PREVENTIVE CARE PANELS

We've been talking to our clients for years about the importance of early disease screening in our senior pets. We are now starting to recognize the importance of early detection in pets of all ages.  Why?  There are several reasons that laboratory testing is an important part of our pet's wellness care.  

• Our pets can't tell us if they are having the subtle signs of early disease.  A dog or cat with early kidney disease or diabetes may be slightly off but the changes might be obvious with laboratory screening. A new test measures SDMA levels in the blood and can detect kidney disease before there are irreversible clinical signs.
• Another screening test call pro BNP measures cardiac enzymes that can detect changes in the heart muscle before failure becomes apparent.  We have added this to our profiles for at risk dogs or dogs with heart murmurs. 
• Pets will actively mask signs of illness until late in the course of disease.  This stems from survival instincts in a pack or colony situation.
• By the time a dog or cat is showing clinical signs of illness it may be too late for us to intervene and alter the course of disease.  The earlier we detect problems, the more of an impact we can have on longevity and quality of life.

While screening tests help us to detect and treat diseases in pets of all ages, it is even more important in senior pets. Use the age chart below to find your pets age in "people" years.

These are approximations and may vary by gender, species and breed.