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Senior Pet Health Screening
Some Facts
- Pets are now family members.
- Owners want pets to live the best quality life possible.
- One year in the life of a pet is the same as 5-7 in a human.
- One year represents 10-20% of a pet’s life span.
- Detecting disease early prolongs quality life.
- Preventing disease is much less expensive than treating disease.
Reasons for Pet Health Screening
- Pets can’t talk.
- Pets hide illness.
- Clinical signs of disease often do not develop until late in the disease process.
- Many diseases can be detected much earlier through laboratory testing.
- Laboratory screening is very reasonable in cost.
- Screening increases the safety during anesthesia.
- Screening provides “baselines” for future assessment when the pet is sick.
- Screening provides “peace of mind.”
A New Emphasis
As your pet ages, we need to shift gears so that we can stay on top of common age-related problems.
- Early detection of developing conditions. We recommend TWICE-A-YEAR physical exams for our senior patients. Biannual exams provide our veterinarians with the opportunity to prevent problems before they become too advanced and more difficult to control. Sometimes diseases can be detected early and treatment can be started before any physical symptoms arise. The goals are to prevent or minimize disease, discuss issues that are of concern to you, and enhance the quality of your pet’s life.
- Screening tests. It is not necessary to subject your pet to a barrage of complicated or costly medical tests. However, a simple yearly screening of blood and urine to analyze the condition of major organs like the kidneys, liver, and pancreas can give a wealth of useful information. A normal or “negative” test not only gives you peace of mind, it gives our doctors a baseline so they can watch for trends over time.
- Problem management for existing conditions. Regular scheduled appointments allow for an opportunity to individually discuss issues that are of concern to you and stay on top of progressive problems.
- Preventative health care and dentistry. A pet’s immune system can become more susceptible with age. Regular vaccination and good dental health is very important in a senior pet.
- Diet management. Weight loss can be the first indication of a problem. On the other hand, excessive body weight can have health implications as well. We will help you make nutritional choices based on what your pet needs.
What Happens if Abnormalities are Found?
“Health Screening” is a newly recommended strategy to prolong your pet’s life. The foundation of successful disease prevention is early detection. Continued monitoring, further testing, or treatment may be recommended as a result of an abnormal test result.
Recommended Pet Health Screening Procedures
- Urinalysis. Kidney disease becomes first evident in the urine. Microscopic and chemical evaluation of the urine allows us to detect early kidney degeneration BEFORE it can cause serious health problems. Often changes in the diet are all that is needed to stop or slow down the problem.
- Complete Blood Count. A procedure to assess the components of the blood, such as anemia and abnormalities of the various blood cells.
- Blood Chemistry Screen. A series of chemical tests to evaluate the function of the kidneys, liver, pancreas, thyroid, and other body organs.
- Thyroid Screening. Older dogs often develop a “low thyroid” condition. Cats, on the other hand, often develop an “over active” thyroid resulting in many problems.
Common Diseases in Older Pets
Dogs
- Hypothyroidism
- Renal Failure
- Liver Disease
- Diabetes
- Dental Disease
- Heart Disease
- Obesity
- Arthritis
- Cushing’s Disease
- Cancer
Cats
- Hyperthyroidism
- Renal Failure
- Diabetes
- Dental Disease
- Heart Disease
- Obesity
- Cancer
