Wellness Care

At Telford Veterinary Hospital in Souderton, PA, we believe regular checkups and annual wellness exams are critical to your pets’ well-being. These wellness exams give us a chance to evaluate the overall health of your pet while also giving us a baseline for their unique bodies and tendencies.

Please contact us today at (215) 721-6989 if you have any questions or would like to learn more about how we care for your pet during their annual wellness exams.

Check out the following helpful information from our Staff that all pet owners should know about wellness exams.

What’s Included? 

Ever wonder what is included in a wellness exam? The Vet is checking multiple things throughout an exam, all while still holding a conversation with an owner. Even though it may seem quick, the steps involved are still very thorough. Check out this video from Dr. Loeffler explaining all the things she’s checking your pet for during a routine wellness exam. Click here.

Finances

Not only do wellness exams keep us up-to-date with your pets’ health, but they also allow us to detect potential problems before they become serious and therefore have the potential to save you money in the long run. Supportive care and treatments are much costlier the longer a condition or disease progresses and goes untreated. For example, if a cat is urinating more frequently and is excessively thirsty, yet these symptoms aren’t evaluated in a timely manner, this could lead to a late diagnosis of kidney disease or hyperthyroidism—something that could have been caught and treated sooner. While these conditions would be treatable, the extent of the medications and treatment could be minimized with early intervention. Additionally, it’s important to remember that dogs age differently than humans; if you skip one annual exam, it’s comparable to missing a check-up for seven years!

Physical & Emotional Health

Wellness exams for our pets are similar to our annual exams with a primary care physician. During the appointment, the nurses and Veterinarian will perform a thorough examination of the ears, eyes, nose, throat, mouth, and dentition, an assessment of the lungs, heart, digestive tract, genitalia, skin, and coat condition, and the pet’s overall mobility and mentation. Wellness exams also offer a chance for owners to share insights about their pet’s emotional health and quality of life, such as in-home behaviors, stress levels, sociability, and more.

Comfortability

By bringing your pet into the hospital on a more regular basis, they’re able to become more familiar and calm with the space. It’s important for companion animals to feel comfortable in our care because this can help make future visits easier for our staff, your pets, and you! Most pets are extremely nervous in a veterinary setting, but a better-adjusted pet is easier to assess and treat because they are more relaxed. This is a major reason why we incorporate our Fear Free training with every appointment.

Resources

If you have any questions about your pet’s care at home or the treatment plan discussed at the appointment, we will provide you with plenty of resources that you can take home to continue your education on the topic and help you feel more confident in your care. Please help yourself to any of our free resources in our waiting room before your appointment, and ask the nurses during your appointment if you have any specific questions and they can direct you toward useful resources for you.

Scheduling

At the moment, our schedule is filling up fast and we’re booking appointments 2-3 weeks in advance. If your pet is due for its annual wellness exam anytime soon, we highly recommend giving our office a call to schedule the appointment as soon as possible. Discuss that we are scheduling a few weeks in advance. By calling ahead, you’re able to ensure you have the most options for days of the week or specific timeframes that work best for your schedule. If you’re unsure when your pet is due for their wellness exam or other services, please feel free to call and a member of our Reception staff would be happy to help you!

Thank you to our friends at PetDesk for your assistance in our efforts to help spread awareness about the importance of annual wellness exams for our pets!