Why Wellness Blood Testing Is Important for Our Furry Friends

Why Wellness Blood Testing Is Important for Our Furry Friends

September 15, 2021

When it comes to caring for pets, everyone has a different “parenting” style. But one thing that should be included in all pet parent care routines is regular checkups with the vet.

Why do regular vet visits matter? There are many reasons why you need to take your pet to the vet regularly. For starters, pets are good at hiding when they’re sick or when something’s wrong with their body. This may be due to their lack of ability to really tell us what’s going on, but regardless, it can be hard to tell if something is wrong, even for the most attentive of pet owners.

Another reason why it’s important to have regularly scheduled wellness exams for your pet is that it establishes a baseline of health. This way, if you suspect something might be wrong, your vet will have past data to compare to in order to see if anything’s out of sorts.

This is especially useful when it comes to wellness blood testing. Having a “normal” set of blood and organ values can help diagnose those otherwise hidden ailments. It’s extremely helpful to have these values tracked over a number of years to identify trends that can be addressed early on to help your pet live a longer, healthier life.

Regular blood testing can also help find diseases and other conditions that might otherwise go undetected until they reach a critical stage. Blood testing can help identify issues like organ failure, anemia, infections, leukemia, heartworm, Lyme disease and a host of other ailments early on, making them more easily treatable.

How often should you schedule pet wellness visits?

How often you need to schedule vet wellness visits depends on the age of your pet. For kittens or puppies, you’ll need to bring them in every four weeks or so until they are 16 weeks old to ensure they are getting their proper vaccines. The vet will also test for a wide range of common and dangerous diseases. Another checkup should be scheduled for when your pet is six months old, which is a good time to have them spayed or neutered.

While your pet is between one and seven years old, it’s good to bring them in for checkups once a year. These exams usually include a physical exam and possibly blood exams. There may also be vaccine booster shots required at certain stages of your pet’s life. You may also want to discuss with your vet whether you should bring in a stool sample so they can check for parasites.

Older pets should get wellness exams twice a year. These may include blood and urine tests as well as physical exams. This is a good time to bring up any changes you notice in your pet’s behavior, as these may be signs of a developing medical condition.

Do you need to take your pet to the vet for their regular checkup? For wellness checks and all your other veterinarian needs, contact St. Francisville Animal Hospital today.

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