Skip to content

Wellness Exams

Prevention is Key

We at Prairie Hills strongly believe that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, which is why we have a heavy focus on preventative medicine. This includes things like regular vaccinations, deworming, heartworm prevention, and flea and tick prevention, as well as regular blood and fecal testing so that we can closely monitor your pet’s health.

Vaccinations are recommended

Here at Prairie Hills Animal Hospital, we generally recommend a vaccination schedule based on recommendations by the American Animal Hospital Association and American Association of Feline Practitioners; however, we understand that each pet has individual needs, and we are happy to discuss your pet’s personalized vaccination schedule at their wellness appointment. 

Puppy

We are so excited to meet the newest addition to your family! A full wellness exam is important for your new puppy. While we hope you have a happy and healthy puppy during this exam, our veterinarian will examine your puppy from nose to tail, looking for signs of infection or congenital issues, which will be discussed in-depth as needed. During your puppy’s first visit, we will discuss everything you need to know about new puppy care, including things like behavioral training, feeding, and potty training. We will also review any records you bring and discuss recommended vaccinations, preventatives, and spaying or neutering.

Puppy Exam Schedule

With a young puppy, you can expect anywhere from two to four routine visits depending on the age of your puppy and its history of previous vaccinations or other treatments. In general, we recommend the following schedule for puppies: 

Initial visit (8 weeks old)
  • Wellness exam with veterinarian
  • DA2PP vaccination (Distemper, Adenovirus 2, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza)
  • Oral Bordetella vaccination (recommended every 12 months)*
  • Fecal examination
  • Deworming
  • Initial dose of heartworm prevention
Follow-up visit (12 weeks old)
  • Brief examination with technician (if any issue is found, an exam with the veterinarian will be scheduled)
  • DA2PP-L vaccination (Distemper, Adenovirus 2, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza, Leptospirosis)
  • Follow-up fecal (if positive on previous fecal)
  • Deworming
  • Next dose of heartworm prevention
Final puppy visit (16 weeks old)
  • Wellness exam with veterinarian
  • Rabies vaccination (good for 1 year)
  • DA2PP-L vaccination (good for 1 year)
  • Follow-up fecal (if positive on previous fecal)
  • Next dose of heartworm prevention
Spaying/neutering

While we wholeheartedly recommend spaying and neutering your pets, the timing at which this should be done is dependent on the individual dog and lifestyle of the pet and owner. We look forward to discussing the right time to spay or neuter your puppy during her or his puppy visits.

*If we are unable to give your pet an oral version of the Bordetella vaccine, an injectable version will be given. The injectable version requires that this vaccine be boostered in four weeks at your puppy’s next visit. It will then need to be given every 12 months.

Kitten

We are so excited to meet the newest addition to your family! A full wellness exam is important for your new kitten. While we hope that you have a happy, healthy kitten, during this exam our veterinarian will examine your kitten from nose to tail looking for signs of infection or congenital issues which will be discussed in depth as needed. During your kitten’s first visit, we will discuss everything you need to know about new kitten care, including things like feeding, litter training, and environmental enrichment. We will also review any records you bring and discuss recommended vaccinations, preventatives, and spaying or neutering.

Kitten Exam Schedule

With a young kitten, you can expect anywhere from two to four routine visits depending on the age of your kitten and its history of previous vaccinations or other treatments. In general, we recommend the following schedule for kittens:

Initial visit (8 weeks old)
  • Wellness exam with veterinarian
  • FVRCP vaccination (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia)
  • Fecal examination
  • Deworming
  • Discuss heartworm prevention and/or regular deworming
Follow-up visit (12 weeks old)
  • Brief examination with technician (if any issue is found, an exam with the veterinarian will be scheduled)
  • FVRCP vaccination (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia)
  • FeLV/FIV testing
  • FeLV vaccination upon negative FeLV/FIV test results (Feline Leukemia Virus)
  • Follow-up fecal (if positive on previous fecal)
  • Deworming
Follow-up visit (16 weeks old)
  • Wellness exam with veterinarian
  • Rabies vaccination (good for 1 year)
  • FVRCP vaccination (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia)
  • FeLV vaccination (good for 1 year)
  • Follow-up fecal (if positive on previous fecal)
  • Pre-surgical blood work for spay/neuter
Follow-up visit (20 weeks old)
  • Brief examination with technician (if any issue is found, an exam with the veterinarian will be scheduled)
  • FVRCP vaccination (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia)
  • Fecal examination
  • Deworming
  • Discuss heartworm prevention and/or regular deworming
Final kitten visit (24 weeks old)
  • FVRCP vaccination (good for 3 years)
  • Pre-surgical blood work for spay/neuter (if not already performed)
Spaying/neutering

We recommend spaying or neutering your kitten at 5-6 months of age.
We are happy to further discuss spaying or neutering your pet at her or his wellness visit.

