The Annual Check
5 cards · about a minute
Hands before tests
A good annual exam starts with hands, teeth, lymph nodes, joints, skin, and a weight set against last year’s, long before anything goes to a lab.
Vaccines by risk
Core vaccines run to a schedule and the rest depend on where you live and what your dog does, so ask which of them your dog actually needs.
What the lab is for
A faecal test and a blood panel once a year catch what hides well: worms, early kidney and liver change, tick-borne disease before it declares itself.
Parasites are monthly
Ticks, fleas and worms keep no annual calendar, and the prevention that works is the one that happens on the same date every month.
The mouth gets missed
Most dogs past three have some dental disease, and it hurts long before it smells, ask for the mouth to be properly examined every year.