The Greatest Gifts
12/13/2017
Your pet is a loved and valuable member of your family, so it only makes sense that you want to buy him a special holiday gift. If you decide on a toy, we at Glencoe Veterinary Clinic would like to remind you of the following important safety considerations:
Preventive Care Helps Your Senior Pet Age Well
9/15/2017
You may have heard that one year in a dog or cat’s life is equivalent to seven years for a human. That isn’t quite accurate. According to the American Veterinary Association, the aging formula for companion animals goes more like this:
- Fifteen human years by the end of the first year
- An additional nine human years for the second year
- An additional five human years for each year thereafter
No matter how you calculate it, there’s no denying that dogs and cats age significantly faster than people do. Many begin to experience health problems associated with middle age around age seven and officially become seniors by age ten. That’s why we recommend more frequent preventive care exams for pets starting around midlife. When you consider that one year is like five years for an older pet, it makes sense to come in for a check-up at least twice a year.
Common Health Issues in Senior Pets
We tend to diagnose these problems more often in middle-aged and senior dogs and cats than we do in younger ones:
We tend to diagnose these problems more often in middle-aged and senior dogs and cats than we do in younger ones:
Arthritis: The cartilage in bones acts as a cushion to prevent them from rubbing together. The normal aging process causes the cartilage to wear away, which leads to inflammation and pain. Some indications your pet could have arthritis include loud vocalizing when you pick her up, stiff gait when walking, reluctance to jump, and over-reliance on some limbs while avoiding using others.
Cancer: The three most common types of cancer in cats include squamous cell carcinoma, lymphoma, and soft-tissue sarcoma. Dogs present most often with hemangiosarcoma, lymphosarcoma, and osteosarcoma. Look for early signs such as unintended weight loss, low energy, behavior changes, and slow-healing wounds.
Diabetes: Aging, obesity, genetic inheritance, and several other factors can cause the pancreas to produce inadequate amounts of insulin, which gives your pet energy. Typical symptoms of diabetes in pets include irritability, increased need to urinate, fatigue, unintended weight loss, distorted vision, and increased water consumption.
Kidney disease: Toxins can start building in your dog or cat’s kidneys and cause a gradual loss of vitality. Your pet needs healthy kidneys to properly eliminate waste products. Waste material remaining in the body can cause dysfunction. Symptoms to look for include soiling accidents, vomiting, weight loss, fatigue, and increased desire for water.
Senility: Cognitive changes affect at least half of all senior dogs and cats. Your pet may display agitation, aggressive behavior, or anxiety that he’s never shown in the past. He may also forget skills he’s already learned. Soiling accidents are common at this stage.
Help Your Senior Pet Age Gracefully
Bi-annual preventive care exams at Glencoe Veterinary Clinic allow our veterinarians to detect and treat new health issues as soon as possible. Remember that dogs and cats are masters at disguising pain and that you might not even notice anything is wrong. This goes back to their evolutionary need not to appear weak to predators. The sooner we spot an issue, the sooner your pet can feel better.
Bi-annual preventive care exams at Glencoe Veterinary Clinic allow our veterinarians to detect and treat new health issues as soon as possible. Remember that dogs and cats are masters at disguising pain and that you might not even notice anything is wrong. This goes back to their evolutionary need not to appear weak to predators. The sooner we spot an issue, the sooner your pet can feel better.
Preventive Care Exams
7/11/2017
If you only visit Glencoe Veterinary Clinic when your pet is injured or sick, you’re missing the opportunity to get a complete picture of their health. The preventive care exam allows our veterinarians to detect potential health issues and begin monitoring or treating them right away. By committing to preventive care, you could extend your pet's life by months or years. It’s well worth the investment when you consider how much love and joy your pet brings into your life.
Our Recommended Schedule for Preventive Care Exams
If your pet is normally healthy and between the ages of 12 months and five years, an annual exam is usually sufficient. Pets enter middle-age around age five and their senior years around age 10, so we recommend bi-annual check-ups for pets in this age group. This is when we most often start seeing issues such arthritis, diabetes, and kidney disease. Your puppy or kitten under one year will need to come in several times before his first birthday for routine vaccinations and monitoring.
If your pet is normally healthy and between the ages of 12 months and five years, an annual exam is usually sufficient. Pets enter middle-age around age five and their senior years around age 10, so we recommend bi-annual check-ups for pets in this age group. This is when we most often start seeing issues such arthritis, diabetes, and kidney disease. Your puppy or kitten under one year will need to come in several times before his first birthday for routine vaccinations and monitoring.
Recommended vaccines for dogs include canine adenovirus, canine parvovirus, distemper, lepto, lyme, and rabies. Essential vaccines for cats include feline calicivirus, feline panleukopenia, rabies, leukemia and rhinotracheitis. Our veterinarians will also discuss several optional vaccines you may want to consider for your pet depending on their, age, lifestyle, and general health. Unless you plan to breed your dog or cat, we recommend sterilization as soon as possible. We can perform the spay or neuter surgery as early as six months.
A Typical Preventive Care Exam
If your pet needs a new vaccine or booster, we will provide it at this appointment. This is also a great time to talk to our staff about any behavioral concerns, parasite prevention, exercise, and diet. We will check your pet for parasites and let you know if we discover any. Our comprehensive preventive care exam will screen for the following:
If your pet needs a new vaccine or booster, we will provide it at this appointment. This is also a great time to talk to our staff about any behavioral concerns, parasite prevention, exercise, and diet. We will check your pet for parasites and let you know if we discover any. Our comprehensive preventive care exam will screen for the following:
- Intestinal or stomach problems, which might show up as abnormal stools, diarrhea, or vomiting
- Unusual urinary discharge or mammary gland issues in females
- Nasal issues, which might include labored breathing, allergies, asthma, coughing, or sneezing
- Coat and skin for problems with anal sacs, hair loss, pigment changes, or excessive shedding
- Teeth and gums for oral health diseases
- Legs and feet for problems such as torn nails, weakness, limping, or joint pain
- Eyes and ears for signs of normal vision and hearing as well as absence of unusual discharge
- We will check your pet's weight at each visit to establish a baseline and let you know if we have any concerns about being overweight or underweight
Our staff will complete further diagnostic testing if we notice any potential issues during your pet’s exam. This may include a blood or urine test, x-ray, fecal test, or other tests necessary to diagnose the health condition. We will contact you with the results as soon as possible and discuss a treatment plan at that time as well.
If it’s been more than a year since your adult pet’s last preventive care exam or six months since your senior pet had an exam, please contact us at 320-864-3414 to schedule an appointment. We will let you know our recommended schedule for puppies and kittens the first time you bring your new pet to see us.