Wellness Exams for Pets in Old Chatham, NY
Whether your pet is 6 weeks or 6 years of age, they’ll need health care customized to meet their needs. Our pet wellness care services are designed to keep pets healthy through every life stage. These include the standard wellness exam, vaccinations, nutritional counseling, and parasite prevention. We also offer microchipping as a means of permanent identification for your four-legged friend.
If your pet is a puppy or kitten, we’ll give you all the information you need to help them get started on the right paw. This includes spaying/neutering, vaccinations, training, nutrition, socialization, housebreaking for pups, litter box hygiene for kittens and grooming. For adult and senior pets, we’ll assess your pet’s health to determine if any modifications need to be made (food, environment, medication, etc.). Since senior pets are more at risk for certain health problems, we recommend bi-annual exams for them. We may also recommend senior laboratory testing (blood work, etc.).
Pet Wellness Exams
The wellness exam plays a central role in the long-term, preventative care of your pet. For new puppies and kittens, an exam gives us the opportunity to not only meet your new family member, but also make sure they’re healthy so that we can provide additional treatments to ensure their continued good health. With routine exams, we can establish a baseline of knowledge about your pet’s general health status and build a cumulative history. If your pet is a senior, we may also recommend routine X-rays to check their heart and lungs.
Along with building a comprehensive history of your pet’s health, wellness exams enable us to detect problems early so we can treat them more quickly and expect the best results. A full physical exam of your pet will include:
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Wellness Exam & Vaccinations
We recommend that you bring your pet in for a comprehensive wellness exam at least once a year. This allows us to either ensure that your pet is healthy or discuss treatment options if they aren’t. These visits should also include vaccinations, which need to be updated every 1-3 years to protect your pet from certain viruses and diseases. We can customize a vaccination schedule to meet your pet’s specific needs and age during the wellness exam.
Nutritional Counseling
Pet nutrition is just as important for your four-legged friend as human nutrition is for you. During the wellness exam, we’ll check your pet’s Body Condition Score (BCS) to determine if your pet is overweight or underweight and if any dietary changes need to be made. If you have any questions or concerns about your pet’s diet, let us know. We’ll be happy to work out a solution with you.
Parasite Prevention
Both indoor and outdoor pets are at risk for certain parasites and vectors, such as fleas, ticks, and mosquitoes, which can lead to diseases like allergy dermatitis (fleas), Lyme disease (ticks), and heartworm (mosquitoes). This is why we recommend that your pet be placed on a year-round parasite preventive plan through every life stage.
To ensure that your pet stays parasite-free, we recommend the following annual tests:
- Fecal testing (screens for intestinal parasites)
- Heartworm testing
- Snap 4Dx Testing (blood test that screens for vector-borne diseases including Heartworm, Lyme, Ehrlichia canis, & Anaplasma phagocytophilum)
Ready to schedule your pet’s wellness visit at Wood Hill Veterinary Clinic in Chatham? Give us a call! We can’t wait to see you and your four-legged family member!
