Yearly exams, also known as wellness exams, are a vital part of a pet's preventive care and can help them maintain their health and quality of life. During these exams, veterinarians can look for early signs of disease, pain, and other health problems, and monitor your pet's overall health.
During the physical exam the veterinarian will examine your pet from head to toe. They may also ask questions about your pet's diet, lifestyle, behavior, and health history. We will get your pet's weight, temperature, pulse rate, and respiration rate. This helps them understand what's normal for your pet and what might be changing.
Depending on your pet's lifestyle, your veterinarian may recommend fecal exams, heartworm tests, or other diagnostic testing:
- Fecal exams: These tests help the veterinarian diagnose your pet, and are recommended at least once a year, though the frequency may vary.
- Heartworm tests: The FDA requires dogs to have an annual heartworm test to ensure the effectiveness of their medication, and to detect and treat heartworms early.
- As part of a complete wellness examination, we recommend wellness screening tests. There are four main categories of wellness testing recommended for dogs: complete blood count (CBC), biochemistry profile, urinalysis, and thyroid hormone testing. Within each category, your veterinarian will advise you about how extensive the testing should be.
Why is it important to have my pet vaccinated?
Vaccinations protect your pet from highly contagious and/or deadly diseases and improve your pet's overall quality of life.
- Vaccination prevents many pet illnesses.
- Vaccination can help avoid costly treatments for preventable diseases.
- Vaccination prevents diseases that can be passed between animals and from animals to people.
- Unvaccinated pets are at risk from life-threatening diseases found in wildlife, such as rabies and distemper.
- Reputable pet boarding, daycare, and training services require vaccination against certain diseases to protect all participating animals.
- Many local and state laws require that household pets—including indoor-only pets—be vaccinated against certain diseases.
Does vaccination ensure protection?
For most pets, vaccination is effective in preventing future disease—especially when vaccines are given as recommended, at the appropriate time points. After a pet has been fully vaccinated, only rarely will their immune system fail to fight off the disease. It’s important to follow the vaccination schedule recommended by your veterinarian to reduce the possibility of a gap in protection.
Which vaccinations does my pet need?
"Core" vaccines are recommended for all dogs and cats, unless there’s a medical need not to vaccinate. "Non-core" vaccines are recommended for certain pets based on their risk of exposure to the disease, such as through their lifestyle or geographic location.
Talk with your veterinarian about your pet's lifestyle, including any expected travel to other locations and contact with other animals. Your veterinarian will consider these and other factors in recommending the vaccines and vaccination schedule that will provide your pet with the best possible protection throughout their life.
Why do puppies and kittens require a series of vaccinations?
Very young animals are highly susceptible to infectious diseases because their immune systems are not yet mature. If their mother has been vaccinated, they receive some protection through antibodies in their mother's milk, but that protection is not long-lasting.
In many instances, the first dose of a vaccine prepares your pet's immune system to recognize the virus or bacteria. Later doses help further stimulate the immune system to produce the important antibodies needed to protect your pet from disease.
To provide the best protection against disease during the first months of life, your veterinarian will recommend a series of vaccinations, usually 2-4 weeks apart. For most puppies and kittens, the final vaccination in the series is given at about 4 months of age. Your veterinarian may adjust this schedule based on your pet’s circumstances and needs.
How often will my pet need to be vaccinated?
After the initial puppy or kitten vaccine series is complete, many vaccines provide adequate immunity when given every few years. Others need to be given more often to maintain a level of immunity that will continually protect your pet. Your veterinarian can recommend a vaccination schedule that best meets your pet’s needs.
What are antibody titers, and do they replace vaccinations?
Antibody titers are blood tests that measure the amount of certain antibodies in the blood. They do not replace vaccination programs, but they may help your veterinarian determine if your pet has a reasonable expectation of protection against disease for the time being.
Your veterinarian will recommend an individualized vaccination plan based on your pet’s needs, to help provide a lifetime of infectious disease protection.
