Pet Wellness Guide: What to Expect During Your Pet’s Wellness Exams

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. This old saying couldn’t ring truer when it comes to your pet’s wellness. Since pets aren’t talking (we wish they could! Imagine what they would say!) having regular yearly checkups with a veterinary professional is crucial to keep your fur friend in tip top shape.

What to Expect During Your Pet’s Wellness Exam

When taking your pet in for an annual wellness exam, expect hands on-service. The goal of a wellness exam is to ensure there are no subtle changes that need to be addressed. A physical exam should include a comprehensive examination of the:

• oral cavity 
• eyes
• ears 
• heart 
• lungs 
• abdomen 
• coat
• lymph nodes 

In addition to a physical exam, the veterinarian should spend a portion of the visit talking about ways to keep your pet healthy.

Difference Between Pet Wellness and Emergency Visits

When you take your pet in for a visit to the veterinarians for an illness, the doctor’s main goal is to address the problem and get your pet feeling better. They may not take the time to address overall wellness issues, such as regular blood work screening, body condition, dental health, diet, grooming, parasite prevention and vaccines. A sick visit isn’t a substitute for a wellness visit!

How Often Your Pet Should Have A Wellness Exam

Wellness visits will look a little different as your pet ages. For example, puppies and kittens are generally seen frequently in their first year. They need a series of vaccinations and are typically spayed or neutered at that time. When your pet is a healthy adult, you may be tempted to come in less frequently, but annual wellness visits are still recommended. When your pet is a senior, your veterinarian might start recommending biannual wellness visits to ensure they stay healthy.

Signs of a Thorough Pet Wellness Exam

Body Weight

Your pet’s weight is a crucial topic for wellness visits. According to surveys by the Association of Pet Obesity Prevention from 2018, about 56% of dogs are reported to be overweight or obese, and 59% of cats are too heavy.¹ Maintaining your pet’s healthy weight is probably the single best thing you as a pet owner can do to maximize your pet’s lifespan and minimize disease.

One famous study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 2002 showed the effects of diet restriction on lifespan and age-related changes in dogs.³ This study found that lean dogs lived on average two years longer than their overweight littermates. And perhaps even more importantly, the average age of onset of ‘age related’ diseases such as arthritis, were delayed by 2 years as well.

During a wellness visit your veterinarian should be able to help you determine if your pet is overweight, and by how much, and what you can do to get them back into a healthy range.

Pet Dental Health

Oral health is another common wellness topic. Dental disease can start early during a dog or cat’s life and when left untreated, can lead to oral pain, infections, and systemic disease. One study published in the Journal of the British Veterinary Association showed a significant correlation between dental disease and systemic inflammation and disease.²

Learning to care for your pet’s oral health during a wellness visit and scheduling professional cleanings when needed are essential to a healthy pet.

Vaccinations

Many dangerous and even fatal diseases common to our pets can be prevented by vaccines. Discussing with your veterinarian which vaccines are important for your animal is another crucial part of a good wellness visit. In general, core vaccines universally include a Rabies vaccine and Distemper/Parvovirus combination vaccine for dogs, and a Rabies and Upper Respiratory combination vaccine in cats.

Depending on your pet’s lifestyle and region of the country you live, your veterinarian may recommend additional non-core vaccines. For example, if your pup leads a very social lifestyle and frequents dog parks and doggie daycare, you may be required to keep her kennel cough and influenza vaccines updated in addition to her core vaccines. Alternately, an indoor only cat has much less risk for exposure to Feline Leukemia Virus, a non-core vaccine, and might not need to be vaccinated for it.

Maintaining A Healthy Pet Diet

The best diet to feed your loved one will always be hotly debated. Three different veterinarians will likely give you three different opinions! For obvious reasons, a healthy diet will always be linked to a healthier life, but choosing which one can be tough. Chatting with your veterinarian during a wellness visit is a great place to start.

In general, veterinarians agree that it is important to feed for the correct life stage. For example, a puppy should be fed a growth formula until they are done growing. Even more specifically, a giant or large breed puppy should be fed a large breed growth formula. Incorrect nutrition during growth can have catastrophic orthopedic consequences.

Feeding a food that comes from a reputable dog food manufacturing company, with ingredients sourced from the United States or other trusted countries, and is certified by the American Association of Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) is another good starting place for finding a food that will keep your pet as healthy as possible.

Parasite Prevention

Keeping your four-legged family member free from intestinal parasites, fleas, ticks and heartworm disease embodies the phrase ‘an ounce of prevention.’ Especially when it to comes to heartworm disease, which can be extremely difficult, time consuming, and expensive to treat. Heartworm prevention is easy, affordable and effective.

Your veterinarian will have recommendations for what anti-parasiticides are right for your pet based on the region of the country you live, and your pet’s lifestyle. Because parasites are vectors for a ton of diseases, keeping Fido free from worms is a paramount wellness topic.

Diagnostics and Blood Work

Remember when we complained that our pets aren’t talking?? Well, bloodwork is a terrific way to keep tabs on your pet’s internal health. Many diseases that aren’t apparent on a routine physical exam may show up on screening lab work. For example, all dogs should be screened regularly for heartworm disease, which can be silent for years, until it is too advanced to safely treat.

Screening lab work is important prior to anesthetic procedures, and especially for senior pets. The age when a pet becomes a senior is variable. In general, the larger the animal, the sooner we consider them seniors. Great Danes at the age of 6 or 7 are considered seniors, but a cat isn’t generally considered senior until 11 or 12 years of age.

Screening lab work can detect diseases such as hyperthyroidism, chronic kidney insufficiency, and even asymptomatic urinary tract infections. Starting treatment early in the course of these diseases often allows us to better treat and prevent comorbidities that come along with those diseases.

So even if Fido seems fit as a fiddle, don’t skimp on wellness visits. They may be the crucial key to maintaining your pet’s health and will invariably have a positive impact on longevity. When scheduling routine annual veterinary visits, be sure your veterinarian touches on all of these topics to maximize your wellness experience. When it comes to pet insurance, Pets Best offers optional Wellness Coverage that can be added to any Accident and Illness policy to help you pay for your pet’s regularly scheduled veterinary visits.*

*Terms and conditions apply. See policy for details.

References

¹ Association for Pet Obesity Prevention. (2018). 2018 Pet Obesity Survey Results. Retrieved from Pet Obesity Prevention: https://petobesityprevention.org/2018

² José Diogo Pereira dos Santos, E. C. (2019). Relation between periodontal disease and systemic diseases in dogs. Research in Veterinary Science, 125, 136-140. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rvsc.2019.06.007.

³ Kealy, R. D., Lawler, D. F., Ballam, J. M., Mantz, S. L., Biery, D. N., Greeley, E. H., . . . Stowe, H. D. (2002). Effects of Diet Restriction on Life Span and Age-Related Changes in Dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 1315-1320.