Dogs and cats age on average, five to eight times faster than humans. By age two, most pets have already reached adulthood. At age four, many are entering middle age. By age seven, many cats and dogs, particularly larger breed dogs, are entering their senior years.
Because pets age so rapidly, major health changes can occur in a short amount of time. The risk of heart disease, arthritis, kidney disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity and other serious conditions all increase with age. Early detection is important and annual health checks can help your veterinarian diagnose and treat problems early, or even prevent problems occurring altogether, therefore enabling the best possible outcome for your pet.
Our animal hospital is equipped with an in-house laboratory that allows our veterinarians to quickly perform many of these diagnostic tests to achieve an accurate and rapid diagnosis. This can assist in getting a healthy base-line for your pets to be able to more rapidly diagnose disease and ailments in the case of them ever getting sick.
Annual health checks also offer you a great opportunity to ask us about nutrition, behaviour or any other topics.