It is a concrete fact that the needs of a pet can vary throughout its life. Providing the utmost care during all the years of their life helps them lead a healthy and happy life. Since keeping your pet healthy is a lifelong commitment, providing the best care at every stage is also a must. It is essential that for each stage of your furry friend’s life, you need to create a plan and follow a series of mandatory steps to maintain the quality of his life. The requirements of the daily or life stage keep changing with every climb and at every critical stage in your pet’s life. From now on, according to the needs of your growing years, it should be enough for everyone.
In each passing stage, explore and learn about the basic requirements that are unavoidable for your optimal health at each stage of life.
Puppy and kitten care
A newly adopted puppy or kitten needs exclusive care for optimal growth. Not just regular vet visits, but here are the many things to consider.
The first step is to plan a visit to the vet for your pet’s physical exam as soon as possible.
The second is to examine your furry friend for the presence of fleas, ticks, intestinal parasites, or any other health problem. This will ensure that the new member is fit and does not transmit any disease to other animals or humans.
Puppies and kittens are very prone to parasitic infections. To protect them against preventative diseases, it is essential to start with a flea and tick prevention program. This controls flea and tick infestations and protects your puppy or kitten against flea and tick-borne diseases.
In addition to flea and tick preventatives, treat your furry friend with dewormers. Sometimes the worms are transmitted to puppies and kittens from their mothers. Therefore, worm treatment regularly helps to eliminate worms and controls multiple worm infections in your furry child.
Along with other parasitic infections, puppies are also prone to heartworm disease due to their low immunity. Your vet will conduct a test for heartworm disease. If the result is negative, you can start monthly heartworm preventatives. These are available in flavored chews that are easy to administer to puppies.
Low immunity not only makes puppies and kittens susceptible to heartworm disease, but other preventable diseases as well. Therefore, vaccination is essential to protect your four-legged child from these diseases. Your vet can prepare a vaccination plan for your pet, so you can be sure that no vaccinations will be missed.
Basic pet training, social media and proper nutrition along with lots of petting are the other aspects to keep in mind as your puppy or kitten grows.
However, it is crucial to take your furry friend to a vet if you notice the following signs or symptoms in your furry toddler.
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Drinking or urinating excessively
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Sudden weight loss
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Loss of appetite
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Sudden increase in appetite
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Behavior changes
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Ear odors, redness, head shaking, scratching or head shaking
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Difficulty defecating or urinating
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Lumps, bumps, or skin irritation
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Bad breath, plaque, or bleeding gums
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Diarrhea or vomiting
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Unable to walk
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Lethargic glances
Pet care for adults
As your puppy / kitten grows into an adult, particular things change in your pet care regimen. First of all, the pet’s diet must be changed according to its weight and body conditions. An adult requires more food compared to growing puppies or kittens. Also, adult pets should be examined at least twice a year to prevent or detect any unlikely health conditions.
As pets age faster, extra care should be taken at this stage, as health problems can also progress rapidly. Some of the common problems faced by adult furry friends are ear and eye diseases, dental conditions, obesity, endocrine diseases, intestinal parasites, tumors or lumps, and skin diseases, especially due to fleas and ticks. Although your pet may appear normal, some of these diseases are not detectable in the early stages. While conditions such as intestinal parasitic infestations, skin diseases due to external parasites and dental diseases are highly preventable if regular treatments are given to your pet.
Furthermore, adult dogs are also prone to chronic pain due to the onset of arthritis problems. They may experience pain due to joint diseases and skin rashes or itching due to flea and tick bites. Regular joint supplements help control joint pain and further prevent the signs of arthritis. Additionally, monthly flea and tick treatment such as Nexgard, Advantage, or Eliminall spot-on prevents itching, scratches, and rashes, as well as flea allergy dermatitis in pets.
Pet care for seniors
When pets go into the golden period, they expect more care and love from your side. Advances in animal health medications have increased, which has had a great impact on the quality of life of older pets by improving their health. However, the increased service life has its own drawbacks. The long lifespan has also paved the way for numerous health conditions in older pets.
During this stage, health conditions grow much faster and therefore more specific care must be created to provide the best care for your older pet. At this stage they are very susceptible to osteoarthritis, kidney disease, heart disease, liver disease, cancer, and diabetes.