Tips To Keep Your Pet Healthy

Want Your Dog
Longer??

Want Your Cat to
Have 9 Lives???

At Brogli, Lane, Weaver Animal Hospital, we know just how important pets are in all of our lives. In fact, most pet owners consider their four-legged friends to be members of the family. We understand and share this bond with you. We know also that our pets make us happier and help us live longer and more fully. They do this by providing companionship, keeping us active, helping us feel safe and secure, relieving boredom, and providing an outlet for care giving and affectionate touch. The medical benefits to us, because of these things, have been shown time and again. As pets become more important to us, and as Veterinary medicine improves, we are able and feel obligated to do everything in our power to insure that your pet enjoys a long, active, healthy and pain-free life. Because of that, we are providing this information to inform you of what actions we can take to keep our furry family members healthy. As you read through this, we hope you will find it helpful, and encourage you to ask us if you have any questions about any of these topics. Pet owners and Veterinarians working together can extend the time and quality we have with our pets.

Grooming

Proper grooming is essential for your pet to be comfortable and disease free. Proper care of the coat, nails, ears, and teeth are essential in the overall care or your animal. For example, ear infections are one of the most common disease we see in pets. If left untreated or unmanaged, ear infection can be extremely painful and lead to hearing loss. Further, ear and skin infections can cause bad odors in your pet which decrease the enjoyment you have being with your animal. Proper care including attention to the ears, coat, nails, teeth, diet and other factors are essential to the well-being of your pet.

Wellness Exams

A starting point for any health plan for your pet should include regularly scheduled visits to your veterinarian for complete physical examinations. During these visits, our doctors can detect many problems in their early stages before they become a significant health risk for your animal. Two of the most powerful elements of preventative health care for pets include regular veterinary exams and routine wellness checks and care at home. Regular visits to the vet allow early detection of disease, allow for nutrition and weight counseling, discussion of behavior issues, parasite prevention and much more. Remember, animals age much faster than we do, and therefore, visits every six to twelve months are needed to properly address your pets care and health.

Parasite Control

Parasites present a ready threat to your pet, and in some instances, to people. Fortunately, most parasites are easily controlled by proper detection (e.g. fecal examinations, flea combs etc.) and by using various products to control these pests. It is extremely important to focus on this aspect of your pets health in preventing many diseases, some of which may be spread to people. For these reasons, we follow the recommendations of The Center For Disease Control by suggesting that you do fecal examinations on your pet every 6 months and by discussing the best ways you may control the various parasites (heartworms, ticks, fleas, intestinal parasites and others).

Weight Management

A high percentage of our pets tend to be overweight. In fact, this is one of the most common problems veterinarians see every day. Keeping your pets weight down with proper nutrition & exercise is critical in extending the length and quality of your pets life. Obesity affects many body systems like the heart and joints (arthritis) and many others. As you visit with your veterinarian, you will learn about the proper weight for your animal and the best ways through diet and exercise to achieve these weights.

Exercise

You know the benefits of exercise. It gives you energy, helps maintain proper weight, prevents boredom, promotes flexibility, helps you live longer and makes you feel better. The same is true for your pet. Further, regular exercise helps prevent some behavior problems. Exercise is of great benefit for both dogs and cats. It is another essential aspect of overall wellness for our animals. Best of all, when we engage in exercise activities with our pets, we benefit as well.

Nutrition

In todays diet conscious age, we are all aware of the benefits and needs of proper nutrition. Again, the same is true for our pets. A wide variety of diet are available for your four-legged friend, and selecting the best one for your pet can be both overwhelming and confusing. Further, if your animal has pre-existing conditions like obesity, arthritis, skin allergies and others it's needs will be different than those of other animals. At Brogli, Lane, and Weaver, we strive to provide you with the knowledge needed to feed your pet properly. We also carry a full line of prescription diets to meet your pet's special needs. If you are uncertain about the best food for your pet, please ask us. That's why we are here, to provide a reliable source of information on your best friend's needs.

Behavior

Behavior problems are one of the most common reasons that pets are euthanized in the U.S. For this reason and others, it is very important that we focus on behavior as we strive to keep are pets healthy. Training enhances your pets life. Trained pets get to go more places, do more things, and generally spend more time with their owners than untrained pets. We recommend that you enroll your dogs in training classes at an early age, ask your veterinarian about behavior problems in both dogs and cats, and seek resources such as books and local training clubs.

Dental Care

We have all noticed that "bad breath" in our pets from time to time. However, we may not know that that bad breath can indicate that your pet is developing gingivitis and periodontal disease that is both painful and can lead to tooth loss and other diseases. It is estimated that dental disease is one of the most common problems in our pets affecting over 85% of animals over 3 years of age. Left untreated, bacteria that causes dental disease can get into your pet's blood stream and affect many internal organs such as the heart, liver and kidneys. For these reasons, we recommend dental exams yearly and emphasize proper care at home and dental scaling and polishing as needed by your veterinarian.

Vaccination

Vaccines are given to pets to prepare the body's immune system against invasion by a particular disease-causing organism. Because we have great vaccines available to protect your pets, we have seen a significant decrease in many serious diseases in animals (e.g. distemper, parvo, feline leukemia). For vaccines to be effective, they must be given regularly according to the labeled recommendations. Different animals have different needs with respect to vaccines based on things like where they live, frequency of boarding, age etc. Your veterinarian will discuss your pets unique vaccine needs at your 6 month or yearly physical exams. Remember. Puppies and kittens have special needs and need to start receiving vaccines at an early age.

Spaying & Neutering

There are many benefits to spaying or neutering your pet if you are not going to breed that animal. Benefits include controlling the population of unwanted pets, preventing many unwanted behavior problems, decreasing the incidence of some tumors, and preventing life threatening infections of the reproductive organs. Spaying and neutering your pet at a proper age will help insure that your friend lives a long, healthy life.

Routine Blood Screening

Diagnostic testing of the blood is important because it is the most sensitive and accurate method of early detection of subclinical disease in your pet. This is the very same reason your doctor tests your blood when doing yearly physicals. By detecting disease states at an early stage, we can often intervene by using special diets and medications to slow or halt disease progression. For these reasons, we offer and recommend these tests as part of your regular wellness visits. Further, as your animal ages or as your animal goes to surgery, these tests become even more important. Let us know if you would like to perform these valuable tests on your animals.

Conclusion

These are some of the things we feel that you need to be aware of as pet owners. However, our goal is to insure that you and your pet enjoy fully the owner-animal bond, and hope that you will not hesitate to involve us in the care of your animal. That's why we are here. Please call us if you have any questions about any aspect of your pets well-being.