As pet parents, our main goal is always to keep our beloved pups happy and healthy. Here, our Sacramento vets provide some advice on how to keep your dog healthy so they can live their best life.
The Health of Your Dog
While they can change your life for the better and be a ton of fun, dogs are also a large responsibility. Providing a dog with love and affection is the easy part of owning a dog, but your dog will also have a variety of veterinary care needs in order to best protect them and help them live a long and healthy life. Our Elkhorn-Walerga Animal Hospital vets are happy to discuss some of the ways that you can care for and protect your dog.
Your dog's nutritional needs
Your dog's health will be directly affected by the food that you choose to provide them. Your Sacramento vet can suggest some food that will help keep your dog healthy while allowing them to grow and live a long and healthy life. Your Sacramento vet may suggest food that will help to keep your dogs weight on track or they may suggest food that will help to manage an underlying condition that your dog suffers from.
Ensuring your dog stays a healthy weight
Diabetes and joint pain are two common conditions that are directly impacted by your dog's weight. Dogs that are suffering from obesity are more likely to develop these conditions, so you will want to ensure that you keep your dog at a healthy weight for their size. Your vet in Sacramento will be able to recommend foods that you can feed your dog in order to manage their caloric intake while ensuring that they are receiving all of the nutrients that they need. This will also determine the amount of food that you will need to feed your dog each day.
Exercise for good health
The size and breed of the dog that you have brought into your family will decide the amount of exercise that you will need to provide for your dog each day. If you find yourself owning a lower energy breed, you may only need to bring them on a short walk around the block once daily while other breeds may require a longer distance run multiple times a day. By ensuring that your dog receives enough exercise each day you are doing your part in keeping them strong and healthy as well as curbing any potential boredom they may experience. Your Elkhorn-Walerga Animal Hospital veterinarian will be able to help you determine how much exercise your pet will need each day as well as provide suggestions for types of exercise to entertain your dog with.
Annual wellness examinations
Annual wellness examinations are an easy way to ensure that your vet can catch any potential conditions your dog is experiencing early which will allow for easier treatment. Routine veterinary exams at Elkhorn-Walerga Animal Hospital in Sacramento are done when your dog seems healthy. Your vet will use these routine exams to thoroughly inspect your dog looking for any injuries or signs of conditions or diseases. Your vet will discuss your dog's diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors with you, ask if you have any concerns about your pet's health or behavior, then perform a comprehensive physical examination. After the exam, your vet will talk about what they noted and any suggestions that they have for your pet going forward. If anything concerning has been detected your vet will make recommendations regarding diet, diagnostic testing, or treatment.
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Preventive care through vaccinations
Our Sacramento vets recommend providing your dog with routine vaccinations in order to provide protection against a variety of diseases that could potentially cause serious health concerns. Regularly scheduled vaccines help to protect your dog from many highly contagious, potentially life-threatening diseases. The rabies vaccine is one that is mandatory in most states in order to protect your dog and others against the usually fatal and easily transmitted rabies virus, but there are a number of other serious conditions that vaccines protect dogs against including parvo, distemper, and panleukopenia.
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Protection from parasites
Ticks, fleas, and mosquitoes are capable of carrying diseases and parasites that can not only harm your dog but could also potentially harm your family as well. There is a variety of parasite prevention available for your dog to protect them from a variety of serious but preventable conditions, some of which could be fatal. Reach out to your vet in Sacramento to discuss the different types of parasite prevention and what is best suited to help protect your dog.
Note: The advice provided in this post is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice regarding pets. For an accurate diagnosis of your pet's condition, please make an appointment with your vet.