Wellness Visits and Testing For Your Pet
We recommend that you
bring your pet in yearly for a wellness visit and needed
vaccinations. During that visit, it is recommended that we do
some screenings. A fecal test will show if there are any
intestinal parasites. A heartworm test, which is a blood test,
is required each year in order to purchase heartworm
preventative and to insure that your pet does not have heartworm
disease.
As your pet gets
older, our veterinarians may recommend a wellness blood test.
Since our pets cannot tell us how they feel and often diseases
and/or conditions start out with very subtle changes, the
wellness test can give the veterinarian a wealth of knowledge
about your pet.
Part of the wellness test involves a
complete blood count (CBC). This test gives information about
the various cell types i.e. the red cells, the white cells,
etc. A blood chemistry profile gives information on how the
organs of the body are working. A thyroid screening will relate
your pet’s thyroid health and may indicate an overactive or
under active thyroid gland. As you can see the wellness
testing can help detect health problems which otherwise may have
gone undetected for too long of a time.
