When you come in for your pet’s comprehensive initial exam, our RVTs and doctors will get to know your animal from tip to tail. As highly trained professionals, our veterinarians can see signs other people can’t see.
They will weigh your pet, feel and look at ears, in the eyes, at the nose, feet and genitalia, in the mouth and at the teeth, listen to the heart and lungs, feel and look at the skin under all that fur, feel the lymph nodes and internal organs. They will ask questions about your pet’s lifestyle, medical and surgical history, and talk about life stages. It’s an extraordinarily comprehensive exam, designed to get to know you as well.
That’s the short version. Suffice that “comprehensive” is not a word we take lightly.
Before you come in, we will ask you to fill out a Client Information Sheet to ensure we have complete contact information about you, anyone who shares responsibility and can make decisions if we can’t reach you, plus anyone you want to allow to pick your pet up. We distinguish between the human guardian, who is the “client,” and their animals, each of whom is a “patient.” As such, we will also ask you to fill out and bring a Patient Information Sheet, which gives us a basic starting point on age, gender, breed, vaccination history, medical history, lifestyle and behavior, etc.
Your veterinarian will ask you general questions about your animal’s diet, exercise, breathing, thirst, elimination patterns, behavior, lifestyle, and general health. As the client, your interests and wishes are critical to the success of any care plan and so the veterinarian will be interested in getting to know you too!
To begin your animal’s exam, the doctor will make observations, such as how your animal walks and stands, whether they are bright and alert, the general body condition. They will look at the coat looking for excessive dryness or oiliness, dandruff, excessive shedding or hair loss. Same with the skin, looking for dryness, oiliness, and dandruff, but also looking for any lumps, bumps or thickening.
They will look in the eyes for cloudiness, redness, discharge, evidence of inordinate tearing, how well the eyelids close and whether there are any lumps or bumps on the eyelids. Basically, they look for any abnormalities. They will feel and look at the ears for any thickening, hair loss, discharges or any other signs of problems.
They will look at the nose and face for symmetry, how well the pet breathes, whether there are discharges or other apparent problems. Provided your animal will allow it, they will examine the mouth and teeth looking for broken teeth, retained baby teeth, excessive salivation, tumors in or around the mouth, and the usual tartar build-up, or signs of periodontal disease.
They will feel the lymph nodes in the head, neck and hind legs looking for swelling. They will feel around in the abdomen, looking for discomfort or any abnormalities in the stomach, intestines, spleen, bladder, kidneys and liver. They will feel the legs for muscle issues or nerve problems. They will examine the paws and toenails.
They will take the animal’s temperature, and listen to the heart and lungs with a stethoscope. If you want to have us do a parasite check, bring a fresh or refrigerated stool sample with you. While not part of a complimentary initial new patient exam, the stool sample can be examined under a microscope on site in our lab at the same time. Puppies, in particular, often have parasitic eggs in their stools. Don’t be surprised if routine stool testing is recommended, since monitoring may be advisable in young animals. Your veterinarian will suggest a game plan for ongoing care. Common topics may be about microchipping, flea treatment and heartworm prevention, all of which are important.
The frequency of regular wellness exams, and whether any other tests are advised, depends on what the veterinarian observes, finds through testing, and other factors, like age. The very young and rather older tend to need more attention, just like in humans.
Unlike humans, however, animals can not tell you how they feel. Moreover, many animals instinctively hide or mask symptoms of early disease, until it has progressed and advanced. At that point, costs of treating can be much higher and suffering is definitely higher. Often the only way to catch issues early involves medical imaging or lab “screening” tests, such as biochemistry profile, complete blood count (CBC), thyroid hormone testing, and urinalysis.
Comprehensive initial exams have always been part of the way we care for pets here at Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital™. In addition, as an AAHA-accredited animal hospital, we follow the strict AAHA standards and guidelines for every examination we perform on your pet.
If you have an appointment already, we look forward to meeting you. If not, call us today at (650) 325-5671.
