Veterinary Preventive Care Tips

Veterinary Preventive Care Tips To Keep Your Pets Healthy & Happy

When it comes to helping your pets live longer, veterinary preventive care is the first line of defense in keeping pets healthy & happy. The old saying coined by Benjamin Franklin in 1736, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly applies to pet health and holds true to this day.

Here at Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital, veterinary preventative care is foundational to our practice and to veterinary medicine as a whole.

What Is Veterinary Preventative Care?

Veterinary preventive medicine can be defined as the use of medical resources to prevent disease, injury, or death. As general veterinary practitioners, our priority is to help pet parents make choices that will help pets avoid disease. On a practical note, preventative veterinary medicine is almost always safer, more reliable, easier, and less expensive than treating disease once it’s present.

Top 3 Examples of Veterinary Preventative Care

Most pets are introduced to veterinary preventive medicine through vaccination. Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital follows the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) vaccination guidelines for cats and dogs. There are many infectious, contagious—and sometimes life threatening—diseases for which vaccines provide protection. Core vaccines are those recommended for all patients, regardless of their home environment and extracurricular activities. Rabies and canine distemper-adenovirus-parainfluenza-parvovirus (DAPP) are considered core vaccines for dogs. Rabies and feline viral rhinotracheitis-calicivirus-panleukopenia (FVRCP) are core vaccines for cats.

To protect our hospitalized patients and boarding population, we also require all dogs staying in our clinic to be vaccinated against Bordetella (kennel cough) and canine influenza virus. Other non-core vaccines may be recommended based on an individual’s risk assessment. Vaccines are especially important in puppies and kittens. Starting at 6-8 weeks of age, we vaccinate puppies and kittens every 3-4 weeks until they are at least 16 weeks of age. Vaccines are administered like this for two main reasons: (1) to “remind” the immune system of the pathogen, thereby stimulating a better immune response and (2) to make sure that external protection is being provided once the passive immunity a puppy or kitten gets from its mother has faded.

Parasite prevention is another important aspect of preventive care. In the Southeast, parasites are extremely prevalent. Fleas and ticks feed on blood and can transmit disease and/or cause significant inflammatory reactions. Heartworms are spread by mosquitoes and cause disease and death in both dogs and cats. Intestinal worms like hookworms, roundworms, and whipworms can cause diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, and/or lethargy. Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital recommends year-round use of effective parasite control for both dogs and cats. In cats, great options include Revolution Plus or Bravecto Plus. Both products provide protection against fleas, ticks, mites, and heartworms in a topical product. For dogs, Simparica Trio provides protection against heartworms, fleas and ticks, roundworms, and hookworms. ProHeart 12 provides one year of protection against heartworm infection in a single injection given in our clinic. Like vaccines, we individually tailor parasite prevention to your pet’s needs and individual risk assessment.

Nutrition also plays a key role in preventive care. Advertisements, Facebook groups, social media influencers, and other unreliable sources of information have muddied the waters when it comes to understanding pet nutrition. As an example, grain-free diets saw a major uptick in popularity in the early-to-mid 2000s and have remained popular since. Unfortunately, the push toward grain-free was not based on science, as these diets provide little-to-no health benefits and may, in fact, cause harm. In 2018, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a potential link between heart disease and certain grain-free diets. At Alford Avenue, we believe that your veterinarian should play a key role in (1) helping you find the right diet for your pet and (2) helping you tune out misinformation. We make diet and feeding recommendations based on your pet’s life stage and activity level with consideration given to any pre-existing health issues. Whether you’re caring for a growing kitten, a working dog, or a pet who needs help managing his or her weight, the veterinarians at Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital are happy to guide you in choosing the right diet and feeding schedule.

The bottom line is that Veterinary Preventive Care requires teamwork between pet owners and veterinarians. Conversations about vaccines, parasite prevention, and nutrition can start in the exam room at your pet’s next wellness visit. We look forward to seeing you and your pet!

Need to book an appointment for veterinary preventative care? Contact Alford Avenue Veterinary Hospital today!