If you love someone dearly, you want them to live long and healthily. The same applies to your furry friend. Considering that they are such delightful beings, it becomes essential to take care of their well-being. Minor discomforts can be overcome with primary pet care and medicines. But when you think about long-term wellness, you need to invest more time and energy. It would help if you got into mindful thinking about your pet’s health. And chances are, just like humans; you should also get the annual pet check-up.
No one wants to wake-up one day and feel that they have something severe growing in their body, be it an ulcer, tumor or any hormonal imbalance. Similarly, you wouldn’t want your pet to get all cold and immobile suddenly when you wake up one day. There are times, when diseases keep growing silently and shows a terrible outer reaction suddenly. Then it might get too late to curb it. An annual test gives a clue about your pet’s health and allows you to take the correct remedial steps.
What is the annual pet health check-up?
You only take your dog to the vet a few times a month. Other than the desired vaccines, you only check with the vet when you have an essential query. And like humans, no pet is growing young. A few age-related ailments in dogs include poor vision and low energy, which your pet will face occasionally. The ones that can’t get averted will occur anyway, and you need to find a way for the same.
But when it comes to the ailments that you can avert, such as pressure in the heart or stomach owing to obesity, is something that you need to get done. Hence, when you say yes to an annual pet checkup, you essentially get to know whether your dog is in good condition or has any underlying condition that deserves your attention and correct medical remedy. When you can detect an ailment in your pet at the earliest, you can resolve it correctly and ensure that it doesn’t develop into any severe ailment. For instance, a stomach ulcer that goes untreated can sometimes progress to cancer. It is necessary that you get watchful about it.
Hence, all you have to do is get in touch with the vet, who will provide you with the details of the annual check-up. Either they will get the check-up done in their clinic or suggest you to another clinic under an expert vet. You need to apply for the annual check-up and see what the current suggests. You should never miss out on the date and time allotted to you as rescheduling becomes challenging. It delays the check-up, which might not be suitable for the dog.
Treating underlying health conditions
In recent times, taking care of one’s health has become crucial! It is applicable for your pets as well. The reason for the same is that of the pandemic. The novel coronavirus has been reacting rather mischievously in several animal species. And similar to human, even your pet feels fatigued and agitated once they recover. You will need to follow a protocol to ensure that your pet recovers correctly and doesn’t attract any other ailments owing to a weak immune system and shorten its lifespan.
Can the novel coronavirus affect the dogs?
Since the pandemic is here to stay, and the virus is mutating and coming up with new variants, it is necessary to delve into such a question. The limited medical data currently doesn’t throw much light on how the virus can affect dogs. The reports that are accessible currently do suggest that it is possible for the dogs to get affected by the virus and suffer like humans. There have been limited cases about pets getting affected by the virus and suffering. In one case where there was an infection in a Pomeranian of 17 years old, the doctors suggested that the condition was relatively weak. There have been other cases where the symptoms of the ailments have been there, but they didn’t affect the dogs to a considerable extent. The recovery was at the standard speed, and there were also no after-effects. But that doesn’t go on to say that the dogs wouldn’t get affected adversely due to the virus.
Based on the infection cases that have been recorded, people kept their infected dogs quarantined for a set period at a place separate from the home. There have been cases of a few dogs dying during the quarantine, but one can’t say whether it has to do with the virus. It is because some of the dogs kept in the quarantine were aged and perhaps had other ailments too. Having said that, it raises concern for the pet owners of senior dogs.
That is not all. Different dog species will behave differently when it comes to the virus. A German Shepherd will respond differently to a pug or even a husky. Similarly, the coping mechanisms too will be different. Also, if a dog has a sensitive stomach, one can’t say whether the virus will aggravate it after the infection. It might so happen that the dog doesn’t show any signs of ailment and suddenly develops a stomach issue leading to death.
Therefore, since the virus has become airborne, which means sooner or later, every human species will get affected by it, we shouldn’t discount our dogs from here. Considering that they too might get affected and suffer, it is necessary to get the annual check-up done to make sure that you can locate the ailment symptoms while it’s mild and get the same treatment.
It helps to travel safely
Are you planning to travel frequently in recent times? Do you have a dog, and you must carry it wherever you go? If yes, you may need to get the annual check-up done on time to prepare for traveling. The annual check-up will explain the dog’s health and how it will be in the coming days. For instance, if your dog has a benign stomach ulcer, you will know how soon you can get it treated and plan your travel accordingly.
Having said that, you will know whether at all your pet has any physical issues or not. Pets can’t speak a work. Pet owners need to understand whether anything is physically wrong with them based on their non-verbal clues. That means if you see that the dog is behaving rather aggressively or has become very passive, you need to find out why. Once you confirm from the annual check-up that it is nothing to do with the dog’s health, you can address other causes that might make it behave so and resolve the same.
For instance, if it’s a behavior issue, you can contact an expert dog trainer and address the same. It will enable you to solve before you travel so that you can ensure that your pet doesn’t behave in a wayward manner during traveling. Your dog might be prone to motion sickness due to travel and altitude. You can resort to the required medication or tinctures to make them feel better. Once the vet sees the probable concern areas highlighted in the annual check-up, you can decide on the medicines accordingly.
Having said that, you can even select specialized pet care travel solutions so that a professional can take good care of your pet. It will ensure that the professional takes good care of all the minute health symptoms that the pet shows. They will provide them with meals on time and medicines to ensure safety. It will ensure that your pet travels safely and is cared for well.
Deciding on a correct health chart
You must have heard the saying, “You are what you eat.” The same is applicable for your pet. Pet owners must create the best diet chart for their pets and get that done correctly only when they know what is happening inside the pet’s body. For instance, if the pet is prone to obesity and the signs of it are showing in the body, chances are you will have to cut down on carbohydrates for a while. The other best option is to reduce meat consumption for a while and count on other dog proteins and nutrients that will give them vitality and strength.
Finally, an annual check-up will make you aware if your dog is affected by any severe ailment. Sometimes, pets die out of severe ailments because they didn’t get checked up at the correct time. So, when you get the annual check-up done and find that your pet has a sensitive heart or stomach, you can work towards curing it in the best possible way. While no one can cancel out death, it is possible as a pet owner to ensure that your pet lives a good and healthy life as much as possible. That way, you will be content with the fact that you did the needful, and at times, the pet can experience a good recovery.
