Note: This is NOT a paid or compensated review, but a review of a product that I purchased for my own use. I enjoy sharing information about products you may like or find useful and you’ll always receive my honest and unbiased opinion.
Haley had her annual vet exam last week and since she’s getting a little older, I decided to try out the Pet Wellness Report (PWR) this year. If you’re not familiar with the PWR by Zoetis, it’s a two-part health assessment that combines a set of comprehensive lab work results with survey information you provide about lifestyle factors relating to your pet. The combined results give you and your vet more information to create a preventative care plan for keeping your pet healthier along with early detection screening for serious diseases. Early detection means early treatment and a better chance that a disease can be managed or treated successfully. Ok, that was kind of a long explanation, so let me break down the Pet Wellness Report review. Here’s how it works.
How the Pet Wellness Report (PWR) Works
- During your pet’s exam, your vet will collect blood and urine samples for analysis.
- When you arrive back home, you’ll logon to the Pet Wellness Report website to create your account and answer survey questions about your pet, which takes about 10 minutes.
- The PWR matches the lab results with your survey answers to create the health assessment report.
- Your vet will analyze the results of the report and contact you if they have any concerns or recommendations.
- You’ll receive an email from PWR when your report is ready to be viewed on their website. They state that it can take up to five days for the report, but Haley’s report was ready the following day.
- Print the report for future reference and contact your vet if you have any questions or concerns about the results.
How Much Does it Cost?
My vet charged $133.00 for the Pet Wellness Report. However, since Haley was scheduled for a heartworm test which normally costs about $40.00 but is included in the PWR, I calculated my adjusted cost of the PWR to be around $90.00Haley’s Pet Wellness Report
Note: Each report includes an overall health assessment (along with detailed assessments in the areas of Cancer, Heart, Dental, Nutrition and Safety) and your pet’s lab results. Each assessment area is given a rating of Excellent, Good, Fair or Poor. Click the report sections below to view Haley’s health data.Good (2) – Not being a giant breed and not a long-nosed breed.
Poor (2) – Has some dark mouth pigmentation and is over 7 years old.
Good (2) – Owner limits mosquito exposure and no heart murmur detected.
Poor (1) – Doesn’t get annual blood work.
Good (1) – Gets chew toys and dental chews.
Fair (2) – Isn’t fed a tartar control food and has had a broken tooth.
Poor (1) – Owner not brushing Haley’s teeth every day. Yeah, I can do better here. 🙁
Good (3) – Owner measures food daily, high activity level and gets vitamins and supplements.
Fair (2) – Some symptoms of arthritis and receives daily treats.
Poor (2) – Possible food allergies and receives table scraps.
Good (2) – Owner uses a leash when Haley is away from home and avoids contaminated water.
Fair (2) – Not being vaccinated for Lyme disease and sometimes exposed to other dogs.
Poor (2) – Some itching and scratching and receives bones and chew toys.
| Test Name | Result | Normal Range |
|---|---|---|
| GLUCOSE | 109 | 70 – 138 mg/dL |
| BUN | 13 | 6 – 31 mg/dL |
| CREATININE | 1.1 | 0.5 – 1.6 mg/dL |
| TOTAL PROTEIN | 7.3 | 5.0 – 7.4 g/dL |
| ALBUMIN | 4 | 2.7 – 4.4 g/dL |
| GLOBULIN | 3.3 | 1.6 – 3.6 g/dL |
| TOTAL BILIRUBIN | 0.1 | 0.1 – 0.3 mg/dL |
| ALKP | 25 | 5 – 131 IU/L |
| ALT (SGPT) | 37 | 12 – 118 IU/L |
| CALCIUM | 10.7 | 8.9 – 11.4 mg/dL |
| PHOSPHORUS | 4 | 2.5 – 6.0 mg/dL |
| SODIUM | 145 | 139 – 154 mEq/L |
| POTASSIUM | 4.4 | 3.6 – 5.5 mEq/L |
| CHLORIDE | 111 | 102 – 120 mEq/L |
| LIPASE | 393 | 77 – 695 IU/L |
| AMYLASE | 834 | 290 – 1125 IU/L |
| CPK | 144 | 59 – 895 IU/L |
| HEARTWORM AG | Neg | Negative |
| T4 | 1.4 | 0.8 – 3.5 mg/dL |
| HEMATOCRIT | 55 | 36 – 60 % |
| RBC | 7.7 | 4.8 – 9.3 106/mL |
| HEMOGLOBIN | 19.1 | 12.1 – 20.3 g/dL |
| MCV | 72 | 58 – 79 fL |
| MCHC | 35 | 30 – 38 g/dL |
| WBC | 8 | 4.0 – 15.5 103/mL |
