The Importance of Wellness Exams

Yearly wellness exams are critical to helping your pet maintain good long-term physical health and are useful in identifying and treating health problems early.

West Kentucky Veterinary Hospital provides full service care for your pet to include vaccinations, parasite prevention, and proper nutrition in combination with the exam to ensure the health of your pet remains our top priority.

Checkups for Puppies & Kittens

New puppies and kittens require a thorough physical exam, as well as the necessary vaccinations and preventative products to ensure a healthy start. A fecal test to screen for intestinal parasites is also recommended. At the first visit, we give out a puppy or kitten kit containing educational materials and appropriate samples to help get your new addition started off on the right foot.

Once your puppy or kitten's initial checkup is complete, you'll return periodically (every 3-4 weeks) for his or her required boosters to ensure that they stay disease free. 

We understand that new pets can come with new concerns. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have about your new furry friend!

 Seniors

Our pets are living longer than previous years due to medical advances and improved routine care. Along with this longevity, comes more health related concerns with their advancing age.

Regular examinations become increasingly important as your pet gets older to help catch these age related concerns early. Catching these health problems early can potentially mean faster and easier treatments to maintain your pets quality of life.

For our senior pets, additional laboratory testing may be recommended to provide more detailed information about their overall health and catch any underlying problems.

Screenings

Why do our pets need surveillance screening?

First, our pets can't speak, they cannot tell us if they feel sick or have any other indicators of internal illness. We need to examine them yearly as well as run some routine screening tests to detect underlying disease BEFORE it is clinically apparent. Sometimes, our 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.

Use the age chart below to find your pets age in "people" years and the screening testing recommended for each stage of his or her life. We believe the following tests give us the best chance of helping your pet's live longer, healthier lives. These are approximations and may vary by gender, species and breed.

Routine Testing Times By Age

Blue/
Lilac 

Every 6 months - Urine Specific Gravity (a urine test to check how well the kidneys concentrate urine) 

Every 12 months - Baseline Blood Profile (a small blood test checking internal organ health)

Green

Every 6 months - Urine Specific Gravity  

Every 12 months - Annual Health Profile (a blood test checking red and white blood cell counts and a more comprehensive internal organ screen)

Yellow

Every 6 months - Urine Specific Gravity +/- Urine Dipstick  

Every 12 months - Senior Health Profile (comprehensive internal organ screen including Thyroid testing, electrolytes and red and white cell counts and urine specific gravity)

Red

Every 6 months - Golden Years Health Profile (comprehensive internal organ screen including Thyroid testing, electrolytes and red and white cell counts)