Learn what happens during your pet's yearly wellness exam, why these visits matter, and how PerkyPet helps support pet health between vet appointments.
As busy pet parents, it’s easy to let yearly wellness exams fall through the cracks, especially if a pet appears healthy. But skipping this yearly check-in with your vet would be a mistake. A wellness exam is a routine checkup designed to assess a dog or cat’s overall health, identify subtle problems before they become more serious, and administer preventive care such as vaccines, parasite protection, and screening tests. Let’s explore the components of a wellness exam and how each one can contribute to your pet’s health, longevity, and quality of life.
Wellness exams are critical because pets can’t communicate with us when they feel ill, and are also evolutionarily programmed to hide early signs of illness and discomfort. A thorough physical exam or diagnostic screening test may reveal the presence of disease before symptoms develop, allowing treatment to begin sooner, when it is often easier and less costly. Additionally, pets require vaccines and parasite prevention to help keep them healthy. Lastly, a yearly exam is a good time to discuss nonurgent medical or behavioral issues with your vet, ask questions about your pet’s health, and evaluate their diet, lifestyle, and body condition.
Although people often call this a “yearly exam,” wellness care is not one-size-fits-all. Puppies, kittens, senior pets, and animals with ongoing medical needs often require more frequent wellness visits.
As our pets can’t talk, an owner’s recollection of the medical history is especially important. Your vet or a veterinary assistant will ask a variety of questions to gather information about your pet’s diet, lifestyle, activity level, bathroom habits, and any symptoms you have noticed. Keeping this information organized in an app like PerkyPet can help you share accurate, up-to-date details with your veterinarian and make the visit more productive.
The physical exam is the foundation of a wellness visit. During this hands-on assessment, your veterinarian will evaluate your pet from nose to tail. This includes examining the eyes, ears, mouth, skin, heart, lungs, abdomen, muscles and joints, lymph nodes, and body condition. Even in pets who seem healthy, the physical exam may uncover problems such as dental disease, skin changes, enlarged lymph nodes, or abnormalities in the heart and lungs. Detecting these issues early is one of the key reasons regular wellness care is so valuable.
Vaccines help protect pets against serious infectious diseases, and keeping vaccines up to date has been proven to be one of the simplest ways to support your pet’s long-term health. During the visit, your veterinarian will review your pet’s age, medical history, and lifestyle, to determine which vaccines are appropriate and when they should be given. Some vaccines are considered core, meaning they are recommended for all pets because they protect against serious and widespread diseases. Others are non-core and may be recommended based on a pet’s individual risk factors, such as whether your dog frequents the dog park or your cat goes outdoors.
A wellness exam is also a good time to talk through any questions about vaccine timing, side effects, or lifestyle changes that may affect your pet’s protection going forward.
Dogs and cats can be affected by both external parasites, such as fleas and ticks, and internal parasites, such as intestinal worms and heartworms. Some of these parasites cause obvious signs like itching, diarrhea, anemia, weight loss, or heart disease, while others may be present with few or no visible symptoms. Parasites can spread in several ways, including through contaminated soil or feces, ingestion of infected prey or other contaminated material, mosquito bites, direct contact, or from mother to offspring. Some parasites can also be spread to people, especially children or immunocompromised individuals.
The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) recommends year-round broad-spectrum parasite control for all dogs and cats. During a yearly visit, your veterinarian will consider your pet’s species, age, lifestyle, and environment to determine a personalized parasite prevention plan, which may include oral, topical, or injectable medications. Many parasite preventives need to be given or applied at home on a regular schedule, often every one to three months. Set a reminder in PerkyPet or assign the task to a family member to help keep your pet protected and avoid missed doses or accidental double dosing.
Screening diagnostics are tests used to check for hidden or early disease, even when a pet seems healthy. The specific tests that your vet recommends during a wellness exam may vary based on your pet’s species, age, lifestyle, location, and medical history. They may include fecal testing for intestinal parasites, heartworm testing, tick-borne disease screening, bloodwork, urinalysis, retroviral testing, or other diagnostics.
Once a pet reaches their senior years, typically around age seven, many vets recommend running yearly bloodwork. Routine bloodwork may reveal early signs of kidney disease, thyroid issues, diabetes, or other common conditions before noticeable symptoms develop, allowing treatment, monitoring, and lifestyle changes to begin sooner. Baseline lab values from healthy animals can also be very helpful because they give your veterinarian something to compare against later if your pet becomes ill.
