Pet Wellness Care
“Wellness” means more than feeding your pet a balanced diet and taking them for a walk every day. It involves forging a lasting partnership with your veterinarian and taking the initiative to prevent illness in your pet with the help of blood tests, vaccinations, and routine exams. At Skycrest Animal Clinic, we believe knowing each pet and their health history is vital to recommending the best care for their needs.
Have a new puppy or kitten? Is your adult pet due for their yearly checkup?
Why Does My Pet Need a Yearly Exam?
Our pets age quickly, which means that from one year to the next, their condition can also change rapidly. If an illness takes hold, it will be much easier to treat if we can detect it in its earliest possible stage. To fully evaluate your pet’s health and maintain their protection from disease, we typically recommend these services for their wellness visit:
- Nose-to-tail physical exam
- Heartworm, tick-borne disease, and intestinal parasite screening
- Vaccinations
- A discussion about your pet’s nutritional needs
- Microchipping
- Dispensation of parasite preventatives
Parasite Prevention is Essential for Dogs and Cats
Parasites are common, especially in puppies and kittens. At every wellness visit, we recommend bringing in a fresh fecal sample so we can check for signs of roundworms, tapeworms, and other intestinal parasites. To check for heartworm and tick-born diseases, we need to draw a small blood sample.
To keep your pet free of parasites, we prescribe parasite preventatives that they’ll need to take regularly to stay protected. Prevention is easy as long as you keep to a schedule and commit to year-round treatment. Be sure to ask us for recommendations!
Caring for Your Sweet Senior
Just because they’re older, doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy life to the fullest. Senior dogs and cats (over 7 years of age) should see us twice a year for a thorough health check. Like us, the aging process can trigger a variety of issues in pets, such as diabetes, arthritis, and kidney disease. It’s important that your senior pet undergo a complete blood panel and other vital tests to ensure that they are not developing any debilitating diseases.
Cats and dogs (but mainly cats) try to hide symptoms of illness and pain, so keep a close eye on your companion and don’t hesitate to let us know if they’re behaving differently.
Call us at (847) 634-3538 to schedule an appointment!