Vets And Pets

Are you a new pet parent and wondering how often you need to take your fur-kid to the vet? Danielle Chenery chats to the experts to find out.

- Danielle Chenery

It’s a sad fact of life that pets age faster than humans. This also means that if you only take your pet to the vet once a year, it’s like a human only visiting their doctor or dentist once every seven years. It’s important you don’t skip that annual visit to the vet, even if your pet seems perfectly well.

Dr Matthew Muir, holistic vet at Sydney’s integrative veterinary practice All Natural Vet Care, says you need to consider your pet’s life stage as an annual visit is not always enough.

In the USA, the standard vet visit recommendation has been increased to once every six months, as once a year is now felt to be too long between checks. “For peace of mind, six-monthly wellness checks can ensure early signs of disease or risks of disease aren’t missed,” Dr Matthew says. “As animals age and become senior, more frequent visits are recommended — every three to six months.”

Dr Kate Adams, owner of Bondi Vets (drkateadams.com or on Instagram @drkateadams), says it’s important to consider your pet’s dental health as well. “I think it’s good practice to get their teeth checked every six months as I’m a really big believer in preventative health, and dogs and cats can’t tell us when they have a sore tooth. The phrase ‘healthy mouth, healthy you’ goes for pets, too, and there’s a growing body of scientific research that tells us the importance of the mouth–health connection,” she says.