Prior planning with preventive care | Off The Leash | rutlandherald.com – Rutland Herald

I love preventative care, love it. I like seeing healthy pets at their best and doing the things I can to keep them there. Of course, I also like getting sick or broken pets better. I dont even mind helping pets find a peaceful end. But by far my favorite thing is preventative care.

Preventative care runs a large gamut in veterinary medicine. There are so many ways that we can do less early so we dont have to do more later. The benefit to owners is that we have healthier pets for longer. The real truth is that ultimately preventative care saves money and stress. The other benefit is that it saves your pets health in many cases.

We know about vaccines. Even those opposed to some vaccines cant really argue against how vaccines have really changed the face of veterinary medicine. Vaccines are our first line of defense against many diseases, and in many cases have brought the caseload down very low.

In this region, we very rarely see parvo or distemper anymore because most dogs are vaccinated and our level of strays is low. Thirty years ago parvo was an amazingly huge deal and dogs were being wiped out in droves. Then an effective vaccine was developed and a deadly disease became almost 100% preventable.

I do occasionally run into a couple of misconceptions about vaccines. The first is that the Lyme vaccine can cause Lyme disease. It does not and cannot, that isnt how it works. The Lyme vaccine in people was more questionable, which is why it no longer exists. Dogs can still get Lyme disease when vaccinated. The vaccine stops the deadly form and greatly reduces symptoms, much like the corona vaccine. It doesnt mean we shouldnt take precautions, but it can prevent death (which in my book is huge.)

The main reasons owners balk at dental cleanings are the cost and the anesthesia. Getting regular cleanings can make both of those less of a factor. When teeth are less diseased and cleaned earlier we need fewer extractions and less involved cleaning. So the anesthesia is shorter, the procedure is easier and it is far cheaper. Once the teeth get severely affected, they often have to be pulled which is a much more complicated procedure. This can turn into several hours and surgical extractions.

Owners often tell us only to pull teeth if we have to, and I can fully assure you that pulling teeth is.....well, its an idiom for a reason! We always want to avoid this and the best way is routine home care and early dental cleanings.

I love taking lumps off early for several reasons. The reasons that matter to you are that smaller masses mean smaller incisions, shorter (cheaper) surgeries, and faster healing times. The reason that matters to me is that the sooner it is off the less chance it has had to be harmful.

There are certain lumps that we can tell are benign (will not spread), and lumps that we may have already biopsied. Sometimes we can tell from a needle aspirate what it is. If a lump is benign the benefit of removing it depends on size, location, and if a pet is bothering it. Often we dont know until we send the entire lump in, so removing them also gives us a final answer.

I talk about this all the time, but the better shape your pet is in the better their life will be. We can defer to future and past articles to discuss this in-depth. But the better body condition your pet is in the longer they will live and the healthier they will be. There are a lot of ways to achieve this, but the ultimate outcome is worth its weight in gold.

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Prior planning with preventive care | Off The Leash | rutlandherald.com - Rutland Herald