| SEGS | 5280 | 2060 – 10600 /mL |
| BANDS (STAB) | *** | 0 |
| LYMPHOCYTES | 2000 | 690 – 4500 /mL |
| MONOCYTES | 400 | 0 – 840 /mL |
| EOSINOPHILS | 320 | 0 – 1200 /mL |
| BASOPHILS | 0 | 0 – 150 /mL |
| PLATELET COUNT | 260 | 170 – 400 103/mL |
| PLATELET ESTIMATE | OK | OK |
| CHOLESTEROL | 279 | 92 – 324 mg/dL |
| URINE SPECIFIC GRAVITY | 1,034 | 1.015 – 1.050 |
My Thoughts on Haley’s Report
Having the option to view the lab results online and being able to print the report was convenient and I did learn a few things, like Haley having an increased risk of cancer due to the dark pigmentation on the inside of her mouth. But I was disappointed that some of the survey questions were too general and because they were usually Yes or No type questions, the assessment didn’t always result in an accurate picture of her health.For example, the question “Do you give Haley bones or toys to chew?” is kind of vague considering there are so many types of bones and toys, and she got a Safety rating of Poor with the explanation that bones can splinter or cause obstructions. The question “Do you give Haley daily treats?” doesn’t account for the type, size or calorie count of the treats and the question “Do you avoid giving Haley table scraps?” is also vague as to what constitutes “table scraps”. Since Haley only eats small, low calorie treats and healthy table scraps (healthy foods that I also eat), she probably should have scored higher in the nutrition section.
I also noticed that certain questions that you would think should result in a rating of Excellent, only resulted in a rating of Good. For example, I answered Yes to the following three questions, but each translated to only a rating of Good.
“When you take Haley away from home, do you put her on a leash?”
“Do you measure Haley’s food every day?”
“Do you try to control Haley’s exposure to mosquitoes by removing standing water?”
Perhaps the PWR scoring algorithm ranks these questions a little lower to make the overall health assessment more accurate. It’s just something that seemed strange to me.
The Wrap Up – Pros and Cons
The Pros: The Cons:
I’m still going to get my table scraps, right?
Well, that’s it for my Pet Wellness Report review. I know these kinds of posts can get a little technical and tedious to read, so thanks for sticking around until the end!
Have you used any health assessment tools or programs for your pets? What did you think?
What a neat concept. I like the idea of having a website with all that information about my pets.
–Wags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats
It is nice having the data online. If my vet could pull the PWR data into his portal website, that would be perfect!
Oh what a great idea!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I’m really glad I tried it during Haley’s checkup. If I repeat it again next year, it will be interesting to see any trends.
Thanks for sharing this information about your experience using the Pet Wellness Report, Elaine. I think it is very useful to get feedback from pet parents about how well they think a product performs.
I was very happy with the PWR even though some of the questions were vague. Even if a pet errantly scored low in an area, they still offered good suggestions to follow and an explanation for the low score. For me, the value was in getting comprehensive lab results on Haley.
Interesting – I like this idea and may try it out. Both Jack and Maggie need a senior wellness exam soon – good time to add this.
It’s really nice to have that peace of mind from getting the comprehensive lab work done, especially with senior dogs.
Oh, very interesting. I’d never heard of that before. Since we lost both our previous dogs to cancer, i’m all about the early detection. It does sound like some of the questions are a bit vague though or, as you said, maybe underrated for how good those things are!
You’re so right – dogs really hide it when they’re ill so we owners have to be on top of their health!
I’m so sorry that you lost your two previous dogs to cancer. Some of our fellow dog bloggers are dealing with this right now and my heart really goes out to them too. It’s good to try to keep them healthy and enjoy every day with them.
