Keeping your pet healthy

We all want to make sure our pets get everything they need for a healthy and fulfilled life. Our role as your pet health professional is to provide you with guidance on what a healthy pet is, how this can be maintained and what we do when your pet is not healthy.

Exercise

Pets are no different to us – it is important to remain active. Regular physical activity promotes a healthier outlook on life, reduces behavioural problems, maintains healthier bones and muscles and reduces the risk of obesity and obesity related diseases. Although it is relatively easy to increase your dog's exercise we would recommend that your pet be checked by your vet if they are old, overweight or showing any stiffness or other signs of ill health before starting on an increased exercise programme.

Making cats exercise can be very difficult especially if they are indoors. Some strategies that can help with cats are to play with them using throw toys or specially made toys on strings, or placing small portions of their food in various places around the house so they need to walk to find them. For our Hospital cat, Romeo, we had to move his day-time bed as we found he was lying around too much and was starting to put on weight!

Exercising pets and spending time with them has clear health advantages to their owners both with exercise as well as a simple increase in the joy of life.

Nutrition

Providing the best nutrition possible for your pet is one of the simplest things you can do to help keep your pet healthy. There are many different brands coming onto the market and it is important to check with your veterinarian if they are balanced.

Good nutrition for your pet should result in a healthier glossy coat, small compact formed droppings and better muscle-tone. Our diets are all designed to provide an optimum level of nutrition and we have diets designed for all ages and body size. In addition we stock foods to help with arthritis, obesity, renal disease, dental disease and skin disease, just to name a few.

When you need help with your pet's nutrition we recommend that you turn to your veterinarian as they are trained professionals

Regular health checks

Pets can not always tell their owner that they are not well or that something has changed or is just not right. To help your pet we recommend that they be given a full physical examination every year and that older pets or those with problems are checked more regularly.

At these examinations your veterinarians will collect a full history and examine your pet. They may recommend a blood test to make sure everything is working normally. If any abnormalities are found treatment or further tests may be recommended.

Parasite control

We recommend that your pet be protected from fleas, heartworm, roundworm, hookworm, whipworm and tapeworm. To make sure your pet receives the correct product or products we recommend that you contact your veterinarian as the requirements will be different for dogs and cats.

Keeping parasites under control will reduce your pet's health problems and reduce the risk to you or your family.

Disease prevention

Dogs and cats are exposed to various viruses and bacteria that can kill them or make them sick. We recommend that your pet receive the correct vaccinations on regular basis. The frequency at which they need repeat vaccinations is changing year by year - for example adults will now get a yearly Canine Cough vaccine but the Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvovirus vaccine is only given every three years once they have reached a year of life. Your veterinarian is the best person to keep you informed of what your pet needs every year as they will be keeping up to date with new products and vaccination regimes as they become available.

Behaviour

A well behaved pet will bring you many years of joy! Pets need constant training and reinforcement starting from puppy or kitten hood - we need to train them so they know to obey you and trust you. This makes it easier for you and us to look after them if ever they get sick or need help! We find that a well trained pet is a much happier and contented pet then one that is allowed to get away with bad behaviour. Bad behaviour includes even simple things like growling at their owner, not getting off seats, not allowing owner to look at feet or in their mouth and even just destructive behaviour.

We can help you with behavioural issues and will often use a behaviourist who will come to your house to assess the problem and give you and your pet lessons.

Blood tests

Although a physical examination along with the history tells us a lot about your pet we will need to do tests to help us make a diagnosis or to guide us towards treatments or further investigation.

We do recommend that blood tests be performed before all surgery or anaesthesia. Ideally every pet should have a yearly blood test as it provides us with information about your pets health - after all they can not tell us directly that they are no longer in peak health.

Dental health

Clean teeth reduce the risk of disease elsewhere in the body. It has been clearly shown that dental disease leads to health problems including kidney disease. We recommend that your pet's teeth are checked on a regular basis by your veterinarian and that they be checked at your pet's health checks. If any dental disease is observed then the teeth should be cleaned - for many pets this means a yearly clean is needed.

Weight control

These days we see more pets that are overweight then ever before and some are really best classified as being morbidly obese. Obesity in animals has the same ill effects that it has on humans - so we see joint problems, skin problems, diabetes, exercise intolerance, just to name a few.

Getting your pet back to being trim is the kindest thing for them and you will be rewarded by the rejuvenated happy pet that you will get back!

Coat Care

Cats generally do not need much more then a brush but can be trained if needed from a young age to be washed. Call us if you want some advice on this as cats can become very fearful and dangerous if they are not used to being washed.

For dogs we recommend regular bathing with a good quality pet shampoo. Although some dogs do not need to be washed frequently we find that a happy compromise is a weekly to fortnightly wash. If your pet has a specific skin condition or suffers from allergies then a weekly wash with a shampoo that controls yeast and bacteria is recommended. Call us and we can discuss your pet's needs.