By prioritizing the long-term health of our pets on an ongoing basis, we can avoid many medical problems and increase the well-being and life span of our furry family members.
Preventative Care services we offer at Valvet Veterinary Clinics:
- Get regular “well-pet” visits. Don’t wait until problems develop to bring your pet to us. As with humans, problems are easier to detect and treat when they are caught in the early stages, and regular checkups will help ensure the long-term health of your pets.
- Spay or neuter your pets. By spaying and neutering your animals, you will decrease their chances of getting mammary tumors and prostate disease, they will be less likely to wander and get injured or lost, and pregnancies can be avoided. Not only are pregnancies potentially risky for your pet, but additional puppies or kittens will add to already significant overpopulation problems and will also cause a financial burden for you.
- Vaccinate your pets. By vaccinating your pets, you decrease their chances of getting serious and preventable illnesses.
- Use preventative heartworm medications. This is a preventable problem, and a potentially fatal one if ignored.
- Use appropriate flea and tick control. To avoid problems and choose appropriate products, it is best to ask the advice of your veterinarian.
- Regular Dental Cleaning is recommended to prevent tooth and gum problems.
Preventative Care at Home
- Feed a good quality diet. Consult with us to determine the correct diet for your pets. High quality pet food promotes long-term good health for your pets.
- Walk your dog every day, and make sure they get enough exercise. Ask our veterinarians at Valvet Veterinary Clinics about the amount of exercise your breed of dog requires, and provide them with plenty of exposure to fresh air and sunshine. Spending time playing with your cat can also help them to stay active and increase their longevity.
- Maintain proper weight for your animals. Avoiding obesity can also help prevent associated conditions like joint problems, heart problems, and diabetes, so it is critical that your pets maintain a healthy weight. Again, consult with your veterinarian about the ideal weight for your pets.
- Keep your dog on a leash in public at all times. Do not let your dogs wander loose – the chances of them being hit by cars or getting lost are too great to risk letting them run free. Keeping your cats indoors will also help them live longer and prevent them from being injured or killed in traffic as well.
- Do not use any toxic pesticide, fungicide, or fertilizer on your yard where your pets have access to them.
- Store all potentially toxic household products including detergents, etc. out of reach of your pets.
- Brush your dog or cat’s teeth on a regular basis with a toothpaste formulated for dogs or cats, or with bicarbonate of soda – never with toothpaste designed for human use. This practice can help avoid expensive and serious dental problems later on.
- Socialize and train your puppies early. This will help avoid confrontations with other dogs later in life and will also help avoid behavioural problems which can be difficult to deal with in adult dogs.
- Spend time with your pets every day. Spending quality time with them will help their emotional well-being and thus enhance their overall health.
- Never keep your pets in the car on a hot day. Temperatures in a car, even with the windows down, can reach fatal levels within minutes. If the outside temperature is over 20 degrees, it is already unsafe to keep animals in a car.
- When traveling with your pets, keep dogs in a dog carrier or restrained with a special dog seatbelt (not a human seatbelt) and keep your cats in carriers as well. This will help prevent your animals from being injured in an accident, and bear in mind that even at low speeds, unrestrained passengers in a car (whether human, dog, or cat) can be seriously injured.
- Consider insuring your pet with a pet insurance program. There are several pet insurance programs that will cover your pets’ needs in the event of an accident or illness. However, these programs do not cover care at the time of treatment, which means you will need to be ready to pay for medical care when your animal is treated. In addition, these plans have restrictions on which procedures are covered by policies, so read the policy limitations carefully. These policies are not a substitute for having a savings account available to cover necessary medical care.
