Taking care of your best friend, there are few things that are way more important than people recognize. Regular wellness exams are definitely one of them.
A healthy young dog should be seen by a veterinarian at least once a year. Senior dogs should have their checkups at least twice a year.
The purpose of wellness exams
Why take your dog to the vet when there is nothing wrong with them?
Visiting a vet when your dog is ill is certainly important. But in many cases, when your dog starts showing symptoms, some diseases can already be in their advanced stage.
A regular health evaluation can address early dental disease, weight issues, orthopedic issues and catch a systemic disease or organ damage early.
A regular check-up should include physical examination, urinalysis, stool analysis, blood panel, and heartworm testing.
You can read more about wellness exams: Dog Wellness Exams How To: What’s the Difference between Annual Exams and Wellness Exams?
Jasmine
With Jasmine, regular wellness exams might seem redundant—with one thing or another, she’s at the vet at least once a month.
However, even though her vet does check her thoroughly every time she’s there, there are some things we don’t do every time, particularly full blood workup.
We do these twice a year unless there is a reason to check the blood in between. In the spring, we include further tests, such as thyroid hormone levels for Jasmine, heartworm testing for both guys, and last time we also tested for tick-borne diseases.
In the fall we typically run blood panel only.
With the Veterinary Care Plan, it was painless this time, because these things are all included in the plan. A good reason to get one of these plans right there—you don’t have to skimp on wellness exams because of financial reasons. Since you’re already paying the subscription, you might as well use up all the benefits it offers.
Physical examination
The exam confirmed that our guys are at their ideal body condition, and their mouths are in good shape.
These are very important things to keep under control. Hubby thinks they are skinny, well, he can think what he wants, as long as he gets on with the program 🙂
When you think your dog is skinny, they’re probably just at the right point.
I have to admit, that every time we run Jasmine’s blood panel I am a bit nervous. She’s had her share of health challenges and she had recently turned 9. I always worry that the blood might discover some problem we are not aware of.
I was on pins and needles, awaiting the results.
Jasmine’s bloodwork results
Jasmine took her blood test; she passed; didn’t even study.
When it finally showed up in her online file, I held my breath a little bit before I opened it.
But it looks quite good! Not only that but is has also improved from the last year. Jasmine’s blood doesn’t look all that different from JD’s, who is a healthy 4-year old.
I wouldn’t say it is a textbook perfect blood panel, but the improvement is clearly visible.
Our hard work paid off
We work very hard on keeping Jasmine’s issues in check, improving her nutrition, and well being.
The main reason I started studying dog nutrition was to learn how I can improve Jasmine’s health. It looks that the things we’re doing are working.
You go, Jasmine!
When was the last time your dog went for a full wellness exam?
Related articles:
Dog Wellness Exams How To: What’s the Difference between Annual Exams and Wellness Exams?
Veterinary Wellness Exams: The Secret Benefit
Further reading:
What Is a Wellness Examination, and How Often Should Your Veterinarian Perform One?