Saving Money With Preventive Screenings and Lifestyle Packages for Your Pet
In today’s world, prevention care is the trend in modern medicine. So is saving money! This is also true in veterinary medicine. Rather than responding to a disease once it occurs, we prefer to prevent the disease from occurring, whenever possible, through wellness care, annual diagnostic screening, and healthy lifestyles for your fur friend. This saves money as well as the emotional expense of having to watch your pet suffer.
Let’s take a closer look at preventive screenings and lifestyle options for your pet, and why they matter in disease prevention and longevity.
Overview of Pet Wellness
Your pet’s annual check-up is what we like to refer to as wellness care. Yet it’s more than just a quick check in with your veterinarian for shots. What is wellness care? It is a holistic approach to a pet’s health that incorporates lifestyle, nutrition, current health status, and health goals for better quality of life and increased lifespan.
At your pet’s wellness visit, some of the key areas we recommend to focus on include:
- Complete physical examination
- Diagnostic testing, such as intestinal parasite heartworm testing
- Dental examination
- Hearing and vision screening
- Muscle, joint, and mobility examination
- Nutrition and diet consultation
- Overview of behavior, training, and socialization
- Time for your questions
Preventive Screenings for a Clear View
Preventive screenings are annual tests we run to determine changes to your pet’s baseline of health. The baseline of health is one of the first “snapshots” we take of your pet when they are generally healthy, so that we can use it as a comparison for future screenings.
Through preventive screening, we can look into the following:
- Blood counts to determine anemia, infection, etc.
- Kidney function
- Liver enzyme levels
- Thyroid health
- Urinary tract health
- Electrolyte counts
- Diabetes and blood sugar screening
- Tick-borne illnesses, heartworm, intestinal worms, etc.
- Feline Leukemia virus/FIV virus
Diagnostic testing becomes more important as a pet ages. Cats, in particular, do not often show signs of discomfort and illness, so we will use screening to understand your feline’s true health. Diagnostic tests are one of the best tools, at every stage, to promote disease prevention and to get a measure of general wellbeing.
Individualized Prevention Planning
Your pet’s lifestyle (diet, exercise, grooming, dental care, and so on) determines their wellness for better or worse. When we meet with you and your furry loved one, we can look at all of these important factors in creating good health and happiness.
If your pet currently has an illness or condition, we factor in treatment and supportive care, which might include changes to diet and exercise. Some of the things a prevention plan might include for your pet are:
- Exercise recommendations
- Diet and treats
- Supplements
- Vaccinations and parasite prevention
- Dental care
- Environmental enrichment
- Training and socialization
All of these factors are important and are seen as a complete, holistic approach to health care for your four-legged friend. Prevention is worth a ton of financial savings down the line.
The team at Harpeth Hills Animal Hospital believes that preventive screenings and a healthy lifestyle are one of the best ways you can ensure good health for your pet and avoid the greater expense of treating a disease instead of preventing it. Please contact us for more information about our unique healthy lifestyle packages or to schedule an appointment.
