Preventative Wellness Care: Understanding the Life Stages of Canines from Puppy to Senior

(Click to enlarge)

• What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Puppies
• What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Adolescents
• What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Adult Dogs
• What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Senior Dogs

What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Puppies:

All Creatures strives to improve the human-animal bond. In order to do so, we take the time during your first visit to discuss the lifestyle of your pet, as well as provide you, the owner, educational materials to help prepare you to be the best pet parent you can be! This appointment can be 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your previous knowledge and experience in owning a pet.

All Creatures recommends that client order a “Fecal Check Workup” for their puppy on its first visit. These tests will look for parasitic intestinal worms, such as hookworms, whipworms, roundworms, and tapeworms. It also looks for protozoan parasites called giardia or coccidia. Lastly, it looks for bacterial overgrowths that may cause stomach issues and diarrhea. We recommend this be done at your first vet visit, and again once you have completed all puppy vaccines. Check out our Labwork section for more information.

While your puppy Is growing, it will need vaccines to be administered. Puppies receive more vaccines than adult dogs because their immune system is not strong enough when they are young to fight illnesses. Once they have received all their puppy vaccines, their immune system should be strong enough to safely interact with other pets and go to the park. You vet will take advantage of these vaccine visits to check that your pet is growing well and receiving the best care needed to grow up healthy. See our Dog Vaccines page for more information.

Bring your pet to our FREE Puppy Socialization Class to learn more about puppy care and help your pets learn to socialize with other puppies of all different kinds and sizes! This class is every Saturday from 1pm to 3pm for puppies up to 6 months of age. All clients that have enrolled for a class must arrive by 1pm to participate. Call us to enroll for our next class 770-393-3400 – we fill up fast for each class, so make sure to call ahead!

Need more puppy info? Check out our Puppy Care Pack links on the main Dog page!

What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Adolescents Dog Care

Once your puppy is 6-months old, your pet is now an adolescent, and we can consider some additional services to keep your pet healthy.

• At 6 months old, your pet is eligible for a Heartworm Preventative medication called Proheart 6. This is an injection that protects your pet from heartworms for 6 months and is the best preventative on the market.
• Your puppy is also old enough for the Simparica Flea & Tick monthly oral pill. This is one of only two medications on the market that will prevent all 5 ticks present in Georgia.
• We also recommend your puppy is Neutered or Spayed between 6 months old to 1 year old. This procedure helps your pet’s wellness in many ways, which includes reducing your pet’s risk of getting cancer at a younger age.

Hopefully you have been participating in our Free Puppy Socialization Class until 6 months of age. We also recommend your pet be socialized thoroughly with all kinds of peoples, sounds, and objects. Take your pet to the park or to meet friends that may have kids or other pets so they can get exposure. Check out our Socialization Checklist to help make sure you are exposing your pet to the most possible!

What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Adult Dogs

Between the ages of 1 year old up 7 years old, we consider your dog to be an adult canine. We recommend your pet come in twice a year – once for the Yearly, where we can perform your vaccines and labwork – and then a Semi-Annual where we can just check on your pet to see if there are any issues to address.

During these years, we find pet parents need the most guidance about nutrition and behavior issues. We also start seeing allergies to grass or food become more prevalent during these years. We provide nutritional, behavioral, and allergy consultations via appointment to help you learn more about the issues and treatment options. Check out our Nutritional & Behavioral Consultations sections for more information

What to Expect at your Vet Visit for Senior Dog Care

Our vets consider dogs over the age of 7 years to be “senior” dogs. Dogs are susceptible to many medical issues once they enter the senior stages in their lives, so we recommend additional services during their Yearly and Semi-Annual Exams in order to check for these medical issues and work to prevent them or reduce their severity in a timely manner. The most common issues we are looking for are the following:

• Heart Disease
• Cancer
• Urinary Issues

We recommend all senior dogs have a “Comprehensive Bloodwork & Urinary Screening Package” be performed twice a year, which will help the vet see any progression of internal medical issues that they cannot physically see in an exam alone. We also recommend a “Cardiac Workup” once a year, which consists of an Electrocardiogram, radiographs (x-rays) and BLAH. The radiographs well help us see any heart enlargement and may show us any tumors we may not be able to see or feel in a physical exam.

Need more dog care info? Check out our links on the main Dog page!