With the recent economical difficulties, owners often will delay wellness exams and other preventative care for their pets.  While including pets' needs into an already tight budget can be challenging, it is important to continue to provide routine preventative care to our pets.  The following is a list of disease conditions that can be easily prevented or addressed early on:

• Obesity
• Dental disease
• Heartworm disease
• Intestinal parasites
• Flea infestations and flea allergy dermatitis
  
• Infectious upper respiratory tract diseases
  
• Parvovirus infections
  

We are seeing an increase in the number of these cases, and also seeing these patients later on in their disease course.  Prolonging vaccinations (or opting for feed store or other lower quality vaccinations), routine dental care, and wellness checkups are leading to increased numbers of unhealthy pets as well as higher veterinary bills.