If you want your pet to live a long and healthy life, there are some simple strategies that you need to implement into you daily care for your animal. If you are inattentive to your pet's health needs, you may end up saying goodbye to your faithful friend before the average life expectancy time arrives. You can help to keep your pet from a premature death by feeding your animal a healthy diet. Like humans, and animal's health is very much contingent on what that pet eats. If the animal is eating cheap, processed foods, then he or she will probably have a shorter life expectancy.

Yet dogs and cats that eat high-quality foods will have a shiny coat, healthy skin, an energetic disposition and bright eyes. A good diet can also help bolster your pet's immune system, so that the animal will not catch illnesses. As well, a healthy diet can benefit an animal's mental acuity, and keep joints and muscles healthy. Your local vet can help give you recommendations about what pet foods are best for your animal. It is important that you refrain from giving your pet human foods and table scraps. These foods can tear up a pet's digestive system while causing the animal's health to deteriorate. It is much better to stick to feeding your pet the foods made especially for him or her.

In addition, it is important for you to keep your pet lean. This is partially done through diet, and is also done through exercise. Vets say that obesity is the number one nutritional disease seen in pets and overweight dogs can lose as much as two years on their life simply because of their size. Overweight animals tend to suffer joint diseases, heart disease, and diabetes.

Another way to prolong your pet's life is to keep his or her mouth clean. Dental hygiene is as important in pets as it is in humans. Dental disease and oral health issues can cause your pet pain, and make it difficult for your animal to eat. Some oral health issues can lead to organ infections, or kidney disease. You should brush your pet's teeth at home on a regular basis, and provide your pet with toys and treats that are good for the animal's teeth. A veterinarian can probably give you some recommendations.

Also, do not allow your pet to roam outside unsupervised. While many pets die of old age, others die of automobile accidents or predation. Also, the outdoors can provide pets with exposure to dangerous disease or poisonous plants. You should always supervise your pet when outside to make sure that you are helping you animal to avoid these dangers. Put a fence around your yard to keep the animal from running out into the street. If there are predatory animals such as coyotes or hawks near your house, keep your animals indoors unless you are outside watching them.

Lastly, it is essential to visit a veterinarian on an annual basis with your animal. If you can visit your veterinarian once a year, then your pet will get a regular, healthy check-up. This can help to make sure that there isn't anything wrong with your animal and that any diseases or ailments are caught right away. If you don't have a local vet, then you can use this directory to find one. We have listed many veterinarians that provide trusted and high-quality service on this directory. Find someone near you and get started making your pet happy and healthy!