Guidelines on when to bring pet to the vet
Depends on the animal and its breed
DEAR PET TALK» How often should you bring a pet to the vet? — Animal Lover DEAR ANIMAL LOVER» One of the bright sides of the quarantine was how many people adopted a pet or added to their pet family. However, every new arrival needs a veterinarian. This relationship will help ensure that your pet has a long and healthy life.
If you are adopting from a shelter (as I hope you would be if you are looking for a pet), those facilities will usually take care of the essential vaccinations, such as rabies, and distemper-parvo for dogs (also ask about heartworm, influenza, kennel cough and Lyme disease), and for cats, tests for feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus.
For young pets, an additional visit in the first year is also recommended, where you can talk about housebreaking, training and socialization. For adult animals, many vets recommend a yearly checkup, which includes a blood sample from a dog to check for heartworms. Rabies shots are once a year, and then once every three years (as long as you are getting the shot within that oneyear time span).
Senior animals, which are 7 to 10 and older (depending on species and breed) can go to the vet twice a year for health and wellness checks. Health and wellness checks are key — these findings provide a “baseline” of health. If your pet undergoes any changes — demanding to drink more water, showing mobility problems — your vet will have a point of comparison. (Examples provided might indicate a new health challenge, such as kidney disease or arthritis.)
For a “low-stress” vet visit for cats and small animals, put the carrier out a few days before and put a blanket inside. Your pet will definitely check out the new digs!