Brewer is going in for his first annual checkup under our ownership at the vet tomorrow, and I was hoping to show up prepared

I found this link to be pretty informative: http://dogs.about.com/cs/disableddogs/a/vet_exam.htm

Anything that I should have looked at that isn't coverd in that link? Nose, Eyes, Mouth, Ears, Lungs, Heart, Skin / Coat, Abdomen, Spine, etc...

How about blood, poo, or urine samples?

Appreciate any feedback...

TIA!

It's never a bad idea to get a baseline blood and urine screening. In the event of something ever happening (knock on wood), it's easier for the dr to have normal parameters to refer back to.

We do annual bloodwork too. Snickers even gets his done every 6 months since he's an old fart Plus, with Ava being hard to get blood from (she thinks its gonna be a nail trim and panics) I figure that since we're already stabbing her for a heartworm test, they may as well take some extra blood to make sure she's healthy. Poo samples are always good too. In fact, most vets ask that you bring them or want to pull a fecal there. For Brewer's sake, I'd take my own poo sample in rather than have the vet "pull" it. And finally, if he's microchipped, you might want to have them scan him to see if its migrated or anything.

I always do blood and fecal. Just to keep myself informed!

In addition to the physical exam, we also get blood and fecal done. Nothing else unless I have a particular concern.

Sierra gets yearly blood work cause of her age, we have never had jacks blood taken and neither have had fecal checks, vet never brought that up.

Let us know how it goes

Thanks everybody for all the feedback!

Looks like Brewer will be giving blood today and I will need to determine how I'd like to submit fecal and urine samples. Lord knows Brewer will probably hold a grudge if I let the vet "pull" poo out of him

Paul, it's horrible but I have had them use the "poop loop." It's easy for us to get a fecal from Cato he poops about 4 times a day - it's like he is hardwired to poop a lot. They are small of course. Delilah - only has BM 1 - 2x a day so its not as easy Do your best to get a urine sample on your own, I've heard that is pretty painful for them.

Well, that was rather underwhelming!

The checkup took about 5 minutes, most of which was spent talking about Brewer's anxiety.

The vet gave Brewer's eyes a good look, but that was due to me saying that we had been noticing increased eye matter for ~10 days. I am thinking Brewer came down with a small cold or he got something stuck in his eye that was irritating it...

I asked about blood, poo, and urine samples, and the vet said that it was unnecessary given Brewer's age and apparent health???

Needless to say, I will be talking with the vet tech that I know through MUSHR to see if this is what I can expect going forward, or if it was an "off" day for the vet.

For annual vet checks I have never been asked by any vet for blood/urine samples to be drawn on a healthy animal. They always request fecal sample to check for parasites. The only time blood work occured on my lab was prior to her spaying. My greyhounds needed teeth cleaning every 6 months or so and blood work was done on them when they reached 7 years of age.

MicroBrewer wrote:

Well, that was rather underwhelming!

The checkup took about 5 minutes, most of which was spent talking about Brewer's anxiety.

The vet gave Brewer's eyes a good look, but that was due to me saying that we had been noticing increased eye matter for ~10 days. I am thinking Brewer came down with a small cold or he got something stuck in his eye that was irritating it...

I asked about blood, poo, and urine samples, and the vet said that it was unnecessary given Brewer's age and apparent health???

Needless to say, I will be talking with the vet tech that I know through MUSHR to see if this is what I can expect going forward, or if it was an "off" day for the vet.

Typically blood is drawn annually when your pet is 7 years and older. Other than that, blood isn't usually drawn if your pet seems otherwise healthy. Prior to our current vet, Ginger had urine analysis as part of her routine check, but hasn't had it since even after switching vets. My 2 get semi-annual check-up and she mainly checks heart, ears, eyes, teeth and gums, temperature and if there are any noticable lumps or bumbs that shouldn't be there, and I think she also feels hips.

The only time ours have had blood drawn was in preparation for our cross-country trip last year because we'd be going into Canada, I wanted to be extra sure to have records of the dogs' health. The only time we've been asked for fecal samples was if they went in for an illness.

Mine never take blood except for a heartworm test. They do fecal though. No urine. They feel around, check ears, eyes, mouth, listen to heart, and that's about it!

I didn't start blood tests until my dogs hit 5 yrs, besides heartworm. I've always done fecals.

With Delilah we always do blood, urine and fecal. Urine is pretty tricky..but we manage, she was a rescue and I know very little about her past so I prefer to stay on top of her health.

Cato is only fecal as of now, except heartworm. We got him from a fantastic breeder and his lineage is greatso I'm not nearly as concerned about his health.

Better safe than sorry...but, then again I am a worry wart.

I do annual bloodwork as well. He'll have his blood drawn in November along with HW and urine. I'd rather be proactive than to not catch something early; everybody is different though and there is absolutely nothing wrong with wait till they are considered "senior" lol (over 8 )

My vet has the fecal included in the annual check up. The blood work is only $10 extra so we get that done as well. Plus doing the blood work makes me feel better about my pups overall health. They don't take urine unless I ask and that's only when I think there is something wrong.

Montana14 wrote:

My vet has the fecal included in the annual check up. The blood work is only $10 extra so we get that done as well. Plus doing the blood work makes me feel better about my pups overall health. They don't take urine unless I ask and that's only when I think there is something wrong.

$10 for bloodwork? I need to come to your vet! Mine is $53 - and that's over half off because of my employee discount. Wow.

Care More Animal Hospital - Martinez, GA. Yup, it's $110 w/o and $120 with blood work. He's an older more experienced vet. I'd trust him with my pups lives.

SaraB wrote:

Mine never take blood except for a heartworm test. They do fecal though. No urine. They feel around, check ears, eyes, mouth, listen to heart, and that's about it!

The same with my vet. He is also an older more experienced vet and I'm going to be very sad when he retires. He keeps things simple and very low cost. Aspen's vet visit this morning only cost me $40 for the office visit, skin scrape, testing and a weeks worth of Zinc suppliments.