Tuesday, December 17, 2019

The Importance of Pet Wellness Care

Pet wellness care is an integral part of every companion animal’s health program. The best thing you can do for your four-legged family member is commit to bringing them in to see their veterinarian annually or semiannually for an exam. At our animal hospital in Pittsburgh, we provide every pet with a personalized, complete wellness plan that focuses on preventing the onset of disease and raising their quality of life.



Ensuring a Healthy Start for Puppies and Kittens
Puppies and kittens are tougher than we give them credit for, but they can also be at a much higher risk for illness and infection than adult dogs and cats. Their immune systems are still developing, and if they are 6-8 weeks old, they have likely lost the antibodies they obtained from their mother’s milk.
Additionally, puppies and kittens are often born with intestinal parasites such as roundworms, which can be passed from the mother to her litter either while they are in the womb or nursing. Intestinal parasites can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and other issues in young pets. With blood and fecal testing, we can screen for these pests and offer various safe treatments to eradicate the intruders.

Setting a Health Baseline and Maintaining Your Pet’s Health
Another important benefit of annual/semiannual wellness exams is being able to establish a baseline of health. This allows us to compare your pet’s “normal” health status with proceeding exams, which can make it easier for us to detect unusual health changes sooner. Furthermore, our goal when your pet reaches adulthood is to maximize and maintain their health for as long as possible. Seeing them annually means we can monitor their condition and offer advice to improve it.

Detecting Disease, Parasites, and Congenital Issues
Routine wellness exams are the best opportunity we have for screening your pet. This includes blood, fecal, and urine testing, which can tell us a lot about what’s going on inside. Thanks to our capabilities, we can screen dogs and cats for heartworm disease, Lyme disease, intestinal parasites, bladder infections, diabetes, thyroid problems, and much more. 

Keeping Senior Pets in a State of Comfort
Like us, dogs and cats also experience the effects of aging, including arthritis, muscle weakness, vision and hearing loss, diabetes, heart disease, and more. We hope to prepare every pet for this stage of life with consistent wellness care and an eye toward the future. Weight loss, pain management, joint health, and immune system support are just a few important aspects of senior pet wellness care.