Wellness Care and Preventative Medicine

Annual Health Exams

Your pet’s health is very important to us. Prevention is the key to a healthy pet. Preventative medicine includes vaccination, parasite control (flea/tick/heartworm/internal parasites), and early detection. Finding conditions before they become serious problems is the basis behind annual exams, and can keep your pet healthy for longer with appropriate treatment. Exams give a baseline of the pet’s health standards and allow the doctor and client to set protocols based on that particular pet. An exam is a time when the vaccine protocol, senior pet health care, behavior and nutrition might be discussed, depending on your pet’s needs. As your pet ages, normal aging conditions may occur that you may not be aware of - these can be diagnosed early through routine laboratory exams, and as a result can be easily and inexpensively maintained before they become serious and more costly.

Vaccination

Vaccinations are key in preventing many life-threatening illnesses. For example, parvovirus, an often fatal virus in puppies, is easily prevented with an appropriately timed vaccination protocol. Panleukopenia is equally as devastating and preventable in kittens. The vaccine protocol that is appropriate for your pet will be determined during your health exam, as some pets have higher risk for exposure than others. All kittens and puppies should receive serial vaccination from two to four months of age, every 3 weeks, to allow protection while their immune systems develop the ability to provide appropriate immunity for a longer duration.

Parasite Prevention

Fleas, ticks, heartworms, and internal parasites like roundworms and hookworms can not only affect your pets, but can affect you as well. Prevention from infection and infestation by these common parasites has been the target of much research, and many products are available at this time. CPH carries a selection of these products, including:

• Revolution for cats (heartworm, fleas and internal parasites)
• Advantix for dogs only (fleas and ticks)
• Sentinel for dogs only (heartworm, fleas and internal parasites)
• Capstar for dogs and cats (adult fleas)