinarians can inquire about your pet’s habits and the other pets within your household when determining if the vaccine you choose to use is suitable for your pet. Animals that live in multi-pet homes and cats who live outside are more exposed to illness, while indoor pets are more protected from the disease. Catteries and Boarding kennels may increase the risk; thus, locating an establishment that requires all guests to be vaccinated is recommended.
Spaying or Neutering
Many unwanted pets are killed each year, including puppies and kittens. Responsible pet owners can help. It is possible to reduce the number of unwanted puppies and kittens by ensuring that your pet is sterilized.
There are various behavioral and health benefits to spaying or neutering the pet. Infections and certain types of cancer can be avoided by this procedure. The benefits and scheduling of the procedure will be discussed with your vet. Click here to learn more about this procedure.
Final Thoughts
Pets cannot express their feelings or voice their complaints to their veterinarians because they don’t communicate. Additionally, the animals are naturally inclined to conceal their illnesses from predators, so they don’t look weak. Therefore, routine physical examinations are vital to ensure your pet’s health.
Because your vet has no idea what’s happening inside your pet’s body, blood and urine tests are required to provide a complete health picture. Prevention care will aid in helping your pet live a longer and healthy life by identifying problems early and taking care of them efficiently.
