What is considered preventative care for dogs?
Preventative care is anything from what we will normally say is prevention like flea, tick, heartworm, intestinal parasite prevention, but also annual exams. Especially when they're puppies, we need to make sure we're checking them out, offering supplements and whatever else we need to prevent certain disease processes.
Dr. Lander
Advanced Animal Care in Richmond
What information does my veterinarian need to know about my dog's lifestyle before providing preventative care recommendations?
Their activity level at home is really important, especially for things like them being prone to osteoarthritis. Also, we'll want to know what environments they're in, what their house is like. Do they go on hikes? Are they around water? Certain vaccines might be more important at that time. Also, that comes into play for fleas and ticks as well.
What recommendations will my veterinarian make when it comes to my dog's preventive care plan?
It will depend on those questions about their history. We may kind of alter certain things, whether it be recommending weight loss if they're already a larger breed and they're more prone to osteoarthritis. And as mentioned, we may make certain recommendations based on lifestyle and what activities they enjoy.
What is the difference between insurance and a wellness plan?
Insurance is something that you can buy and pay monthly for just like a lot of human insurance. That way, you don't have to pay necessarily out of pocket for certain veterinary medical expenses. A wellness plan involves paying upfront for something like an inclusive package, whether it’s for radiographs and dental exams, cleanings, etc.
How can I keep my dogs safe while in a car?
A harness is really important for your dog. You can attach the harness to a strap that has a buckle that actually buckles into the same buckle that we use for our seatbelts in the car.
Why should I keep my dog on a leash when in public?
This is huge, not only for your dog's safety but for the safety of other dogs and other people. You're being accountable for your dog. If another dog comes up to you, you are responsible for your dog, you can get control, and this goes for if the roles are reversed. You want to have control of your dog if either of them were to break out.
What can I do to keep my house and yard pet safe?
If you're not going to keep your dog on a leash at all times when at home, definitely having a fenced-in yard not only keeps them safe from running away but also prevents other animals from coming into that yard, limiting their exposure to conflict. I'd say that's probably key for a lot of people.
What pesticides are harmful to my dog?
Anything inside that's trying to kill something can be hazardous. So even if the dose won't necessarily kill that dog, it can have long-term effects, whether neurologic or bleeding disorders. The first one that comes to mind that you have to be careful of having around the house is rodenticides, or mouse and rat poison.
What are the most common dog health conditions that can be prevented with a good wellness plan?
Diabetes is a good one. Having a dog on the leaner side rather than the overweight side helps reduce the chance of diabetes, especially in cats and dogs. Keeping a dog lean will also help reduce the chance of inflammation of the bones and the joints, or osteoarthritis. Dental disease is also often overlooked. Many think to themselves, "What's the big deal?" It's important for them to have regular dental exams and cleanings in order to preserve their teeth.
If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (859) 202-3641, you can email us, or you can reach out on Facebook. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can.
Dog Preventive Care - FAQs
Dr. Lander
Advanced Animal Care in Richmond
What does dog preventative care mean?
Dog preventative care is kind of a misunderstanding. We call things like flea, tick, and heartworm products preventative care but, honestly, preventative care is primarily an annual exam, at the very least, by your veterinarian to talk about adding certain prescriptions or making lifestyle changes at home.
How does dog preventative care help?
It's kind of in the term there in that it's the prevention of disease.
How often should my dog be seen for preventative care?
At the very minimum when they're a puppy and they're getting vaccines, we should see them every three weeks until they're about four months of age but, after that, we should see them on an annual basis.
What will my veterinarian do during a dog preventative care appointment?
A full physical exam is our basis there. Even just seeing them walk into the clinic is a really good way to assess how they're ambulating, how their motility is at home, but otherwise, we'll do some simple blood work like a heartworm test, et cetera, to get them on these products here.
What preventative medicine does my dog need monthly?
Some products aren't necessarily monthly, but more commonly, they are. So for example, here we have Simparica TRIO. That's probably what we use a lot now because it's all-in-one heartworm, flea, tick, and two intestinal parasites, all in one monthly tablet. It's awesome. Revolution is a topical product whereas this one's oral. It's for heartworm, fleas, and some intestinal parasites. And then Heartgard is for heartworm and intestinal parasites. And then we have Bravecto, which is traditionally a three-month product, but we actually did just get the one month as well. So depending on where you are financially, this is good for fleas and ticks.
If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (859) 202-3641, you can email us, or you can reach out on Facebook. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can.
Dog Preventive Care - FAQs 2
Dr. Sarah Crank
Advanced Animal Care - Waco
What does preventative care do for my dog?
Preventative care is something that you can give your dog to prevent diseases that they otherwise would not be getting exposed to or affected by.
What illnesses are staved off by good dog preventative care?
Illnesses such as Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, anaplasmosis and Rocky Mountain spotted fever are all things that are human type of tick-borne diseases that dogs can get as well. You are preventing that by giving them preventative care. With fleas, they can become very anemic because of the amount of blood they can lose. Preventative care includes preventions against heartworm disease as well. The list goes on and on. Preventative care is a lot easier and cheaper than treatment.
Will dog preventative care keep my dog flea and tick free?
It's going to do its best possible job. You still need to watch over your dog, especially if you're going out on any hikes or they're in fields where they could potentially have increased exposure. Also make sure that you are giving your dog preventative care routinely to make sure it is still effective.
How does preventative care help my dog in all stages of life?
For puppies, you have flea, tick and heartworm preventions and vaccines preventing diseases. Similar preventions are used for adult dogs . You have preventative care of fleas, ticks and heartworms. You should be consistent on that and make sure their vaccines stay up to date whenever they're around other dogs at the dog park. In your senior dogs, you want to have preventative care by checking out some blood work levels and making sure that you're not having any issues regarding their organs as those can start to get some diseases over time.
Is preventative care less expensive than treatment?
Often, it is. I would much rather prevent diseases in dogs than have to treat them. It won't have nearly as big of an impact on your dog's body and it's usually easier on your pocketbook.
Can preventative care save my dog's life?
It can. There are certain diseases that can be life threatening, especially things like heartworm disease.
If you still have other questions and you'd like to reach out to us, you can call us directly at (859) 369-5678, you can email us, or you can reach out on social media. But please do reach out, and we'll get back to you as fast as we can.