PREVENTIVE CARE FOR YOUR DOG
Preventive care is a course of medicine which promotes proper nutrition, vaccinations, deworming and a healthy environment. This helps your puppy to grow into a happy, healthy adult dog. It begins before your puppy is even born and lasts until well into his senior years. Preventive medicine forms the core of most veterinary practices and is what most veterinarians routinely practice.
Preventive care for the puppy
- Routine physical examinations to evaluate weight and vitality
- Deworm at regular intervals to remove harmful parasites that rob puppies of nutrients
- Puppies should be dewormed every 2 weeks
- Begin heartworm prevention when old enough
- Control fleas
- Vaccination against diseases that can be harmful or deadly to puppies
- We vaccinate against distemper, parvovirus, coronavirus, hepatitis and leptospirosis
- Bordetella (‘kennel cough’) vaccine is recommended if you will be boarding or showing your dog
- Assess that proper nutrition is provided
- Assess that the puppy is in an appropriate environment with plenty of socialization
- Discuss spaying and neutering to prevent unwanted animals and to avoid costly health problems later in life
Preventive care for adult dogs
- Annual physical examinations and weight monitoring
- Annual vaccination against disease
- Dogs entering areas known to contain ticks that transmit Lymes disease should be vaccinated yearly
- Routine parasite control
- Dogs should have regular deworming at least twice per year
- Dogs should be on heartworm prevention from May through November
- Control fleas to prevent tapeworms
- Assess of proper nutrition
- Assess any behavioral concerns
Preventive care for senior dogs
- Annual or bi-annual physical examinations and weight monitoring
- Appropriate vaccinations
- Parasite control
- Regular deworming, heartworm and flea control are important
- Evaluation of nutrition
- Behavioral evaluation
- Bloodwork and other laboratory work to screen for potential disease
The goal in preventive care is to ensure a long and healthy life, free from disease, and rich in interaction and socialization. Prevention of disease is always cheaper than diagnosing and treating disease.
Please feel free to ask one of our veterinarians to discuss any or all of the aspects of preventive care. We are here to help you help your dog have a long and healthy life.
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