Your dog's health and longevity could be boosted by a combination of preventive and specialty care services. Today, our Fort Pierce team offers 6 tips about how specialty care can help your dog stay healthy.
Your Dog's Health
For even the most diligent and doting dog parent, maintaining their pet's health is a big responsibility that spans the entire length of your dog's life. That said, our specialist vets are here to work with you and your primary vet to support your dog's long-term health, longevity and well-being. If you can focus on giving your best friend lots of love, we can focus on providing the specialty care and diagnostics that go hand in hand with preventive care. Here are 6 tips on how specialty care can help.
1. Familiarize Yourself With Your Dog's Dietary & Nutritional Needs
The quality of the food your dog eats plays an important role in their health and wellbeing. If you fulfill these needs correctly, you'll be building a solid foundation for ongoing health.
Discuss the best foods for your dog with your vet. Your veterinarian can assess your dog's needs based on their age, lifestyle and breed to provide insights that will help you find the right food to meet your pet's nutritional needs.
Our Fort Pierce veterinarians and specialists have a focus on providing care for a range of internal health issues affecting pets. Feeding your four-legged friend the right food can help to prevent many internal health conditions as they age, and can also be critical to managing existing health issues such as diabetes and gastrointestinal disorders.
Learn More About Internal Medicine
2. Support Your Dog's Healthy Weight
Serious health conditions in dogs like diabetes and joint pain can be caused or worsened by extra weight. This is why helping your dog maintain a healthy weight will be critical to their general health.
The veterinary specialists at your Fort Pierce animal hospital can work with you and your primary vet to help make choices that will benefit your pet's long-term health.
3. Preventing & Treating Chronic Pain
As a pet owner, it can be heartbreaking to witness your dog experiencing painful symptoms. Our Fort Pierce specialty vets are experienced in diagnosing and treating chronic pain and other neurological issues in dogs.
Although prevention is a critical part of your dog's healthcare, so is treating developing health issues and problems that may crop up at any age. As your dog gets older, their quality of life doesn't have to be negatively impacted by chronic pain.
During an appointment for neurological care, our vets will perform a thorough neurological exam to learn whether and which parts of your pet's nervous system are affected. The vet will then order diagnostic imaging if necessary to gain insight on the likely causes of your pet's issues. Treatment options may include medical therapy, surgery or intensive care.
Learn More About Veterinary Neurology
4. Explore Surgical Treatment Options With Your Vet
Veterinary surgery is sometimes necessary to treat serious health conditions in dogs. Depending on your dog's health condition, they may benefit from a referral to specialty veterinary surgeons who use advanced technology to perform procedures in our cutting-edge facility.
Our veterinary surgical experts offer comprehensive surgeries ranging from gastrointestinal soft tissue to urogenital and cardiovascular procedures.
5. Seek Advanced Cancer Care
If your pet has been diagnosed with cancer, the right veterinary care and diagnostic testing can make all the difference in your pet's prognosis and continued health. Veterinary oncologists are committed to working with your primary care veterinarian to provide the best care possible, from offering additional diagnostics to help better predict prognosis and exploring different combinations of treatment options including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapies and more.
6. Consider Therapeutic Treatment Options
Therapeutic treatment options such as Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) can help support healing and improve your pet's health. HBOT has been used in human medicine for decades to treat conditions ranging from wounds to injuries from radiation. This treatment can benefit dogs by helping to decrease swelling and edema, reduce inflammation, and decrease brain swelling. It can also help control infection and increases oxygen delivery throughout the body.
Note: The advice provided in this post is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute medical advice regarding pets. For an accurate diagnosis of your pet's condition, please make an appointment with your vet.