A wellness exam: $50*
Routine screening tests: $250*
Knowing your pet is healthy: Priceless

Isn’t knowing that your faithful, furry companion is in great health, ready to tackle more years by your side, a wonderful feeling? We think so. Which is why—although your pet likely appears perfectly healthy—we always recommend wellness screening tests during annual visits. If you’re undecided about spending the extra cash on wellness screening tests, read on for five key—priceless—benefits that such tests contribute to your pet’s health. 

#1: Money spent now is money saved in the future

In general, preventive care is much more reasonably priced than life-saving, emergency care. Managing any condition that is diagnosed and treated early in the disease process costs much less than treating an advanced disease left undetected because of skipped screening tests. For example, if your pet develops heartworm disease, early stage treatment saves more than money—it can save your pet’s life. As heartworms migrate through and reproduce in your pet’s cardiovascular system, they create permanent scarring. Eventually, the large heartworm burden blocks cardiac blood flow and requires emergency surgical removal. However, if heartworm disease is diagnosed at stage 1—or even better, prevented completely—treatment is much less stressful on your pet and your wallet.

By budgeting for your pet’s annual or biannual wellness screening tests and other preventive care, you can effectively save money. Preventive care costs over the course of your pet’s lifetime are generally less than footing the bill for advanced disease that could have been diagnosed early, or prevented.

#2: Pets are masters of disguise

No, we’re not talking about your cat’s unique ability to blend in perfectly with your comforter. Pets are masters of disguise in that they are incredibly skilled at hiding illness or injury. Showing weakness through sickness would likely have resulted in predation for your pet’s ancestors, and domestic pets still instinctively hide their health problems. 

If your pet is ill or injured, they will do their best to hide the condition until they can no longer ignore the advanced problem. For example, an arthritic pet may not show a clearly defined limp until their joint cartilage has virtually disintegrated, but we will look closely for subtle clues that owners likely miss, so we can detect arthritis in pets before the disease becomes debilitating.

So, while your pet may appear normal and healthy at home, they could be hiding serious health issues, but regular wellness screening tests mean we can accurately determine if your furry pal is truly healthy, or hiding a problem.

#3: Your pet’s “normal” might not be normal

When you read your own test results, you may notice that average reference ranges appear for each value. Typically, most test results fall in that range, although outliers exist in every patient pool. With no history of normal values that are abnormal, your pet may be diagnosed with a nonexistent health problem. For example, if your pet’s blood glucose value is over the top limit, they may be mistakenly diagnosed with diabetes. However, additional testing, such as fructosamine testing, can help make an accurate diagnosis. If every other test provides normal results, we will know that your pet’s “normal” is slightly abnormal, compared with the majority of the pet population.

#4: Pets age much faster than people

Unfortunately, pets age much faster than their human family members, and their health status can change rapidly. By regularly monitoring your pet’s health through wellness screening tests—and, hopefully, showing normal results each time—you can ensure your four-legged friend remains happy and healthy for a long time.

#5: Peace of mind is priceless

What number would you put on knowing your pet is healthy? While you cannot really quantify your pet’s health as a dollar amount, the peace of mind provided by the cost of regular wellness screening tests that ultimately show normal results is priceless.

Is your pet due for their annual or biannual wellness visit and the screening tests we recommend? If so, give our Greenfield Veterinary Clinic team a call and schedule their appointment.

*These prices are not accurate, but are examples of veterinary costs associated with wellness care. For an estimate of your pet’s wellness visit, contact our team.