Pet Wellness Exams
Comprehensive pet wellness exams and checkups for dogs and cats are the cornerstone of our care at Foland Veterinary Services. Regular preventive care is the foundation of a long, healthy life for your pet—and our team is here to make every visit feel easy, informative, and worthwhile.
A Lifetime by Your Side Starts with Preventive Care
Prevention really is the best medicine, especially when it comes to your pet’s healthcare. Regular wellness and preventive care can ward off infectious diseases, such as parvo, kennel cough, and feline leukemia, and parasitic infections. Regular exams and diagnostics help us establish a baseline health profile for which to compare future visits, so we can tell if your pet’s health has changed.
Preventive care also helps us detect subtle signs that indicate something is not quite right with your pet, which can lead to earlier disease diagnosis. In short, preventive wellness care is just that—care focused on preventing problems in your beloved companion before they have a chance to become serious.
What’s Included in My Pet’s Wellness Exam?
Prevention has the most impact when you’re prepared for as much as possible. That’s why we support your pet with comprehensive preventative care designed to keep them healthy at every stage of life.
Physical Exam
During each visit, we will perform a thorough nose-to-tail physical exam to evaluate your pet's eyes, ears, mouth, heart, lungs, skin, coat, and overall health. All the while, we check for the slightest sign that may indicate your pet requires further diagnostic testing.
Vaccines
Lifestyle-appropriate vaccines ensure your pet is protected from dangerous infectious diseases that can threaten their health.
Heartworm Disease Screening
Annual heartworm disease testing ensures your furry friend is free from this deadly disease.
Tick-Borne Disease Screening
We also screen dogs annually for Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and ehrlichiosis—dangerous diseases that are transmitted by ticks.
Parasite Prevention
We will recommend heartworm, flea, and tick preventives that best fit your pet's needs to protect them from heartworm and tick-borne diseases.
Fecal Parasite Screening
Intestinal parasites such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, coccidia, and Giardia can debilitate your pet by depleting nutrients and causing vomiting and diarrhea.
In-House Diagnostics & Bloodwork
Diagnostics and blood testing, such as a CBC (Complete Blood Count), provide important information about your pet's red and white blood cells and platelets. Abnormalities can help us detect infections, systemic disease, anemia, and blood-clotting problems.
Baseline Screening Tests
A complete blood profile evaluates your pet's organ function and provides baseline values to which future results can be compared.
Routine Dental Care
Dental disease is the most common health problem to affect pets, and regular professional cleanings, paired with at-home care, can stave off this constant threat.
Microchipping
Wellness visits are also a great opportunity to have your pet microchipped if they haven't been already. A microchip is a small, permanent form of identification that dramatically increases the chances of being reunited with your pet if they're ever lost.
Preventative Care for Your Pet’s Lifelong Health
Puppies and kittens require more frequent preventive visits to ensure they develop a strong immune system and grow into healthy adults. As an adult, your pet should receive annual preventive visits to keep their vaccines and parasite prevention up to date. When your pet reaches senior status, they will again require more frequent preventive visits to closely monitor their health and detect diseases before they advance. Regular preventive care allows us to partner with you to provide your pet with a long, healthy life.
Why Pet Wellness Exams Matter
Think of a wellness exam as your pet’s annual health investment. Rather than waiting until something is wrong, these proactive visits allow our veterinarians to identify and address potential concerns before they become more serious—and more costly—problems. Here are just a few reasons why routine pet checkups are so important:
Early Detection Saves Lives
Conditions like diabetes, kidney disease, thyroid disorders, and dental disease can develop gradually with few early signs. Routine exams and screenings help detect these issues early, allowing for more effective treatment and long-term management.
Vaccinations Keep Pets and Communities Safe
Staying current on vaccines protects not just your individual pet, but the broader pet community around them. Diseases like parvovirus, distemper, and rabies are preventable—but only when pets are properly vaccinated.
Preventive Care Is Cost-Effective
Addressing a health concern early is almost always less expensive than treating an advanced condition. Regular wellness visits are one of the smartest financial investments you can make in your pet’s long-term health.
A Relationship That Grows Over Time
Regular visits help us get to know your pet’s normal weight, behavior, and energy level, making it easier to spot subtle changes early and respond appropriately when concerns arise.
FAQs About Pet Wellness Exams
How often should my pet have a wellness exam?
For most healthy adult dogs and cats, we recommend a wellness exam once a year. Puppies and kittens typically need more frequent visits during their first year of life to complete their initial vaccination series and monitor their development. Senior pets—generally those 7 years and older—benefit from twice-yearly exams, as age-related health changes can occur more quickly.
What should I bring to my pet's wellness exam?
It's helpful to bring any previous veterinary records if you're a new client, a list of any medications or supplements your pet is currently taking, and a fresh stool sample if your veterinarian has requested fecal testing. If you have questions or concerns you want to make sure we address, write them down ahead of time—we want to hear all of them.
My pet seems perfectly healthy. Do they still need a checkup?
Absolutely. Many of the conditions we catch during routine wellness exams show no obvious symptoms in their early stages. Regular checkups allow us to screen for issues that wouldn't be visible to even the most attentive pet owner at home.
Does my pet need to be fasted before a wellness exam?
In most cases, fasting isn't required for a routine wellness visit. However, if your veterinarian has recommended bloodwork as part of your pet's exam, fasting for 8–12 hours beforehand may produce more accurate results. We'll let you know ahead of time if fasting is needed.
What is microchipping? Does it hurt?
Microchipping involves the insertion of a tiny chip—about the size of a grain of rice—just beneath the skin between your pet's shoulder blades using a needle. The procedure is quick and feels similar to a routine vaccine injection. Most pets tolerate it very well. The chip contains a unique ID number that can be scanned by any veterinary clinic or shelter to help identify your pet and reunite you if they're ever lost.
My pet is older. Are wellness exams still important?
Yes—actually, they’re more important than ever. Senior pets are at greater risk for age-related conditions, including arthritis, kidney disease, dental disease, diabetes, and cancer. More frequent wellness visits for older dogs and cats give our team the ability to monitor these risks closely and intervene early when needed.
Proactive Care, Personalized for Your Pet
Wellness exams are more than a yearly obligation—they’re one of the most meaningful things you can do to support your pet’s health over the long term. At Foland Veterinary Services, every checkup is an opportunity to strengthen the relationship between our team, your pet, and your family. Our approach to preventive care is rooted in honesty, thoroughness, and genuine investment in each patient we see—because dogs and cats throughout Parker County deserve a veterinary team that truly knows them.