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SCREENING PROGRAMMES  - PET OWNER FEEDBACK REQUEST

First broadcast on www.provet.co.uk  


This information is provided by Provet for educational purposes only.

You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Provet is conducting a survey into health screening for pets and we would like YOUR views on screening programmes

Traditionally owners only used to visit their veterinary practice for 2 reasons :

  1. When their pet was ill
  2. For routine preventative procedures such as repeat booster vaccinations, flea control products, worming products

Over the past 20 years the veterinary profession have tried to introduce a variety of routine programmes for apparently "healthy" pets - particularly for :

  1. Obesity - weight watchers clinics incorporating a weight reduction programme
  2. Puppy classes - to ensure proper health care, feeding and training through the early years of life
  3. Senior (or Geriatric) Healthcare Programmes to screen older animals for early evidence of disease

Routine screening of older pets is very important because it helps to identify problems early in their course, so early treatment can be given which increases the chances of a successful outcome, and reduces the likelihood of secondary complications developing before the animal is seen by a veterinarian. Once secondary complications are present treatment may be much more difficult and more expensive, and the chances of a successful outcome may be reduced. Unfortunately, the introduction of these programmes has met with mixed success and many practices have trouble recruiting owners to participate.

The principles behind routine screening are based on a desire to provide total healthcare advice for a pet - even through periods when the animal appears to be healthy - a so-called "wellness" programme. These types of programme are increasingly popular in human medicine. Such a programme becomes particularly important with advancing age because of the inevitable effects on organ function of both ageing changes and disease. Many diseases are present in the body for several months before any specific signs are shown by the animal, but a veterinary examination and screening tests may detect them much earlier.

Screening programmes make great sense from a clinicians point of view, and for the animals' welfare  - but they have not really been as successful  as everyone expected - why not ?

What do you think about the idea of screening programmes ? Why aren't they working as well as the veterinary profession thought they would ? If you have a middle-aged or older animal would you, indeed do you have it screened regularly to make sure no problems are developing ? 

Please send your views to Provet at feedback@provet.co.uk . If we get sufficient response we will post the results on the site later.

Thank You

 

Updated October 2013