(847) 966-3080
North Shore
Veterinary Clinic
Everyone knows they should see their doctor at least once a year, and more frequently as they get older. Likewise, your pets should see their doctor each year too, and more frequently as they get older. Why? Because many problems can lie hidden underneath the surface and only become obvious once they become severe. Clearly, the earlier we can catch or prevent these problems, the healthier your pet will be and these problems will be simpler to treat.
In order to ensure that your pet is as healthy as can be, first we will investigate multiple aspects of your pet's health and lifestyle. Then we will remedy any issues we find and help booster your pet's immune system.
- Comprehensive Physical Exam
- Discussion of any concerns you may have from home
- Vaccinations
- Fecal exam for intestinal parasites
- Addressing your pet's special needs
Every pet has unique and different needs. So, of course, our specific recommendations vary for each one. See our basic guidelines for normal healthy pets:
Sometimes your pet may need a little something extra to ensure he is completely protected from the world. As a group, different pets live vastly different lifestyles. Because of this, what may be a remote health risk for one is a risk another pet faces everyday. As such, while we recommend certain types of health care for all pets, some things we may only recommend if your pet needs extra protection based upon his lifestyle.
- Dogs frequently in the company of others (dog park or beach, dog shows, the groomer) should strongly consider vaccinations against "kennel cough."
- Dogs living in or visiting tick habitats should consider tick preventative medication.
- Cats venturing outdoors should be protected from fleas.
- Dogs in general, should consider a flea preventative medication.
- Dogs regularly exposed to ticks, especially the deer tick, should consider vaccinations against Lyme Disease.
- Regular blood testing for various types of long term medications or monitoring of potential health problems.
- Other needs based upon your pet's special circumstances.
Every spring, we see all our canine patients for heartworm testing and preventative medication. We recommend giving the heartworm preventative from May through December to protect against the risk of heartworm disease. We do not make the recommendation for dogs to receive the preventative all year around because in Illinois, the strong winters quite effectively kill all mosquitoes.
However, if your dog travels somewhere warm during January through April, we recommend giving heartworm preventative during that time. Finally, if you wish, giving heartworm preventative fall year around is just fine, but we still will need to perform a heartworm blood test, simply because no medication is 100% effective all the time.
For our senior patients (See Senior Wellness Programs), we recommend semi-annual visits and annual blood screenings. We would prefer to do the blood screening at a second visit later in the year, simply because it gives us another opportunity to connect with you and inquire about any concerns you may have about your pet. Many issues can arise in a twelve month period of time and we feel we can better help you make your pet happier and more comfortable (as well as healthier) if we see the two of you every six months.
Please consider this point of view. Remember that adage that one dog year is seven human years? Now consider that you and I should visit our doctor once a year. But dogs and cats age 4-6 "human years" for each year of their life. So visiting the veterinarian annually for your pet is like you only seeing your doctor only once every 5 or 6 years. Think of what can happen in that amount of time.
