Last week, I took Cooper for a checkup and vaccinations at the Banfield Pet Hospital at my local PetSmart. I received an Optimum Wellness Plan from Banfield so I could try them out and tell you about their amazing preventive care services. Banfield also provided information and the giveaway at the bottom of this post. I’ll be honest, Cooper hasn’t had a checkup in about three years- when he had his last round of shots. I did take him to the vet last year when he got sick, but he was way overdue for a regular checkup.
While I knew that my local PetSmart had an animal hospital, I wasn’t really all that familiar with it. I didn’t realize they they offered such a wide range of services. In fact, I kind of thought that huge area in the back was just where they did puppy training! I’ve worked with PetSmart several times in the past and always had such a great experience there. I was interested to see if that same high level of customer service extended to the Banfield Animal Hospital.
Cooper’s Checkup at the Banfield Animal Hospital
First, let me tell you, while my other two dogs LOVE the car, Coop DESPISES it with a fiery passion. I swear he heard me saying we were going for a ride, because he bolted out the door and escaped five minutes before we had to leave! It took us 20 minutes to catch him, but thankfully we still managed to make it on time! Cooper has never been in a store before, so he didn’t quite know what was going on. He was deeply concerned about another dog that happened to be wearing a cone. I don’t know if he felt bad for his fellow Canine or if he was worried that he’d end up with a cone!!
As soon as we got there, we were escorted to the office. Sal came with me to help, since Cooper is so big. Coop seemed a bit nervous, but he still gave me a nice smile for the camera! The vet tech came and listened to his heart. He was panting so much that she had to take him to the back room, hoping he’d relax a bit. Cooper is incredibly mellow and thankfully the vet had no problems.
What to expect during your Wellness Visit
The Optimum Wellness Plan comes with two checkups a year. I have to say, I think this is the most thorough checkup Cooper has ever had. They did the usual blood work and fecal sample (I didn’t ask how they got that out of Coop!), but they also do internal organ scans and tests for common illnesses. I was really impressed with how many things they check for! Just about every vaccine you can think of was included in the plan at no extra cost. Cooper had Lyme disease when he was younger, so I was relieved that he came back clean this time.
Turns out Cooper is overweight. Can’t say I didn’t know that, but I didn’t realize just HOW overweight he is. I expected the doctor to yell at me. She was totally understanding though, especially when I explained that as a rescue dog who spent six months of his life in a cage fighting for food, Coop has some food issues that will never go away. He’s never aggressive about food, he just steals everything he can get his paws on! We came up with some plans together to help Cooper get down to a more reasonable weight.
Both the vet and her vet tech were so wonderful. They took the time to answer all my questions and concerns. I felt bad that my phone kept ringing because my mom’s car died and she was supposed to pick up my son. They quickly helped me wrap up the appointment and suggested a follow-up in three weeks to finish Cooper’s shots. He had a few to get and they didn’t want to give them all at once.
Keeping your dog’s heart healthy
Heartworm prevention was another important topic that came up. Heartworms are incredibly dangerous for your dog. They only come from the bite of a mosquito, so you don’t have to worry about them being passed on to you or other dogs, but they’re definitely not something you want your dog to deal with! Take a look at this video to learn more about overall heartworm prevention.
Protect your Dog with Proheart 6
While we were at our appointment, I took a few moments to ask the vet about the benefits of the Proheart 6 injection, especially versus the pills that we used to give our dogs. She told me that they were both equally as effective, but the Proheart 6 injections were much more convenient. While I’m pretty good at remembering my dog’s medications, I do have to say that knowing Cooper is covered for the next six months really makes me feel better.
I know mosquito season is coming to an end, but with the weather being so crazy lately, I feel it’s still important to keep up with heartworm medications. Heartworm testing  can be administered during a routine office visit. Office visits are always free through Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan®, and many plans include annual heartworm tests. The plan is easily customized to fit your needs and budget. When I left, my receipt told me the total value of my appointment. It was over $550! Considering that the entire year of the Banfield’s Optimum Wellness Plan costs under $400, you get more than your money back in the first visit. You can also take your vet in for emergency visits as many times as you need to, and you’ll get 10% off most services that don’t fall under your plan.
Ready to see how Banfield Pet Hospital can help your dog stay healthy? Request an Banfield Pet Hospital appointment online. Be sure to check out Banfield on Twitter and Facebook to keep up with important news. Click here for a coupon for $10 off a 6-month injectable heartworm preventive!
Banfield Pet Hospital Vet Visit Giveaway + Help Animals in Need
Want to check out Banfield Pet Hospital and protect your dog from heartworms? Enter below on the Rafflecopter form. Winner will receive Banfield Pet Hospital, free heartworm test and free six-month dose of Proheart® 6 (for dogs only). Giveaway is open to US Residents age 18+ and ends on 9/22.
