All dogs and cats need regular veterinary care. Your local veterinary associations, friends, and neighbors, or the yellow pages can help you find the right veterinarian for you and your animals. You may have to speak with several veterinarians before you find the right one for your circumstances. Staying with one veterinary group allows them to get to know you and your animal and provides continuity of care for your animals. Animals do not always let us know when something is wrong until the disease is quite advanced.
Many species provide only subtle signs of disease.
Some of these problems can be detected early through annual examinations or more frequent examinations if any problems are seen by a caretaker. You may be asked to bring a fecal sample from your animal to the examination to check for internal parasites. Puppies and kittens are especially susceptible to internal parasites. These should be treated for the health of the animal but also to prevent transmission of some of these parasites to people. This visit is also your chance to ask any questions about your animal's health, nutrition, flea control, behavior, etc.