5 Tips for Keeping Your Pet Healthy and Happy: A Guide to Preventive Care

When it comes to Fido or Kitty’s health, preventing harmful conditions before they develop is key. Thanks to modern veterinary medicine, many damaging health issues can be avoided completely. This means less suffering for your pet—and less worry and expense for you.

That’s why the team at Bowman Veterinary Hospital encourages all forms of preventive care. We’d like to share our 5 top tips for keeping your pet healthy and happy. 

1. Regular Check-Ups

Cats and dogs alike should get a checkup at least once a year, according to Partners for Healthy Pets, a committee of the American Veterinary Medical Foundation. Foregoing that yearly appointment may not seem like a big deal. But as Partners for Healthy Pets would like to remind us all, it’s like a human going without a doctor’s visit for five years. Yikes! 

During a yearly checkup, our veterinary team will give your pup or kitty a nose-to-tail exam to make sure everything’s healthy. If we spot a problem, we can address it right away. 

2. Vaccinations

Vaccines help prepare your pet’s immune system to fight off deadly diseases like rabies, distemper, parvovirus, hepatitis, leptospirosis, and parainfluenza. And that’s just in dogs! Aside from rabies, cats are affected by different diseases. Core vaccines for your kitty help prevent feline calicivirus, herpesvirus-1, panleukopenia, and leukemia. 

California requires all dogs to be up-to-date on rabies vaccinations. Many counties and cities in our state require cats to have the rabies vaccine, too. Other core vaccines are required before you can take your pet to a dog park or board your pet at a facility while you’re on vacation.

3. Diet and Exercise

A healthy diet and daily exercise help your pet ward off a whole host of conditions. Arthritis. Obesity. Heart disease. Depression. The list is long. And if you participate in the fun with your pet, you’ll reap some of the benefits, too.

Need tips for good exercise ideas or custom diet tips for your pet? Our team can help! Schedule an appointment to get started. 

4. Dental Care

Most pets have some form of dental disease by the time they’re 3 years old. Dental disease can affect the entire body, not just the mouth. It’s something we check for each time we see your pet for a wellness visit. 

When your pet visits us for a wellness appointment, we can set up a dental cleaning. Routine veterinary dental cleanings also include comprehensive X-rays to see everything that’s going on in your pet’s mouth. 

With regular dental care, we can work together to keep your pet’s mouth and body healthy. 

5. Parasite Prevention

From fleas to ear mites and heartworm to hookworm, parasites can plague your pet’s health. Some, like ticks, can bestow lifelong diseases on your pet. Others, like heartworm, can be fatal. At Bowman Veterinary Hospital, our wellness appointments include parasite prevention and screening. 

We don’t want any squirmy, crawly nasties bugging your pet, and we’ll do everything in our power to keep them away. 

Give us a call at (530) 823‑6306 to learn how we can build a wellness plan for your furry friend.