As a pet owner, you want what's best for your pet. Keeping your pet healthy and fit can be a challenge on your own. Fortunately, you can partner with us to keep your pet in optimal health. Annual wellness exams from Johnstown Veterinary Associates play a key role in the health and wellness of your pet and are essential to your pet's preventative care.
Why Do Pets Need Wellness Exams?
A wellness exam serves several purposes for your pet. First, it gives your vet a chance to prevent health problems before they start, by recommending changes to your pet’s diet or lifestyle. Second, it enables your vet to detect signs of illness or health issues early on when they’re more treatable, so your pet can recover more quickly. Wellness exams also provide an opportunity to update your pet’s vaccinations or parasite prevention treatment or perform diagnostics to uncover hidden medical issues. These preventive services are essential to your pet’s overall health.
What to Expect from a Wellness Exam
A pet wellness exam is a hands-on inspection of your pet’s body to determine the state of his overall health. During this exam, our vets will check your pet’s eyes, nose, mouth, ears, coat, and skin for signs of irregularities or infection. We’ll assess your pet’s gait and examine his joints for signs of arthritis. We’ll palpate your pet’s abdomen and listen to his heart and lungs to detect signs of cardiac or respiratory illness. We’ll also weigh your pet and take his vital signs and record this information for future reference. We will always ask if your pet is on a flea, tick and heart worm preventative and if your pet is on any special diet.
A complete wellness exam will include diagnostic tests like x-rays or an ultrasound and blood work to uncover hidden internal health issues. If you have questions about your pet’s health, diet, exercise, behavior, or lifestyle, this would be a good time to discuss these matters with your vet. During your visit, your vet can provide valuable input on how to maintain or improve your pet’s health at every stage of his life.
Oral health, parasite control, spay and neuter surgery, and vaccinations are additional aspects of preventive care that your vet may address during a wellness exam to prevent dental problems, heartworm, and infestations, and keep your pet free of contagious diseases. Spaying and neutering not only prevent unwanted pregnancies but also protects your pet from reproductive cancers and infections that can lead to unpleasant and harmful situations.
See Your JVA Veterinarian for Pet Wellness Care
Wellness exams and preventative care can help keep your pet looking and feeling its best year after year. To schedule a wellness exam for your furry family member, contact Johnstown Veterinary Associates in Johnstown, PA at (814) 536-5105.