Your pet means the world to you and you will always do everything you can to keep them safe, happy and healthy. Our Citrus Heights vets offer pet care tips that can help you to provide lifelong care to your companions.
While being a pet owner is an incredibly fun experience, it also comes with a great amount of responsibility. When you bring a pet into your family you have to commit to caring for and protecting your companion for their entire life.
The proper care of a pet can be time-consuming and costly at times but the lifelong companionship that your pet will provide in return is unparalleled and makes it all worth it in the end. There is nothing in this world like sharing your life with your pet and the unconditional love that they will show you in return.
In order to ensure the health and happiness of your pet, you should focus on some key areas of pet care.
Routine Pet Care
When it comes to the care of your pet, the best way for you to ensure their lifelong health and wellness is with routine pet care and examinations. It is possible for even the healthiest of pets to develop medical conditions or to injure themselves and routine care helps to provide proactive care in order to prevent potential issues or to catch them early to provide the most effective treatment possible.
Annual wellness exams include a physical exam as well as additional exams and diagnostics such as vaccinations, parasite control, oral health care, and consultations.
Have Your Pet Spayed or Neutered
There is a substantial amount of pets in the US each year that end up in shelters due to being lost, abandoned or homeless as the pet population continues to grow.
Having your pets spayed or neutered can help prevent a strain on the resources available for rescuing pets within the US. Sterilization is a routine procedure that your vet can perform once your pet is at least six to eight weeks of age.
Having your companion spayed or neutered is also a main part of preventive care for your pet as it is proven to help reduce the risk of your pet developing certain serious forms of cancer as well as helping to prevent unwanted behaviors such as roaming or aggression.
Parasite Prevention For Your Pet
Parasite prevention is imperative to protecting your pet and your family from some serious diseases. If your pet contracts parasites they may then transmit the parasites to not only the other animals in the household but also to the people in your family as well.
The most common parasite that could affect your pet is fleas. Fleas are external parasites that live on the skin of your pet and they can lead to irritated skin, hair loss, hot spots, and infection. Fleas also come with the ability to pass along other internal parasites such as tapeworms if your pet happens to swallow an infected flea. Fleas are also notoriously difficult to manage as they can quickly reproduce and infest your pet and home.
Routine parasite prevention during your pet's routine wellness visits is important for protecting your pets and family. Your vet can administer the necessary prevention for your pet depending on your location and your pet's unique prevention needs.
Maintaining a Healthy Diet & Exercise
Just as with humans it is possible for your pet to become overweight. Unfortunately, many pets are overweight or obese due to a lack of exercise and overfeeding. Most people feed their pets far more than is actually required.
Pets that are obese or overweight live with a higher risk of developing many other diseases and conditions such as diabetes, joint problems and even cancer.
Speak with your vet about what your pet's individual nutritional requirements are.
Routine Vaccinations
Routine vaccinations are crucial to the lifelong health of your pet. Vaccinations provide much-needed protection against various diseases such as rabies, distemper, feline leukemia, and canine hepatitis.
Your pet's specific vaccine schedule will depend on their unique needs. Your vet will provide recommendations as to which vaccines your pet needs and when they should be administered.
Training and Stimulation
In order to ensure the happiness of your pet, there needs to be a focus on your pet's behavior as well as ensuring that they are provided with adequate stimulation on a daily basis in order to avoid boredom-related concerns.
Training can be exhausting when you have a new puppy or dog but without proper training, your dog could potentially find itself in unfortunate situations, such as having an accident, not playing nicely, or being uncontrollable and potentially getting hurt. Training ensures that you avoid unnecessary stress as well and provides the ability to keep your pet safe.
Providing stimulation and playtime is also an important part of your pet's happiness. without stimulation, your pet could begin to display undesirable behaviors as a response to boredom. By providing physical attention through pets, scratches and playing as well as exercise and toys for them to play with on their own you can be sure that your pet will be content.
Having Your Pet Microchipped
A lost pet is one of the worst possibilities for a pet owner. Without proper identification, it can be near impossible to track down your beloved pet.
A microchip can help to ensure that you have the best odds possible at being reunited with your dog or cat. These are roughly the size of a grain of rice and implanted under your pet's skin. This microchip is scanned by the clinic or animal rescue facility that your pet is returned to and the staff will use the information provided on the microchip in order to contact you.
The Importance of Dental Care
Oral health care is one of the most important forms of routine care necessary for your pet.
Dental care ensures that your pet is protected from oral concerns such as abscesses, loose teeth, and chronic pain, all of which can lead to more serious conditions if left untreated.
By bringing your pet to your vet for routine cleaning and exams as well as maintaining regular at-home care such as tooth brushing and providing dental treats and chews, you can assist in preventing periodontal disease.
Socializing With Other Pets
Pets, just as humans, crave socialization. By developing social skills in your pet early on you can be sure that they will have a lifetime of fun and happiness through playtime with other pets.
Pets need to learn how to play properly with other pets just as they learn everything else. This ensures that they play gently and will limit the risk of injuries due to their enthusiasm or possible disagreements.
Safety While Travelling
Sometimes our pets need to travel in the car with us for appointments or trips. This can be dangerous if your pet is not well secured. Some ways to ensure safety within a vehicle are:- Your pet should never be allowed to sit in the front seat. This can be a distraction to the driver as well as unsafe in the event that the airbags deploy.
- Your dog should never be able to hang their head out of the window or sit unrestrained within the vehicle or in the truck bed. These situations could result in your pet being thrown from the vehicle in the event of an accident.
- The best way to travel with your pet and ensure their safety is for cats to be kept in a carrier that is secured by the seatbelt and for special seatbelt harnesses or kennels to be used for dogs.
Conclusion
Routine wellness exams and common sense, along with following all of your veterinarian's advice is the best way to ensure that your pet lives a long life filled with health and happiness. Your vet can recommend everything that your pet requires, from nutrition to basic care, socializing to safety, they will be able to answer any questions that you may have about your pet.