counting_to_fiveWhile vet pet insurance is a wonderful luxury to have when the need arises, I think most pet lovers would agree that it’s better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. In shooting for the former, there are a great many things all of us should do to keep our pets healthy and happy. But we don’t want to overload you with information so we’re going to focus on just five things you can do to keep your dog or cat healthy.

First and foremost, keep up with your yearly checkups. Dogs and cats instinctively try to hide when they aren’t feeling well. We often think their ailments come on fast but sometimes that’s just because your pet has been hiding its discomfort for sometime before it became overwhelming. Sticking to regular checkups may allow your doctor to diagnose and treat minor issues before they become major (expensive) problems.

Keep up with your heartworm preventative. Heartworms are horrid, disgusting critters that spend their adult lives in your pet’s heart and arteries. Heartworm disease, the advanced stage in which adult heartworms occupy the heart, can be fatal. Likewise, the treatment of heartworm disease carries its own set of risks and can be fatal to your pet. This is one area where an ounce of prevention truly is worth a pound of cure. Heartworm prevention is simple and convenient so there’s no reason not to stay on top of this.

We recently did a post on canine obesity but the problem doesn’t stop with dogs. Cats are being overfed at record rates too. I’m actually squeezing two items in one here (like the meals you may have been overfeeding your pet) and am covering exercise and diet in this item, but please recognize its importance. Overweight pets lead shortened lives and run a much higher risk of heart disease, hip and joint damage and diabetes. Manage your pet’s diet and exercise to keep it healthy.

A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body. Pets, who spend countless hours confined in their homes while their owners work can easily suffer from boredom. Not only can that cause them to act out in undesirable ways such as chewing things you’d rather weren’t chewed, but confinement in combination with inadequate stimulation has been proven to lead to neurosis. Invest time every day to play with your pet. Toss a ball for your dog, twitch a string for your cat. For particularly bright dogs, challenge them with food-based tricks and puzzles. You’ll both be happier for the time together.

Finally, if you own a dog, take the time to train it fundamental commands. Nothing will stop your heart so fast as a dog dashing out of the house after a squirrel it sees across the street. Having your dog well trained so that he stops and returns on command isn’t some totalitarian-driven desire to lord over a lesser creature. The ability to control your bet is as much for its benefit as it is for yours. Too many pets run out into traffic or aggressively attack an animal far larger than they are because their owners fail to establish their dominance, assert their control and train their pet. You aren’t being a better owner by setting yourself up as subordinate to your pet.

I hope we’ve given you some quick pointers to keep in mind. Obviously there is plenty more you can do to keep your pet healthy. We’ve touched on other suggestions in past posts and will cover plenty more in future posts. Check back often to learn how you can be the best owner you can be and, by extension, the best pal your pet deserves. Here’s hoping you never have to use your vet pet insurance for anything other than those routine checkups!