Routine checkups: Why are they important?
By: Monica Bock veterinary technician in training at Zimmvet
What are routine checkups?
Routine checkups will consist of a yearly or bi-yearly physical and lab work. This is important, because often while technology has advanced, we may not catch a disease or parasite from the first sample taken. This can also aid in treatment of your pet if something is consistent within the routine checkups, it can be monitored and growth or progress of the issue can be tracked for better treatment. This would also be the time we vaccinate your pet from unwanted disease that could be potentially fatal to you or your pet.
What type of pets need them?
Routine checkups are recommended for all pets healthy in appearance or not! Many pets are good at hiding discomfort, pain or illness and this can make it difficult for even the pet parent to identify an issue with their pet. No matter how well you may know your pet, things can be missed and could potentially be detrimental to that pet’s wellbeing if treated too late. Routine checkups are even more essential when the pet is older, as with ageing comes illness and discomfort.
What your veterinarian is looking for in a physical:
Head, fingers, knees, and toes! Your doctor will check everything with a quick assessment of the pet’s outward appearance. Looking at your pet’s body condition score, ears, eyes, lymph node sizes, toes, knees/ joints, abdomen, throat, mouth and for any lumps and bumps on the body your doctor can get a better idea if more testing would be needed for a potential disease or ailment. If your pet is considered a senior, a doctor may also add eye pressure, eye testing or take more time talking about joint related diseases that tends to be common in older pets but not as common in younger pets.
Lab testing and bloodwork:
At both your annual and biannual exam bloodwork is generally done to ensure your pets health adding additional trend data that can be looked at to monitor progression of a disease or to ensure that your pet is continuously healthy. Depending if your pet is considered a senior, juvenile or young adult bloodwork may differ slightly. Depending on the age of the pet they can be more prone to ailments and disease thus need to be tested for different things.
Biannual vs annual checkups:
Its biannual checkup times! Many people question why they need to come back again for more lab work and a checkup as they did so earlier in the year. A biannual while important in itself is not the same as the annual exam, though similar procedures are performed. Biannual exams are meant to ensure that there is nothing new could have popped up since the beginning of the year and to record trends of upcoming or confirmed ailments due to the fact that pets age differently than humans.
Conclusion:
Keepin up with your pet’s health is important, a thorough examination of the pet can ensure your pets health and well-being. A yearly check up combined with your biannual can track trends and identify problems early on, proving increasing your pet’s quality of life. Even if you can’t see any signs of disease doesn’t mean that they are not sick or in pain this is why its important to schedule your routine examinations in a timely manner.
