Whether it’s the differences you may see when your pet has surgery or the interaction you have with our veterinarians and staff during your appointment, you can know that the care and experience you get from NAAH is a little different. We take the time to make sure that even the smallest of details are covered with you.
A recent upgrade to our annual visit protocol reflects just the quality of care we want you to have when you bring your pet to us. The next time you bring your pet for their annual visit, you will hear about some options for your pet to receive preventative wellness bloodwork. In addition to the normal parasite screens that your pet receives during their annual visit, there is now an upgrade that you can choose for your pet that includes additional preventative wellness bloodwork. You may be asking why? They are healthy! My dog is only 3 or 4 and they look great! My cat is happy as can be, what’s the need for bloodwork?
Did you know that 1 in 7 dogs ages 1-4 will have abnormalities on their wellness bloodwork? Dogs aged 5-9, that risk goes up to 1 in every 5 dogs and there’s even higher a risk for our senior dogs over 9 years of age. Cats have an even higher risk of having abnormalities on their bloodwork! Take a look at the charts below to check out your pet’s risk of having abnormalities on their bloodwork. These are samples of pet’s that aren’t clinically sick! They seem happy and healthy at the time of their bloodwork.
Dog’s Risk
Cats’ Risk
Read below to learn about two clients whose pets have already benefited from upgrading to a Preventative Wellness Visit!
Louise – 13 year old
Louise
Louise was brought to NAAH for some allergies and eye discharge. Her owner didn’t have any other concerns and Louise seemed to be a very healthy cat. Her owner was informed about the benefit of being proactive with Preventative Wellness bloodwork. She chose to do a screening panel for Louise, including age-appropriate blood and urine testing. The next day, results showed that Louise had some early kidney disease, something that almost 50% of cats over 10 have! We were able to give recommendations to Louise’s owner to help slow down this disease and we will be able to closely monitor this in the next 6 months, giving her many more years with her owner!
Madison
Madison – 8-year-old Yorkshire Terrier
Madison was brought to NAAH for a swollen paw. She was due for her yearly vaccines. Her owner was educated by our staff about the benefit of baseline bloodwork and decided to upgrade their annual visit to a Preventative Wellness Visit! The next day, Madison’s bloodwork revealed liver enzymes that were elevated. An ultrasound was performed and showed some changes to her liver and gallbladder that are totally treatable! Gone undetected, these changes could have led to more serious complications for Madison. We will continue to monitor these values and the ultrasound changes in the future.
We are thrilled to partner with you and your pet to give them the best life possible, so they can spend many more years with you and your family! Call today to schedule your pet’s appointment with NAAH!
-Adam Thompson, DVM
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