Do you own a cat or a dog as a pet? How often do you take them to the vet for annual check-ups or if they show signs of illness or injury? It is very important to take care of your pet. When you decide to adopt or purchase a pet, it is a responsibility you take on to make sure they are getting the best quality of life possible. That means, you may have to take them to the vet every once in a while to make sure they are up-to-date on their shots and immunizations. You never know when they might be sick and simply not showing signs.
Interested in learning more about how to care for your cat or dog? Keep reading to find out why it?s important to take your pet to the vet to keep up with the veterinary diagnostics market in regards to different tests they may need.
How Popular Owning a Pet Is in the United States
It is very typical for someone to own a pet in the United States. Out of all the different options, it is not a surprise to learn that cats and dogs are the most common household pets, with horses falling behind. For dogs, there are around 70-80 million owned as pets. When it comes to cats, they come in a little higher at 74-96 million owned as pets throughout the United States. Horses fall far behind in the ranking with only 2 million people owning a horse in the United States.
How to Best Care for Your Pet
People care for their pets in all different types of ways. For example, plenty of people care for the pet by providing them with treats and toys. This is a great way to bond with your pet and to reward them for good behavior. Some owners go so far as to include their pets when it comes to human holidays like Christmas. Around 63% of owners even go so far as to get Christmas pets for their dogs and around 58% do the same for their cats.
However, it is as important to make sure that your pet is always taken care of when it comes to their health. The veterinary diagnostics market is one way that you can ensure you pet is always safe and healthy.
One of the main things that many cats and dogs can suffer from is heartworms. For dogs, there are around one million each year that are diagnosed as heartworm positive. When you take your pet to the vet for check-ups, it is essential that you have them do a canine heartworm test so they can provide the best of the veterinary diagnostics market possible for your pet. The veterinary laboratory can run tests like the heartworm antigen test kit to find out whether or not your pet is suffering from heartworms.
If your pet does have heartworms, treatment can be costly. For example, you can expect a $1,000 expense to treat your dog if he is diagnosed with heartworms. One way to avoid such a cost is by caring for your pet year-round with preventive medicine. There?s no reason to wait until your dog already has heartworms to start the treatment. You also don?t have to wait until you are able to visit your vet to find out from the veterinary diagnostics market whether or not your pet is suffering. Instead, you can simply buy the preventive medicine and give it to your pet monthly.
While this is still an expense to you, it is at a lesser price and provides you with the guarantee and comfort that you pet is safe and healthy all year long. There will not be any scares when you visit the vet as to whether or not your pet has heartworms.
Remember that pets should be over the age 7 months old before you start heartworm prevention medicine. Do not start it any younger because they are not old enough to be able to handle the medication yet.
Have you ever bought heartworm prevention medicine? Has one of your pets ever suffered from heartworms or another illness? Let us know in the comments about your experiences.