Additionally, Banfield will donate $1 per reader comment (up to 100 comments) to Banfield Charitable Trust, a donor-supported non-profit. BCT’s mission is to preserve the human animal bond by keeping pets with their families who love them. Each year, BCT helps 100,000 struggling families through seven programs ranging from life-saving emergency care to assistance with pet food or other urgent pet care needs. So please, even if you’re not entering the giveaway, I would love it if you can take a moment to comment!
Have you ever visited Banfield Pet Hospital? What is your biggest concern about your dog’s health?
I’ve never used Banfield Hospital. I’m concerned about my poodle’s teeth.
No I have never been.
Nice to view this article.Thanks for sharing these kind of valuable information.
No I haven’t.
My biggest concern is his teeth.
We don’t have one near us, but we have a vet that we usually use right up the street 🙂 Bandfield sounds great!
We use Bandfield for our cats. we really like them they are friendly and really good with our cats.
I’ve never visited a Banfield, and I have two cats. Wish I could leave ten comments!
I definitely have to share this with my daughter. She has been looking for a good place to take her new puppy. what a great idea!
I have never visited Banfield Hospital. I think my biggest concern is her age and the fact that she has Lymes disease.
My dogs are both gone now but I’m glad that there are so many great resources out there. Banfield sounds great, and I so appreciate that they are giving back.
I don’t have pets, but my Daughter has 2 of them. When I start missing having animals, I go visit hers. They think I am their grandma too.
Sounds like Banfield Hospital is a great place. I feel fortunate that my vet is less than a mile down the road. My husband went to school with a lot of the techs so it feels like family when we have to take one of the pets in.
I love my animals and I like to make sure that they’re always in perfect health.
I had never heard of Banfield until last week. The daughter of a friend is working at one of them. She had very good things to say about it.
No, but we should own stock in Petsmart 🙂
This is such a great giveaway. We always take our dog to Barfield for his yearly shots and checkup!
I visited one years ago at Petsmart and I loved the care they took with my cat 🙂
Cooper is such a cutie. We just finally found a vet we like since moving to a new city over 2 years ago. Finding a good vet is hard.
Congrats for the good vet visit of your dog. Your dog looks healthy and happy 🙂
I’m glad you’ve found somewhere that you’re comfy taking your doggy to! That’s important! And I love that they give back! We take our dog to the SPCA clinic here, and LOVE it. She’s comfortable there, we are too, and some of the money we pay them goes to helping stray animals. Perfect.
It’s good to have your pets checked regularly. Don’t know about you but after watching this video I have hate mosquitoes even more now!
I have not visited. Sounds like they really care about their patients! My biggest pet concern would be shedding.
It is so wonderful that they offer this service. Many people don’t take their pets to the Vet because they don’t know where to go. I had no idea you could get these type of services at PetSmart. Kudos regarding the donation also.
We used to take out cat to Banfield and received excellent service. The only reason we left was because we moved. We love dogs, but don’t have any in the home.
We’ve not been to a Banfield Pet Hospital, but I do have 2 dogs. My biggest fear is that they’ll have a heart problem that I won’t know about. Check ups like you mentioned are so important!
I have never visited a location before! Good dental care is important! As well as checking for worms and fleas! So important to keep dogs healthy.
It sounds like a place with pets’ care foremost in mind. I love that they’re doing a donation per comment too!
What a sweet pup! My puppies are due for a vet visit, thanks for the recommendation!
Looks like Banfield is a great place to take your dogs. I will have to give them a try with my Rufus
We’ve never visited Banfield, but there is one inside our local PetSmart. We may just have to check it out since the staff changed at our regular vet & it’s just not the same kind of care.
I’ve wondered how Banfield was….I thought it must be good since they are always pretty busy when we’re in the store. We’ll have to check them out for our dog since they have such convenient hours.
Animals health is very important to take care of just like ours so it’s a great thing thay are doing to help the animals out to feel the best that they can in all areas of their health check ups.
I Have Not Visited Banfield, One Concern I Have For My Dog Is His Dental Health.
I have visited Banefield before, but it’s been many years ago.
oh, and y biggest concern for my dog is her weight.
I haven’t been to Banfield but my dogs biggest health concern is like a billy goat he eats everything he finds and it has made him sick several times
I have not visited Banfield before, but they seem like a great place to take your dog. My biggest concern with my dog is her dental health. I adopted her from a rescue when she was around 1 & her teeth showed signs of wear from chewing on something.
Yes, I’ve visited Banfield. My mom takes her dogs there. It’s a little pricey for us though so we use a local non-chain vet!
I can’t join in the giveaway as I live in Ireland but have to say I’m extremely impressed by the services offered to Cooper!
My dog used to go there, until we moved far away. Her vet was the nicest one we’ve had. My biggest concern are her teeth. She has an underbite.
I have not visited Banfield before. We do have one close by and have thought about going there. I adopted Murphy a couple years ago and he needed continued care for awhile…so we had to go to their vet that was quite far from us. I want to find him a vet close to us now that he is no longer needing care.