Interesting but it does seem like much of it, save for the lab results, is very general. We had blood work done on both Thunder and Storm this year and it did not cost as much as this review. We reviewed results with our vet. 🙂
I’m not sure if there’s a standard fee for the report or if each vet sets their own price. I know my vet is a little more expensive than other vets in my area, but the quality of care is much better too. I’m not sure what the cost would have been to run all the tests run separately. It’s great that Thunder and Storm have a wonderful vet too! 🙂
I like the idea of a pet wellness report. It gives you a good overall summary of your pet’s health. Wish we had them here.
It does give you some peace of mind and good tips to prevent illness and disease. Maybe your vet will consider starting a wellness program or you could check the Pet Wellness Report website to see if any vets in your area participate in the program. The one big thing I learned from this is annual blood work and lab work is a probably a good investment.
Such a great idea!
It’s an interesting program. I like how it gives your vet a look at what lifestyle factors could effect your dog’s health.
I’ve never heard of this but am definitely intrigued. It would be a wonderful thing to have for trends/changes over time, especially if you move or change vets! You could have everything on hand online. Seems super convenient.
That would be a good benefit if you move or decide to change vets.
Interesting. I agree that some of the survey questions are too general. Overall, I consider Mr. N to be in good health, and his vet agrees with me. But some of the things I do for his mental and physical health (like letting him hike off-leash for example) would be a con according to this assessment.
Yes, we do a lot of off-leash hiking too. I assumed the question meant keeping your dog on a leash if the environment was dangerous or if your dog is likely to run away or get lost. That’s a good example of where some tweaking in the wording of the questions would be helpful.
I think the idea of a pet wellness report is a good one in general, but as you said, this particular one should be more detail-oriented & ask more in-depth questions.
The price tag wouldn’t put me off, as I believe in investing in preventative measures!
I think most dog owners (and cat owners) that would consider paying extra for this type of wellness program are very interested in their pet’s health and preventative care and would welcome in-depth questions and maybe even a longer survey that covers more topics. I’m always excited to learn new things that can keep Haley healthy.
This is really cool! I love all the data! Even happier that your girl is so healthy!
Thanks so much! I was really happy that all her lab results came back as normal too. 🙂
Thanks for posting up your experience, we have not implemented this at our clinic yet. When clients come in for heartworm tests we offer up doing a mini panel which is a 6 panel internal organ tests to check for kidney and liver problems and checks for diabetes. We then call the owner and go over the results with them. It is good to have bloodwork done each year to catch things early.
That’s such a good idea to do blood work annually. In the past, Haley normally only had blood work done if she was having surgery (pre-surgery), but I think this is something we’re going to have done every year now.
That’s pretty cool – I don’t recall our vet offering anything like that last time we were there. I;ll ask about it next time we’re in. I had no idea of those cancer risks either; fascinating stuff. That is a bit odd that you answered those questions with what I’d consider excellent choices, it probably is part of an algorithm as you mention. This also has me wondering if I should be opting into the online programs for my own health.. My Dr. is always mentioning these things and I always pass them up. Best of all I can tell Haley is pretty keen on keeping up with her own results as well 🙂
Yeah, I was surprised about the dark pigmentation issue, but now I’m going to inspect her mouth more often. I think Haley only wanted to make sure she wasn’t going to get short changed on the treats after reading the report, lol!
Very interesting, I’m not sure if it’s something I’d do or not. Mostly because I’m a worry wart and I tend to focus on those things. So say, if they said one of my dogs had a higher risk of cancer, I’d be at the vet all the time checking that dog. I’m a nut, what can I say? LOL
I’m the same way sometimes, Jodi. While I was waiting on the lab results, it was a little stressful but I would still rather know early if something’s not quite right. I do have to fight that “ignorance is bliss” way of thinking sometimes though.
Interesting idea, and thanks for such a comprehensive overview! It’s a shame some of those questions were vague, but maybe the company will see this review and tweak a few things. At least, I hope so! Thanks again.
Thanks Jean! I’m hoping the PWR continues to evolve because I think it’s a great concept that can really benefit pets and their owners.