Want to know what to expect?

Learn more about what a typical visit entails and how to prepare yourself and your pet.

Adult and Senior Dogs

Thank you for trusting a member of your family to our care. Our utmost goal is to work with you to keep your dog healthy. Because of this, regular wellness visits are important for your dog throughout its life. We recommend that your dog be evaluated by a veterinarian at least once yearly as an adult and at least every 6 months as a senior. Regular exams and lab work allow us to not only discuss ways for your dog to thrive but also to identify problems early so that we can more readily treat them. During your dog’s wellness visits one of our trusted veterinarians will discuss any concerns that you may have and fully examine your pet. The veterinarian will give recommendations based on your pet’s age, lifestyle, and any concerns that you may have. As a general rule of thumb, recommendations for vaccinations and preventatives for your dog are based on regularly updated recommendations by the American Animal Hospital Association; however, we recognize that each dog is an individual and all recommendations will be made based on your individual pet.

Adult and Senior Dog Exam Schedule

The following represents general recommendations for vaccinations, preventatives, and lab work for a healthy, adult or senior dog at his or her wellness visit every 6 to 12 months:

Wellness exam with veterinarian
Rabies vaccination
  • Good for one year or three years dependent upon previous vaccination status.
DA2PP vaccination
  • Distemper, Adenovirus 2, Parvovirus, Parainfluenza
  • Good for one year or three years dependent upon previous vaccination status.
Leptospirosis vaccination
  • Good for one year.
Bordetella vaccination
  • Recommended every 12 months
Fecal Examination
Heartworm Test
Heartworm Prevention
Flea and tick prevention
Deworming
Yearly blood work
  • Performing yearly blood work allows our veterinarians to assess trends and changes which could be indicative of underlying disease processes. As your pet ages, these changes become more prevalent
    making it even more important to closely monitor his or her blood work values.
Eye pressures (senior dogs)

Adult and Senior Cats

Thank you for trusting a member of your family to our care. Our utmost goal is to work with you to keep your cat healthy. Because of this, regular wellness visits are important for your cat throughout its life. We recommend that your cat be evaluated by a veterinarian at least once yearly as an adult and every six months as a senior. Regular exams and lab work allow us to not only discuss ways for your cat to thrive, but also to identify problems early so that we may more readily treat them. During your cat’s wellness visit, one of our trusted veterinarians will discuss any concerns that you may have and fully examine your pet. The veterinarian will give recommendations based on your pet’s age, lifestyle, and any concerns you may have. As a general rule of thumb, recommendations for vaccinations and preventatives for your cat are based on regularly updated recommendations by the American Association of Feline Practitioners; however, we recognize that each cat is an individual and all recommendations will be made based on your pet.

Adult and Senior Cat Exam Schedule

The following represents general recommendations for vaccinations, preventatives, and lab work for a healthy, adult or senior cat at its yearly wellness visit:

Wellness exam with veterinarian
Rabies vaccination
  • Good for one year or three years depending upon previous vaccination status.
FVRCP vaccination (Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calicivirus, Panleukopenia)
  • Good for three years dependent upon previous vaccination status.
FeLV vaccination
  • Good for one year and only recommended for cats at higher risk for contracting Feline Leukemia Virus including cats who spend any amount of time outside, cats who live indoors with another cat who spends any amount of time outside, cats who live in a home where cats or kittens are fostered, or cats who live in a home where they may come into contact with new cats.
Fecal Examination
Deworming, heartworm prevention, and/or flea and tick prevention
Yearly blood work
  • Performing yearly blood work allows our veterinarians to assess trends and changes which could be indicative of underlying disease processes. As your pet ages, these changes become more prevalent
    making it even more important to closely monitor his or her blood work values.
Eye pressures (senior cats)
Blood pressure (senior cats)

LOOKING FOR A GOOD FIT FOR YOU AND YOUR PET?

CONTACT US TODAY TO REQUEST AN APPOINTMENT.