If you read my blog regularly you know that I have a mini-zoo at home. We have five cats, a dog who thinks he’s a cat and two fish. We can also include a wild bunny that we’ve been feeding since he was a baby too. 🙂
I love our pets. They are not just pets but family members. We want them to be happy, healthy and protected just like the two legged members of our family.
It’s important to take your pet on regular vet visits. As you can imagine having six pets that need to see the vet it can be costly, but knowing they are well taken care of and healthy is important to us so we always find a way.
Two of our pets have medical issues. One cat is diabetic and our other cat has severe asthma and three leaky valves in her heart. Thankfully our dog Espn (pronounced Es-pin) and other cats are healthy.
Just like humans, pets need to have regular vaccinations too. One vaccination you should not skimp on is for Heartworm. Heartworm is serious and potentially fatal if a dog contracts it. They get it from a simple mosquito bite. If your dog spends any amount of time outside they are risk for mosquito bites.
Banfield Pet Hospital recommends that you have your pet tested and receive preventive medication annually. I agree with that. Preventative care is essential for everyone – humans and pets alike – to reduce the risks of developing expensive and potentially life threatening diseases, such as Heartworm.
Check out these other facts about Heartworm Disease.
- Heartworm disease is one of the most serious and potentially fatal parasites affecting dogs and cats. Pets can contract Heartworm disease through a single bite from an infected mosquito.
- Treatment of Heartworm disease in dogs is difficult and painful for the dog, as well as expensive for the pet owner. Heartworm disease can be deadly to cats and there is no approved Heartworm treatment in the U.S. for cats today.
- Check out the Heartworm relevance in your state using this interactive map from Banfield Pet Hospital’s State of Pet Health™ 2014 Report.
- Heartworm prevention is easy, safe and affordable. To properly protect pets from Heartworm infection, Banfield Pet Hospital recommends annual Heartworm testing and year-round preventive medication for both dogs and cats.
I didn’t know that treatment for Heartworm was PAINFUL for dogs. Oh my! I would never, ever want to put my dog through something like that. It also scares me that there is no approved treatment for Heartworm in cats. I hope they develop something to protect them too.
Here’s another gross fact – dogs can have up to 250 Hearworms which live several years and can grow to be up to a foot in length. Ewwwww!!!!!!
If your pet has not been tested for Heartworm lately please take that into consideration and get them tested ASAP. Heartworm testing can be done at any routine office visit. You don’t have to make a special visit to have it done. In fact, office visits are always free with Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan®. Many other plans include the annual heartworm tests too.
I have been looking into Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan for a while now. Having two pets with medical issues can be VERY expensive (my cat’s insulin cost me $243 recently and my other cat’s two inhalers cost me over $300+). That is why its imperative that our dog and other cats get regular checkups and preventative care so that we are not spending a small fortune on another health issue.
You can customize your Banfield Optimum Wellness plan based on the needs of your pet. You can combine physical exams with routine vaccinations and health screenings. You even get discounts on other services and best of all FREE UNLIMITED office visits. I really like that option – A LOT!
My pets go to different vets (we actually have three different ones – our cat with heart issues has to see specialists in NJ). Just to walk in the door for an office visit and nothing more costs us between $70 – $120 each and every time we bring one of our pets. That is BEFORE vaccinations, medications and so forth. We’re far from being rich too, so it’s a big hit to our budget every time we take one of our pets to the vet, which is often with six pets.
Banfield Pet Hospital offers different plans based on the type of pet (dog or cat) and their age. Other factors are taken into consideration too such as your location and if the pet is spayed or neutered. There are also different options depending on the types of services you want/need. Therefore the price varies too much so I can’t give you an exact quote. If you can visit Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® to get a quote on how much it will cost. The plans are monthly. I played around with the different plans for our dog Espn (just for the fun of it) and they are much less expensive then a regular office visit. We are a family that lives on a tight budget and I feel like the plans are very “doable”, even for us.
I was given a complimentary Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan® membership to try out with our dog. Sadly I have not been able to get my first office visit yet. I called but our local hospital was booked up. Since I work during the day now I can only do evenings or weekends, which naturally are the harder appointments to come by since most people who work need those appointments. We have an appointment for an office visit for Espn in another two weeks on a Sunday morning. Thankfully Banfield Pet Hospital has weekend appointments. Once I take Espn I’ll share my experiences in another blog post. Please keep an eye out for that.
While we are there was are going to get Espn the ProHeart® 6 is an injectable Heartworm preventive medication which provides up to six months of Heartworm prevention. It’s done in a single dose too so you don’t have to worry about multiple office visits or putting your pet through unnecessary stress. I know our dog Espn freaks out at the vet, so the less we have to take him the better.
Before your pet can get the ProHeart® 6 injection they need to have a simple blood test to make sure their heart is free from adult Heartworms. If everything checks out OK your pet can have the injection and you can have peace of mind knowing that your pet is protected because the injection prevents immature worms from maturing which poses a risk to your pet’s heart.
Check out this very informative video that shows you how to prevent your pet from getting Heartworm disease. If you have a moment I would strongly recommend watching this brief video. I found it very interesting (and scary to think mosquitoes can be so deadly!).
If you are interested in getting the injection for your pet here is a link to a coupon for $10 off a 6-month injection of ProHeart® 6. Our dog Espn will be getting that too. When I do my follow up post I’ll let you know how well he handled the injection.
If you would like to make an appointment at your local Banfield Pet Hospital you can make an appointment online at this link – Banfield Pet Hospital Online Appointment.
Banfield Pet Hospital can also be found on Twitter (@Banfield) and on Facebook.
Do you take your pet on regular vet visits?
Has your pet been tested and/or received preventative medication for Heartworm?
What do you think about Banfield Pet Hosptial and their Optimum Wellness Plans? Do you think it’s something you are going to look into for your pet?
Feel free to share your thoughts. I love to hear from readers.
Kimberly
*I received a free membership in the Banfield Hospital Optimum Wellness Plan to do a review – coming soon! There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and not influenced in any way.
Mel says
I don’t have a doggie or cat, but this is a great membership plan. I will be sure to tell my sister.
Heather says
I don’t take my pets to the vet very often because its expensive, but I will if they need something taken care of. My cat is an indoor cat, so I try to shield him from all those outdoor diseases roaming around.
Beeb Ashcroft says
This really sounds like a great option, especially for multi-pet households. Going to the vet can be so, so expensive. Very informative post, thank you!
Jenn says
I love the options, I have to take our cat in for his yearly check up soon.
Karen says
Oh my goodness! Pet meds are very expensive! and no, I did not know that it was painful to treat a dog with heartworm. I don’t have any pets at all right now because I don’t want the responsibility of one.
Rebecca Swenor says
Great information for sure. It is so important to get the vaccines and treatments for our pets just like our children. They are are fur babies. Thanks for sharing.
Travel Blogger says
Heartworm can be such a scary thing to deal with! Its definitely best to be proactive about it.
Rachel says
We have 3 dogs and I love them all. I love Banfield for the convince of weekend appointments.
katrina g says
i wish i had a bandield near me. we used to go there and love it.
Onica {MommyFactor} says
Pets are so wonderful and it’s important to keep them healthy. They sounds like a great service to help pet owners do this.
Stefani Tolson says
This sounds like a plan I should get for my dogs. I haven’t taken them to the vet for a checkup but should put that on my calendar to do soon.