Impressions can mean so much, especially when it is regarding your pet’s wellness and health. Sometimes these tiny scraps of information can mean so much but can be tricky when they are fleeting and seemingly insignificant on a day-to-day basis. However, they can shine the light on patterns that help you in maintaining your cat or dog’s health. Keeping a pet health journal may aid you and your pet, such as a recurrent ear infection to a change in sleeping patterns may indicate an underlying disease.

Life is busy and making a point to note even subtle changes may lead to an earlier diagnosis of a disease process or make changes to avoid another ear infection down the line.

Make notations on items that may seem different and noteworthy such as increased water consumption, passing ear infections, changes in color of haircoat and texture, or eating more ravenously. You do not have to write in the journal daily religiously, this will give you a baseline to look back with if things are improving or not. A good example would be a dog having a recurrent fungal infection of the nail bed at least 3 times a year related to allergies. In this case a potential secondary issue regarding the endocrine system that may need to be evaluated such as canine hypothyroidism. As your pet ages this in home monitoring becomes even more necessary due to many associating drinking less or lethargy as “getting old”. Meanwhile, disease processes can be brewing and the pet becomes compromised over time, unfortunately this is when many pets become hospitalized due to illness. Making note of these trends can make a big difference in our pet’s overall wellness and care.