Dr. Evan Ware - Preventative Care at Laveen Veterinary Center
The keys to having a long, healthy life are diet, exercise and a preventive care plan. We apply these principles to our own lifestyle and our pet companions lives.
What type of food are you feeding your pets? Saving a buck at the grocery store will likely end up costing you much more down the line when you have to deal with problems that stem from poor quality nutrition for years. Let’s talk about an example. A 100 lbs Yellow Labrador staggers into the Laveen Veterinary Center office stiff from arthritic joints.
I notice that he is about 15 lbs overweight (that’s 15% overweight!).
Our treatment plan involves an prescription weight loss diet, arthritis medication and bloodwork to confirm that he tolerates the new medications. Not only has this offset the cost of money savings over the past several years, his quality of life as been significantly affected due to his poor mobility and comfort. Furthermore, this is a situation that could have been worse, many serious metabolic problems can arise from poor nutrition - diabetes and organ dysfunction are some of the most common. Developing good nutrition and exercise plans from the start could have prevented these issues.
These are issues that should be discussed with wellness consultations at least yearly (geriatric pets should be examined every 6 months). Remember 1 year to people is not like 1 year to dogs. Much more aging occurs in dogs over the course of 1 year. When people ask me “Why does my dog or cat need a check up every year, they seem fine?” The answer is very simple, I want your companion to live a long and healthy life. I want to prevent problems from occurring and if a problem starts, I want to catch it early to prevent bigger issues.