How Healthy Is Your Pet?
       Your pet ages five to seven years for each human year.  A physical exam for your pet on a yearly basis is the equivalent to you having a physical exam once every five to seven years.  Is this often enough?  Disorders such as kidney disease, liver disease, dental problems, thyroid dysfunction, cardiac disease, cancer, and diabetes occur frequently in our pets.  Like human medicine, regular physical exams combined with lab work can help detect these problems.

When is Your Pet Old?
       A giant breed dog is considered geriatric at six years of age and a cat or small breed dog is geriatric at eight years of age.  “Senior at Seven” is a more simplified rule of thumb.  The older your pet, the more likely he or she is to have a significant health problem.  As our pets get older it becomes increasingly important to perform blood and urine testing to create a more complete picture of their health and to provide baseline laboratory values for future reference.  The benefit of early detection of disease is more successful, less traumatic, and less costly treatment.

AGE OF ONSET OF VARIOUS DISEASES

Disorder

 Canine Feline Disorder Canine Feline
Intestinal Parasites All Ages All Ages Liver Disease 6 Years 6 Years
External Parasites All Ages All Ages Splenic Disease / Cancer 6 Years Rare
Urinary Tract Infection / Stones All Ages All Ages Pancreatic Disease 7 Years 7 Years
Diabetes 4 Years 1 Year Valvular Heart Disease 7 Years 7 Years
Adrenal Gland Disease 2 Years Very Rare Kidney Disease 7 Years 9 Years
Thyroid Disease 4 Years 4 Years Lung Disease / Cancer 10 Years Rare
Glaucoma 4 Years 4 Years

CatChaseMouseDrawing        In order to stay on top of your pet’s health, we offer “Senior at Seven” preventive care work up as an easy way for you to obtain a complete assessment of your pet’s health.  A thirty-percent discount is applied to all services within this wellness program.

This program is scheduled as a drop-off procedure Monday through Friday.  Please leave your pet with us between 7:30 and 8:30 am and pick up after 4:00 pm.  This gives us ample time during the day to collect urine, draw blood, do a complete physical exam, and complete other appropriate tests.  Try to bring in your pet with a full bladder – this will help us collect a urine sample.  We suggest scheduling a wellness program six months after annual vaccinations.  This way your pet is thoroughly examined twice yearly.  Just let us know and we will send you a reminder card for whatever date is convenient.

We believe the old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is true at all stages of life.  Hopefully you will find the programs an economical means for providing this “ounce of prevention”.  If you would like to schedule a wellness check up for your pet, or be added to our reminder system, please speak to any staff member.

Senior at Seven Wellness Workup Includes:

  • Full Chemistry Profile    (screen for diabetes, hepatitis, kidney disease, pancreatic disease, etc.)
  • Thyroid Profile
  • Urinalysis
  • Fecal Exam
  • Complete blood count    (screen for anemia, leukemia, etc.)
  • Glaucoma Testing              (ocular pressure testing)
  • Blood Pressure Check
  • Electrocardiogram
  • Nutrition Counseling