Posts Tagged: preventive care

With amazing advances in medicine and technology, our pet population is living longer than ever before. While that is largely a good thing, it does come with some downsides as well. With an aging population, diagnosing cancer in pets is more and more common. About half of all disease-related animal deaths each year are as a result of cancer.

A cancer diagnosis isn’t always a death sentence, though. Bowman Veterinary Hospital wants our pet owners to be armed and ready when it comes to cancer in pets. A little knowledge is a good thing, and sometimes a good defense is the best offense.

Heartworm disease is spread by mosquitoes. While this fact doesn’t endear anyone to them, mosquitoes are just doing what’s in their nature—sucking blood. They don’t discriminate and, in fact, perceive every mammal as a potential meal. The problem is, mosquitoes pick up microscopic heartworm larvae from various fur-covered prey, and subsequently deposit the worms into the bloodstream of their next victim. Staying on top of prevention is an absolute must, but heartworm testing is equally important. Why?

No one likes visiting the doctor. Adding a needle poke to your pet during her annual wellness exam may seem rough, but it can provide a lot of useful information to your veterinarian. That needle prick can be used to draw a blood sample to obtain baseline blood work on your pet, and it could help us to identify any disease processes we’re not able to see during the physical exam.

In addition to annual blood work, we may recommend a urinalysis and a fecal test so we can keep tabs on your furry friend’s kidney function, bladder health, and the presence of any parasites. Remember, our pets age much more quickly than we do, so an annual checkup is crucial to identifying diseases early and preventing them from progressing.