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Pet‐specific care is all about managing risks, so the very first step typically involves assessing pets for risks based on their individual circumstances (see 1.2 Providing a Lifetime of Care). In most cases, this first happens during puppy and kitten visits, often at around 8 weeks of age.

All animals have certain risks that pertain to their individual circumstances. By acknowledging and prioritizing risks, we can craft meaningful personalized action plans for our patients (see 1.3 Personalized Care Plans). In addition, once we have identified risks, pet owners can decide how they might best manage the financial aspects of those risks, including pet health insurance (see 10.16 Pet Health Insurance).

For most pets, family history, genotype, and breed predisposition are significant contributors to disease susceptibility (see 11.4 Heritable Health Conditions – by Breed). This is true whether the pet is purebred, hybrid, or mixed‐breed. In many instances, when a pet is mixed‐breed and the parents have not been identified with certainty, it may be difficult to discern any type of predisposition without performing breed composition genetic testing. Whether purebred, hybrid or mixed‐breed, both genotypic and phenotypic testing are important to detect disease susceptibility (see 3.11 Integrating Genotypic and Phenotypic Testing).

Exposure risks constitute another significant contributor to disease susceptibility. For example, a pet exposed to many other pets will be at increased risk for infectious diseases and, potentially, parasite transmission. A pet that is taken for walks in wooded areas may be exposed to ticks that are enzootic to the region and may introduce tick‐related infections to the pet.

Susceptibility to medical problems is also influenced by life stages and preexisting conditions. For example, an umbilical hernia is more likely to be congenital and evident in a juvenile pet, while most cases of hypothyroidism present during adulthood. Regarding preexisting conditions, a pet with early evidence of hip dysplasia will be more likely to develop osteoarthritis later in life.

A pet's gender as well as its neuter status also influence risk (see 4.2 Gender‐Related Considerations). Some diseases are sex‐limited in nature (such as prostatic disease in males or pyometra in females), but there are also sex predispositions for a variety of disorders. For example, there may be a modest sex predisposition in females regarding cutaneous lupus erythematosus, while adrenal sex hormone imbalance (also known as alopecia X) may be more commonly diagnosed in males. This is different from disorders that are transmitted genetically on the sex chromosomes. For example, hemophilia is more often clinically evident in males because the condition is transmitted on the X chromosome as a sex‐linked recessive condition, and since males only have one X chromosome (they are said to be hemizygous; the other is a Y chromosome), they are more likely to manifest the condition. Neuter status also affects risk. Bitches spayed before their first estrus have a reduced prevalence of mammary cancers; neutered males have a lowered risk for prostatic hyperplasia. New guidelines even suggest the most appropriate age for neutering on a pet‐specific basis.

Geography also plays a significant role in disease susceptibility, partially because it influences infectious diseases that are present in the area or the vectors that are associated with their transmission. Accordingly, when creating health plans, it is important to take into consideration whether or not the pet may travel outside its residential region.

Even conformation and nondisease traits can be associated with predisposition to disease. For example, cats with white fur may be at higher risk for developing squamous cell carcinoma; color dilution alopecia is more common in dogs with diluted coloring patterns, such as “blue” Dobermans, etc.