What will my veterinarian check during a general examination?
During a routine wellness examination, our veterinarian will ask you questions about your dog's diet, exercise, thirst, breathing, behavior, habits, elimination patterns (i.e., bowel movements and urination), lifestyle, and general health. Your veterinarian will also perform a physical examination of your dog. A physical examination involves observing the general appearance of your dog, listening to their chest with a stethoscope (auscultation) and feeling specific areas of the body (palpation). Based on your pet's history and physical examination, our veterinarian will then make recommendations for specific preventive medicine treatments such as vaccination, parasite control (including preventive treatments for fleas, ticks, intestinal parasites, and heartworm), nutrition, skin and coat care, joint health, weight management, or dental care. In addition, our veterinarian will discuss your dog's diet individual circumstances and decide whether any other life-stage or lifestyle recommendations would be appropriate.
What does my veterinarian check during a physical examination?
Our veterinarian will observe or inspect:
- How your dog walks and stands.
- Whether your dog is bright and alert.
- Your dog's general body condition - whether your pet has an appropriate body weight and body condition (neither too fat nor too thin).
- Your dog’s muscle condition to check for any muscle wasting.
- The haircoat - looking for excessive dryness, excessive oiliness, evidence of dandruff, excessive shedding, or abnormal hair loss.
- The skin - looking for oiliness, dryness, dandruff, lumps or bumps, areas of abnormal thickening, etc.
- The eyes - looking for redness, discharge, evidence of excessive tearing, abnormal lumps or bumps on the eyelids, how well the eyelids close, cloudiness, or any other abnormalities.
- The ears - looking for discharges, thickening, hair loss, or any other signs of problems.
- The nose and face - looking for symmetry, discharges, how well your dog breathes, whether there are any problems related to skin folds or other apparent problems.
- Mouth and teeth - looking for tartar build-up, periodontal disease, retained baby teeth, broken teeth, excessive salivation, staining around the lips, ulcers in or around the mouth, etc. Our veterinarian will auscultate:
- The heart - listening for abnormal heart rate, heart rhythm ("skipped beats" or "extra beats"), or heart murmurs.
- The lungs - listening for evidence of increased or decreased breath sounds .Our veterinarian will palpate:
- The pulse - depending on the results of auscultation, your veterinarian may simultaneously listen to the chest and palpate the pulse in the hind legs.
- The lymph nodes in the region of the head, neck, and hind legs - looking for swelling or pain.
-The legs - looking for evidence of lameness, muscle problems, nerve problems, problems with the paws or toenails, etc.
- The abdomen - feeling in the areas of the bladder, kidneys, liver, intestines, spleen, and stomach in order to assess whether these organs appear to be normal or abnormal, and whether there is any subtle evidence of discomfort.
In some cases, you may not even be aware that your veterinarian is conducting some parts of a routine physical examination, particularly if your veterinarian does not detect any abnormalities.
"I came here after getting frustrated with my vet and am so glad I made the switch. He diagnosed my pup with a fraction of the cost and time that my previous place was going to put us through. We've been able to get in next day each time I called. He walked me through what he was doing each step of the exam. Diagnosed a heart murmur previously missed. Explained the blood work my other vet had run and not explained to me. And in detail explained the testing process.
The office people have been amazing as well. I called before hand and asked so many questions and they always called me back right away with answers from the vet. I've been so nervous through this that it was such a relief to not only get answers but to have it be so friendly and accepting.
The place is also pristine in terms of cleanliness. And their waiting room TV plays cute animal videos which is amazing for waiting with a toddler. Super efficiently run and never had to wait longer than two minutes or so." Amanda E.
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