We know your pets are part of your family, and at All Creatures Veterinary Center, we treat them that way. One of the goals at our practice is to not only treat illnesses, but to prevent them, so your pet can live a long, happy, healthy life with you. Below is a list of some of the preventative care options that we offer. To learn more about each service, click on the headers listed below.
Comprehensive Wellness Exam For Your Pet
Pets age about seven times faster than people do, so it’s important that you bring your pet to a veterinarian for a comprehensive nose-to-tail exam every six months. These pet exams allows our veterinarians to detect and even prevent certain health conditions early—before they become problematic—so we can treat them as soon as possible. Depending on your pet’s age and lifestyle, we may also recommend a blood test, urine test, and fecal exam, each of which is detailed below:
Blood Test: Senior pets (age 7 and up), we recommend annual blood screenings to test for conditions like liver or kidney disease. We may recommend a blood test more often, depending on your pet’s lifestyle, current medications, or illnesses that your pet may have.
Urine Test: Urinalyses are generally advised every 6 months for senior pets and every 6-12 months for younger pets as needed, depending on your veterinarian’s recommendations. The results of a urine test can help our doctors evaluate how your pet’s organs—including the liver, kidney, bladder, and pancreas—are functioning.
Fecal Exam: The examination of a fecal sample allows us to test for internal parasites. This exam is especially for young pets because they are more at risk for contracting parasites. Fecal testing is recommended annually for all pets and more often for those that are at risk of greater exposure, such as pets that go camping, hiking, or roam on large amounts of property.
Dental Pet Care
One of the most important components of your pet’s overall health is their dental health. Most pets develop some level of dental disease by the time they reach 2 years of age, and most of those pets require dental cleaning (prophylaxis) annually. All Creatures Veterinary Center offers dental cleaning under anesthesia, which allows us to safely and thoroughly clean the teeth under the gum line to prevent tartar from building up on teeth.
To maintain your pet’s oral health between cleanings, we recommend that you brush their teeth daily, as this is the best way to prevent dental disease. We also recommend preventative chews and water additives, which can also be used to prevent tartar build up.
Flea/Tick Prevention for Pets
Fleas and ticks are more than just pesky insects. Did you know they can also cause a number of health problems for pets, including Lyme disease, allergies, and ehrlichiosisis? To protect your pet from parasitic diseases, it’s best to keep them on a flea-and-tick medication all year round.
Tick prevention is especially important for pets that spend time in large open-land or tall grass areas, and for pets that go camping and hiking. Even if your pet is an indoor pet (such as a cat), annual prevention is still recommended, as fleas or flea larva can be brought in to your home on your shoes or clothing. In addition, with the recent mild winters in the Newhall area, there has been an increase in tick infestations every year.
Heartworm Prevention
Keep your pet heart-worm free! According to the FDA, heartworm disease has been reported in dogs in all 50 states, but it can affect cats and ferrets as well. This potentially-fatal disease is caused by parasitic worms which are spread through the bite of a mosquito. If an infected mosquito bites an animal, it can transfer the worms into the animal’s heart or lungs, where the worms can multiply. Left untreated, heartworm disease can result in severe lung disease or heart failure.
To minimize the risk of disease, we recommend year-round heartworm prevention in the form of an oral tablet or topical liquid which is applied to the back of the neck. We also recommend an annual heartworm test (blood test) to ensure that your pet is heartworm-free.
