For our patients in the Senior Pets Program there is a focus on age-related diseases.   The vet will discuss these diseases with you, give your pet a full check up and blood/urine/blood pressure tests if applicable and give you the opportunity to ask all your questions about your pets’ health and behaviour.

As you may be aware your 7 year old cat and dog are the equivalent of a 44-50 year old person!  That means things can start to go wrong and their health needs to be monitored more carefully.  It is really important for your pet to have a full check up at least twice per year. Sometimes we don’t notice changes when they are right in front of us every day and need someone objective to highlight these changes for us.

At one visit our vet will administer an annual vaccination with a full health check. 6 months later a visit will be scheduled for another full health check and consultation. Routine preventatives such as worming and flea control can be given for you at this both visits.

Twice yearly health checks ups include focus on:

If necessary at these visits we can organize blood and urine tests and can start injections (ie for the control of arthritis pain).

Each disease or problem has a spectrum of symptoms and it is possible to minimise many of these symptoms. Take arthritis for example.  Even though a dog does not cry out in pain doesn’t mean they are not in discomfort. If they have discomfort they are more reluctant to jump on the couch or in the car, they walk less frequently and less distance, they sleep more often and will often gain weight. This weight gain, along with muscle loss, makes it even harder for them to exercise and the situation snowballs until it becomes difficult to move much at all. By addressing this situation earlier we are able to at least slow this process.

Cats are even harder to assess for arthritis but it is now known that many cats have been suffering quietly with arthritis for years. They may reduce their scratching, stop jumping and playing as much, have an altered gait or jumping style, develop a reduced appetite and reduce their grooming behaviour thereby appearing more scruffy.

We believe in educating our clients on problems to which their pet may be susceptible rather than waiting for them to become unwell. If you know what you are looking for you are able to treat it more quickly and your pets health won’t deteriorate as much before treatment is provided.

If you would like to discuss our program further or book in for a check up contact us, 0488 061 444.