Pet Health Timeline: What to Track & When to Worry 🐶✨

By Dr. Duncan Houston BVSc

In veterinary medicine, timing is everything. Tracking health across your pet’s lifetime—including key milestones like vaccinations, weight changes, behavior shifts, and parasite control—allows us to catch disease early, avoid expensive emergencies, and give your pet the best quality of life.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the essential timelines for dogs, cats, and even farm animals. I’ll show you what to track, when to worry, and how the Ask A Vet app helps you stay on top of everything—without feeling overwhelmed.

📅 The First Year: Foundation for Life

Puppies & Kittens (0–12 months)

Goal: Build immunity, start good habits, and prevent early-life disease.

• Vaccines: Core vaccinations begin at 6–8 weeks, followed by boosters every 3–4 weeks until at least 16 weeks old, covering diseases like distemper, parvovirus, feline leukemia, and rabies.
• Parasite control: Deworm every 2–4 weeks until 16 weeks; use monthly flea/tick preventatives.
• Behavior tracking: Start logging feeding, socialization, housetraining success, and early dental care.

Key Reminders:

• Weight & Growth: Record weekly using a scale or vet visits.
• Development cues: Log milestones like opening eyes, first steps, potty progress.
• Spay/neuter timing: Typically 6–9 months (ask your vet).

How Ask A Vet Helps:

• Automated messaging for vaccinations, deworming, and microchipping
• Profile memory: track each pet’s breed, growth curve, and developmental notes
• Behavior logs: potty, chewing, socialization, crate training progress
• In-app reminders for spay/neuter, booster vaccines, litter box training
  

🐾 Adult Pets (1–7 years)

Wellness & Preventive Care Timeline:

• Annual exam: Full physical, dental check, weight/body condition score (BCS), and parasite prevention assessment.
• Vaccines: Core vaccines every 3 years; lifestyle vaccines (like leptospirosis, Lyme, kennel cough) based on exposure.
• Parasite control: Continue monthly fleas, ticks, heartworm—the same as for puppies/kittens.

What to Track:

• Weight/body score: Monthly logs to detect weight gain or loss (a red flag for endocrine or metabolic issues).
• Appetite & water intake: Sudden shifts may indicate dental pain, thyroid issues, urinary problems.
• Activity & behavior: Monitor changes in energy, rest, reluctance to walk—early signs of arthritis, GI upset.
• Dental hygiene: Note tartar buildup, inflamed gums, bad breath.

Ask A Vet Features:

• Wellness summary reports for vet consultations
• Medication logs: record doses, times, specifics—for preventatives or chronic meds
• Photo uploads: dental images, coat condition, lumps
• Chat/vet advice for emerging issues like ear infections or weight fluctuations

🧓 Senior Pets (7+ years)

When pets reach roughly 7 years (varying with breed and size), they enter the senior stage. Disease risk increases—so does the need for more proactive care.

Care Schedule:

• Semi-annual exams: Add bloodwork, urine tests, blood pressure—screen for kidney disease, thyroid issues, diabetes, heart disease.
• Dental care: Professional cleaning every 1–2 years; more if periodontal disease is present.
• Diagnostics: Consider imaging (X-ray/ultrasound) if warranted based on symptoms or bloodwork trends.

Health Metrics to Track:

• Weight/BSC: Watch for even small declines indicating muscle loss.
• Elimination habits: Frequency changes may point to incontinence or chronic disease.
• Stiffness/joint mobility: Group walks, play changes, difficulty jumping up—arthritis signs.
• Cognitive function: Note confusion, altered circadian rhythm, and pacing.

Ask A Vet Plus Tools:

• Graphing tools show trends over months/years
• Baseline comparison alerts: when health metrics change by X%
• Behavioral assessments can lead to early diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction or osteoarthritis

🐄 Farm & Exotic Animals

In farm settings, timing is crucial for herd health—but tracking becomes a nightmare without digital tools.

Timeline Essentials:

• Vaccinations/deworming: Regular schedules (e.g., clostridial vaccines, parasite rounds every 8–12 weeks).
• Weight/feed intake: Indicators of rumen health, metabolic disease.
• Birthing/rebreeding cycles: Keep records for gestation, postpartum care.
• Mobility & behavior: Lameness, estrus behavior, appetite drops—early warning signs.

Ask A Vet Integration:

• Create multiple profiles—track individuals or groups
• Upload outbreak photos or unusual symptoms
• Record veterinary visits, treatments, and test results per animal
• Receive remote advice—when I’m not on-site, farmers reach out through the app

🔔 When to Worry: Red Flags at Any Age

Any timeline can be disrupted by sudden changes that need immediate attention:

• Vomiting, diarrhea > 24 hrs
• Sudden weight loss or gain
• Increased thirst or urination
• Lethargy or drop in appetite
• New lumps or swelling
• Behavior changes: aggression, disorientation, panting

If you see any of these signs, log them in Ask A Vet with photos and start a chat—or book a veterinary exam. Early detection is everything.

🌐 Supporting Tools: Monitoring Makes a Difference

• Wearables & Smart Tags: Data-driven tracking of heart rate, activity, sleep—new tech like AI-enabled bowls show promise.
• Health & fitness tracker apps: Ask A Vet incorporates many best-in-class features (multi-pet profiles, reminders, analytics) described in reviews.
• Standardized health charts: Veterinary research supports charting weight, behavior, and elimination for early detection.

🧪 Science Speaks: Evidence-Based Preventive Care

Studies show annual/semi-annual visits significantly improve early disease detection.

🧠 Final Thoughts from Me, Dr Duncan Houston

Life with pets is dynamic—and keeping up with health timelines can feel overwhelming. But when you log, track, and visualize over time, small changes become visible—and those little changes often predict big problems.

That’s why I created the Ask A Vet app: to help you track each stage—puppy, adult, senior, or farm animal—without burnout. With built-in reminders, easy logging, vet chat, and smart integrations, you get powerful, proactive care at your fingertips.

The next time your app reminds you that your Frenchie has had one pound of weight change in a month, or your senior cat skips a meal, don’t scroll past. That’s the moment care starts.

Track smart, worry less—and let’s keep your pets healthy for life.