According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, dental disease affects up to 80% of dogs and over 70% of cats by age three, and may result in pain, tooth loss, infection, and even affect vital organ function. Signs of periodontal disease may include bad breath, tartar buildup, red or bleeding gums, drooling, pawing at the mouth, difficulty eating or chewing, and behavior changes such as hiding, decreased grooming, or irritability. However, many pet parents do not notice any symptoms, even when advanced disease is present. This is in part because animals (especially cats) are masters at hiding signs of pain, and dental disease often lurks below the gumline, where it is only detectable with dental X-rays.
At the yearly exam, your vet will discuss your pet’s oral health, at-home care recommendations (such as daily brushing and Veterinary Oral Health Council-approved products), and if or when additional dental treatments may be needed. Veterinary dental cleanings performed under anesthesia are critical for allowing your vet to fully examine the mouth, probe for periodontal pockets, take dental X-rays, and ultimately treat dental disease above and below the gumline.
According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, approximately 59% of dogs and 61% of cats in the United States are overweight or obese, putting them at risk for numerous health problems, reduced quality of life, and shorter lifespans. Obese pets are more likely to experience conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, and anesthetic complications, and may lose up to 2 years of their lifespan.
At the yearly exam, your pet will be weighed and given a Body Condition Score (BCS) based on a hands-on exam by your vet. If your pet is not at an ideal weight, your vet may discuss a diet and exercise plan. Tools such as PerkyPet can also help you monitor changes in BCS at home between vet visits, catching concerning trends (such as weight gain or weight loss) sooner. They may also help you stay consistent with your pet’s daily diet and exercise routine.
The timing and components of wellness exams vary significantly depending on your pet’s species, age, and lifestyle. Both puppies and kittens will need to see the vet multiple times in their first year of life, as they require a series of vaccinations to help them build up immunity as the protective antibodies they receive from their mother gradually decline. Healthy adult animals should generally see the vet once a year. Senior pets, or those with chronic medical conditions, often require visits every six months, and their exams may include additional screening diagnostics or focus on pain control and quality of life.
There is generally no difference in the amount of vet visits recommended for cats versus dogs; however, statistically, cats are less likely than dogs to receive routine veterinary care. The Feline Veterinary Medical Association has cited data showing that almost half of cats do not receive annual care, with stress around the veterinary visit being a major reason.
Veterinary visits may never be fun for every pet, but they should not be overwhelmingly stressful either. Many veterinary teams now use low-stress or fear-free handling techniques to help pets feel more comfortable during visits. If your pet has been anxious during vet visits in the past, ask your vet if they may benefit from pre-visit medication to help reduce anxiety. Acclimating your pet to their carrier, practicing short car rides, using high-value rewards, and stopping by the vet clinic for “happy visits” are also ways to help your pet develop a more positive association.
Cats may benefit from additional stress-reduction strategies, such as visiting a cat-only clinic or a clinic with a dedicated feline waiting area, using Feliway in the carrier, placing the carrier on an elevated surface (such as a chair instead of the floor), and covering it with a light blanket.
In addition to preparing your pet for their yearly exam, you should also be prepared to answer detailed questions about their medical history, routine, and lifestyle, ranging from the type and quantity of food they eat to their bathroom habits. Taking notes or even storing pictures in PerkyPet can help you remember these significant details.
The yearly exam is a great time to check in with your vet about your pet’s overall health and any non-urgent medical questions that you may have. However, if you notice signs of illness, behavioral changes, or concerning trends, you should schedule an appointment sooner. Signs to schedule an appointment include:
Sometimes illness or injuries require immediate or emergency care, including:
Your veterinarian helps create the plan, but day-to-day follow-through matters too, whether it’s brushing your dog’s teeth or creating an enriching environment for your senior cat. Because so much of preventive care happens between veterinary visits, tools like PerkyPet can help pet owners keep track of reminders, questions, changes, and veterinary recommendations, making wellness care simpler and easier to manage. Here is how PerkyPet can help you (and your vet) support pet health:
Wellness care is one of the most valuable tools we have for protecting a pet’s health over time. Although these visits often include familiar basics like vaccines, parasite prevention, and screening tests, they also allow your veterinarian to look for early changes, answer questions, and personalize care for your individual pet. While many pets are seen once a year, others may need more frequent visits depending on age, lifestyle, or medical history. At its core, wellness care is about catching problems earlier, supporting quality of life, and helping pets stay healthy and comfortable for as long as possible.
