Vets have the reputation of caring for animals when they are sick. However, vets also offer preventative health care services for healthy pets. These services are meant to keep your dog or cat in good health and help them avoid injury and illness down the road. Here are the major preventative care services most dogs and cats can benefit from.

Fecal Counts

Internal parasites, more commonly known as worms, can lead to malnutrition, intestinal damage, and discomfort. By the time a dog or cat shows symptoms of worms, the parasite load is usually pretty high, meaning quite a lot of damage has been caused or will soon be caused. So, a more preventative approach is to have the vet do a fecal count. With this, they will use a microscope to look for parasite eggs in a fecal sample. This way, they can diagnose a parasite infestation early. They can then give your dog or cat deworming medications before the infestation causes serious health issues.

Flea and Tick Preventatives

Fleas can make your pet really itchy, and the sores left by itching can become infected. Ticks can spread all sorts of terrible diseases, like Lyme disease and anaplasmosis. Keeping these pests off your pet is important for disease prevention. Your vet can prescribe either a pill or a topical solution for you to give your pet, usually once a month, in order to keep fleas and ticks from biting.

Vaccines

Vaccines are one of the most important elements, if not the most important element, of preventative vet care. There are vaccines for rabies, distemper, herpes, and many other diseases that are common in dogs and cats. Your vet can recommend the vaccines most important for your pet's needs. While not all vaccines are perfectly effective, they do greatly reduce your pet's risk of these diseases, many of which are deadly.

Dental Cleanings

Most vets recommend having your pet sedated and having their teeth cleaned at least every couple of years, if not every year. Removing the plaque and tartar from the teeth helps prevent gum disease and tooth decay, which should help your pet hold onto their teeth for longer. Many vets also do X-rays with dental cleanings so they can see the condition of the hidden portion of the tooth.

With the preventative care services above, your pet will be better set up for a long and happy life. It's usually easier to keep a pet healthy than to treat them once they become unhealthy. For more information, contact a clinic like Clovis Veterinary Hospital P A.