Many caring, responsible pet owners ask the same question: if my pet is healthy, why should I bring them to the vet? Perhaps you only visit the doctor when you’re not feeling well. The problem is, our pets age at a much faster rate than we do. That means that they’re much more susceptible to various illnesses and diseases, many of which can be prevented if the proper care is taken on a regular basis. The truth is, even animals that appear perfectly healthy on the outside may be masking an underlying illness. Routine wellness visits, conducted once or twice a year, provide our experienced doctors with the opportunity to identify many potential health concerns in their early stages, allowing us to address these concerns before they develop into a more serious and costly problem. This can add years to your pet’s life and vastly improve the quality of those years.
Arcadia Veterinary Clinic offers comprehensive wellness services to help keep our patients happy and healthy, both presently and throughout the course of their entire lives. Our wellness care is designed to address the unique needs of each patient we serve, and to adapt to any changes as they occur over time. This customized approach to health care provides your pet with the most effective veterinary care available because it is tailored specifically to them. At Arcadia, we recognize that health care is not one-size-fits-all and we strive to provide the individualized care that each pet deserves.
Wellness visits at Arcadia Veterinary Clinic include thorough physical examinations, through which our veterinarians will examine your pet’s external health, including the eyes, ears, nose, mouth and skin. Then, we’ll evaluate the heart and lungs to ensure that they are functioning properly. We may recommend a number of diagnostic tests to further assess your companion’s wellness. We’ll also use this time to discuss such important matters as nutrition and weight management, parasite control, microchip identification, spay and neuter surgery, behavior and anything else that you or the vet deem important to your pet’s overall wellbeing.
You’ll notice that during wellness visits we’ll ask you a lot of questions. This is so that we can learn more about who your pet is, what their lifestyle, habits and preferences are, and what all of that information says about their risk factors. These unique risk factors will allow us to develop a customized vaccination plan to help keep your pet safe from a variety of serious, sometimes life threatening diseases. Vaccines are important, but not every one is necessary for every pet. The goal is to protect your companion without overdoing it.
Finally, we’ll use wellness visits to provide you, the responsible pet parent, with all of the education and tools you need to keep your companion happy and healthy for many years to come. We encourage you to ask questions and bring up any concerns that you may have, as we want to make you an active participant in your pet’s health care. We don’t want to just be your pet’s doctor; we want to become your trusted partner, with whom you will work to ensure that your animal family member receives the best possible care throughout the course of their life.
You want what’s best for your pet, and so do we. It starts with a lifelong commitment to ongoing wellness and preventative care. Wellness visits allow our veterinarians and care team to get to know you and your pet better, develop a customized health care plan, take proactive measures to prevent illness and disease, and manage your companion’s health over time. In other words, wellness care provides the foundation upon which your pet can enjoy a lifetime of good health. Don’t wait until your pet becomes sick to bring them in to see us. Invest in the ongoing care that will help your pet enjoy as many happy, healthy years as possible.