About Making Sure Your Dog’s Health Is Always High Priority Pets and their owners are often inseparable, which is to be expected if mutual love and understanding form the basis of their relationship. The dog will do anything for their master, such as to show them adoration and to protect them – even with their own life. In turn, the owner showers the cat or dog (or other pet) with love, feeds them, and gives them a home and a place where they can rest, where they are safe. This extends, too, to the pet’s health and all aspects related thereto such as scheduled visits to the vet to ensure they are well and not in danger of developing illnesses or conditions that will cause severe trauma and health problems later in their life. Therefore, the choice of one’s vet can never be overemphasized: get to know the veterinary clinics and services in your city or town and be sure that they offer a good experience and the knowledge to ensure your pet is in good hands when they need help. Pets such as dogs and cats need constant attention, and especially when they are not well. However, by taking them to the vet on regularly scheduled visits, you may be able to stop a potentially debilitating ailment right in its tracks if you act early enough. A great example refers to the so-called PennHIP testing or exam for dysplasia. In dogs, for example, dysplasia refers to an abnormally formed hip socket that can lead to lameness or arthritic pain in the area. A good veterinarian will be able to establish early on whether this could become a problem for your dog even before it does. Testing can be done on puppies as young as 6 months – even, give and take, a few weeks earlier too – to estimate the risk of their developing painful osteoarthritis (OA) of canine hip dysplasia (CHD) when they are older. If the well-trained and experienced vet picks up the possibility of these conditions developing at some point, he/she may be able to either prevent these from happening or, at the very least, help to lessen the worst effects. This is often useful information for breeders and owners of service dogs, for example, to decide which dogs should be used for such purposes and which not. The test assesses and interprets the levels of laxity in the dog’s hip joints. This is done through advanced methods that employ radiographic techniques, the results of which help the vet to establish whether or not a dog maybe – and hopefully not – a candidate for hip dysplasia. I picked up early enough, the vet that studies carefully the PennHIP x-rays may be able to perform a procedure to prevent further problems such as, say, OA later on. This should be taken care of when the dog is still young; therefore it is always recommended to take your dog in for the test when they have not yet reached adulthood. When picked up early enough it may indeed save your animal from great discomfort and pain later on.
About Making Sure Your Dog’s Health Is Always High Priority
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.