Wellness Examinations are preventative examinations given to “apparently healthy” pets. The purpose of these visits is to make sure your pet is healthy, look for potential health problems early so that action can be taken to treat the problem and decide on what actions are required to optimize your pet’s health and help prevent disease. Over the years, I have seen many pets’ lives improved , lengthened and even saved because of a wellness examination. Sadly, I have also seen many pets that could not be saved because it was simply “too late” and as a veterinarian, I knew the outcome could have been different if I had just seen the pet sooner.
So what happens at your pet’s wellness examination?
The process actually starts prior to your pet’s examination, as you may be given a list of questions about your pet and their lifestyle to help your veterinary team provide the best possible care for your pet or the questions may be asked during the consultation.
You can help by letting your veterinary care team know if you’ve noticed any unusual behavior or physical changes in your pet. Also please bring a list of any medications, including over the counter supplements or products that you use on your pet. Information on your pet’s food and treats is also very helpful. Yes, human food is food, so make sure you let us know that human food your pet gets. What you feed your pet is extremely important as food can be used to help keep your pet healthy, help prevent your pet from developing a medical problem that their “breed” is know to develop or to treat an existing health problem.
Once a team member has taken the medical history, your pet will have a comprehensive examination physical examination by your veterinarian.
Dr. Gaelin O’Grady has been practicing veterinary medicine for over 20 years and wants to share the value in taking your pet for regular wellness examinations.
” During my 20 plus years of veterinary medicine I have found that many owners are really not aware of what a veterinarian is doing during a wellness examination of their pet. In fact, most pet owner’s are focused on getting their pet’s vaccinations. I believe that vaccines are important, however, I, as a veterinarian, believe that regular wellness examinations and owner consultations along with wellness blood and urine testing care are the most important things a pet parent can do to keep their beloved furry family member healthy and happy. Why do I believe this ? A through examination, along with wellness testing can find health problem before it is clinically obvious, which means, I can find the health problem, before , you as the owner even thinks their pet is sick. The earlier we find a health concern, the more likely we can cure it. Even if the problem is not curable, most are treatable and treatment greatly enhances your pet’s quality of life and in many times, lengthens their life too!”
Have you taken your pet to a veterinary clinic for their yearly check-up and found the appointment a whirl-wind appointment and you were done and out in under 15 minutes? Often without you really even getting to ask any questions or you really didn’t understand what the veterinarian was saying? I have worked in clinics like that, one client every 15 minutes and in some cases, I would see more than 1 pet in that 15 minute appointment slot. I did not believe I could do a decent wellness examination during that time. So when I opened Campbell Road Veterinary Services, I decided that my wellness examinations would be 30 minutes long and that each pet (as long as they cooperate!) would get a comprehensive examination.
So here is a summary of what happens at a wellness examination at my hospital.
What will happen during your pet’s wellness examination?
During a routine wellness examination, your veterinary team will ask you questions about your pet’s diet, exercise, thirst, breathing, behavior, habits, elimination patterns (i.e., bowel movements and urination), lifestyle, and general health. Your veterinarian will also perform a physical examination of your pet.
What is checked during my pet’s physical examination?
A physical examination involves observing the general appearance of your pet, listening to their chest with a stethoscope (auscultation), taking measurements such as temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure and intra-ocular pressure and feel specific areas of their body (palpation) and examining your pet’s body from head to tail.
Your veterinarian will observe or inspect:
- How your pet moves, how they walk, sit, lie down and how he/she stand.
- Whether your pet is bright and alert.
- Your pet’s general body condition – whether your pet has an appropriate body weight and body condition (neither too fat nor too thin).
Your veterinarian will auscultate:
- The heart – listening for abnormal heart rate, heart rhythm (“skipped beats” or “extra beats”), or heart murmurs.
- The lungs – listening for evidence of increased or decreased breath sounds.
- Depending on the results of auscultation, your veterinarian may simultaneously listen to the chest and palpate the pulse in the hind legs.
Your veterinarian will :
- Evaluate your pet’s muscle condition to check for any muscle wasting.
- Examine your pet’s haircoat – looking for excessive dryness, excessive oiliness, evidence of dandruff, excessive shedding, or abnormal hair loss.
- Examine your pet’s skin – looking for oiliness, dryness, dandruff, lumps or bumps, areas of abnormal thickening, etc.
- Examine your pet to check for external parasites, masses on the skin or in the subcutaneous layer and overall health of the skin, haircoat and nails
- Examine your pet’s eyes – looking for redness, discharge, evidence of excessive tearing or not enough tears, abnormal lumps or bumps on the eyelids, how well the eyelids close, cloudiness, or any other abnormalities. Your pet’s pressures inside their eyes will be measured to look for glaucoma or uveitis 2 serious eye diseases that cause pain and can result in blindness.
- Examine your pet’s ears – looking for discharges, thickening, hair loss, or any other signs of problems.
- Examine your pet’s nose and face – looking for symmetry, discharges, how well your dog breathes, whether there are any problems related to skin folds or other apparent problems.
- Palpate your pet’s lymph nodes in the region of the head, neck, and hind legs – looking for swelling or pain.
- Examine your pet’s legs – looking for evidence of lameness, muscle problems, nerve problems, problems with the paws or toenails, etc.
- Palpate your pet’s neck/ back/legs to feel for discomfort or abnormalities
- Palpate your pet’s thyroid gland to check for abnormalities. Senior cats are prone to hyperthyroidism which if undetected will cause heart and kidney disease. If found it is treatable.
- Palpate your pet’s abdomen – feeling in the areas of the bladder, kidneys, liver, intestines, spleen, and stomach in order to assess whether these organs appear to be normal or abnormal, and whether there is any subtle evidence of discomfort.
- Examine your pet’s mouth and teeth – looking for tartar build-up, periodontal disease, retained baby teeth, broken teeth, excessive salivation, staining around the lips, ulcers in or around the mouth, or signs of mouth cancer.
- Measure your pet’s blood pressure. Pets also get high blood pressure which causes damage the internal organs. Often high blood pressure goes undetected by the owner until their pet suffers from organ damage such as kidney failure or heart disease. Routine measurement of blood pressure is a way to detect health concerns before they do irreversible damage.
Based on your pet’s history and physical examination, your veterinarian will discuss the results with you and make recommendations for your pet. Such recommendations may be wellness blood/urine/fecal testing or if a concern was found more diagnostic testing. Vaccinations, or blood titre tests (to determine if your pet needs to be vaccinated against distemper/parvovirus and adenovirus) may be recommended.
Your vet will recommend vaccinations and preventative care for your pet based on the results of the examination and important factors such as their age/breed/lifestyle and health concerns. Then your vet will make recommendations for specific preventive medicine treatments such as vaccination, parasite control (including preventive treatments for fleas, ticks, intestinal parasites, and heartworm), nutrition, skin and coat care, joint health, weight management, or dental care. In addition, your veterinarian will discuss your pet’s individual circumstances and decide whether any other life-stage or lifestyle recommendations would be appropriate.
