How often should I get my pet checked by a veterinarian?
Cats and dogs age more quickly than we humans do. When your pet is very young (less than a year), you should visit your vet several times for physical exams, vaccinations, stool checks, preventive medicine, and spaying or neutering. After the first year, routine exams can be done once a year on many pets. However, as your pets get older (six years for a big dog, ten years for a small dog or cat), they will need more attention. They should be brought in to be checked twice a year. It is in these later years that many preventable and controllable diseases can be detected and treated.
As with humans, aging is equated with more health issues. Your pet, when it gets into its teens, may need to visit your veterinarian many times in a year.

I have been reading about the dangers of vaccinations. Should I get my pet vaccinated at all?
Each pet has individual risks, depending on its lifestyle. Certainly the indoor cat living alone with its owner has different risks than the outdoor cat living next to a colony of wild cats. Your veterinarian should individualize your pet's vaccine to its life.
Puppy and kitten vaccines are important and necessary. A completely unvaccinated pet is at serious risk for becoming profoundly ill from a preventable juvenile infection.

My dog never goes out. Does he need heart worm prevention?
Yes he does. Mosquitoes transmit heartworms, and mosquitoes get in homes. Heartworm disease is completely preventable. There is monthly medication and a six month shot.

Can my cat get heartworms?
Yes, your cat can get heartworms, though it is less common than with dogs. Feline heartworm infection is an emerging disease. There is a chewable preventive for cats. Unlike dogs, there is no need to check cats yearly for heartworms, since the heartworms in cats do not produce young (microfilaria). If your cat goes outside, you should place him on heartworm prevention.

What are those horrible white rice sized worms I see on his bottom or in his poop?
These are tapeworms. Not the human tapeworm. Pets get these from eating an infected flea.

But I never see any fleas!
If your pet or one of your pets go outside and you are not using flea prevention, there is a good chance your pets are getting flea bites. If you have only a few fleas, your pet is so shocked that it hunts the flea down and eats it - hence the tapeworm. Do not wait for the flea numbers to multiply. Get your pet on flea prevention.

Why does my dog scoot on and lick at his bottom?
There are many reasons for an itchy rear-end: internal parasites, fleas, other external parasites, allergies, bad habits. The most common reason, however, is anal glands. Dogs have two glands in their anus that should empty each time they deficate. Sometimes these glands do not. If they remain full, the dog (and less commonly, the cat) will continue to lick and scoot and seem distressed. Sometimes the gland can become infected. The best thing to do is to bring your pet in to be checked. If it is a frequent problem (more than twice a month for several months), there are medical and rarely surgical treatments that can be performed.