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Prevention is the cornerstone of personalized pet care and fundamental to the concept is that diseases should preferably be prevented whenever possible, on a risk/benefit basis (see 1.1 Overview of Pet‐Specific Care). Not only is it easier to prevent problems than it is to treat them, but from a client perspective it is also more cost‐effective to prevent disorders than to try to manage them. For example, heartworm can be effectively prevented with either injectable medications (with ensured compliance) or with monthly oral or topical medications (which practices should remind clients to administer to improve adherence). Compliance and adherence are critical in this regard, because prevention is only as good as the assurance that the pet has received the medication as directed (see 9.17 Improving Compliance and Adherence with Pet‐Specific Care).

Vigilance is involved in the early detection component of our personalized pet care (see 4.7 Embracing Early Detection). As a wellness initiative, vigilance involves reviewing the risk factors for an individual pet and performing screening tests to identify problems while still subclinical and before more permanent damage has taken place (see 11.4 Heritable Health Conditions – By Breed). For example, in an animal with a family history of hip dysplasia, radiographic assessment is warranted, typically by 2 years of age at the latest, to determine if the animal shows early evidence of the disease. An animal with a breed predisposition for von Willebrand disease (vWD) would benefit from DNA testing during puppyhood, and certainly clotting evaluation before any surgeries might be performed. A kitten with genetic testing suggesting risk of polycystic kidney disease will warrant enhanced scrutiny for kidney disease and monitoring of renal function. For all animals, it is worth performing routine testing from time to time (e.g., hemogram, biochemistries, urinalysis, radiography, blood pressure, etc.) just to be aware of unanticipated risks that might be developing, even if still subclinical. Recommended tests to consider on a breed basis are available for both dogs (www.ofa.org/browse‐by‐breed) and cats (https://icatcare.org/advice/cat‐breeds).

Management of diagnosed conditions must also be personalized. Practices should have protocols for dealing with the most common entities treated, and care pathways for sensible management of chronic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus, osteoarthritis, atopic dermatitis, and others (see 9.4 Standards of Care and 9.6 Care Pathways). However, for many conditions, treatments are customized to the needs of a particular patient. For example, for a pregnant English bulldog, natural delivery may not be possible and cesarean section is often needed. Avermectins might be considered for the management of some conditions, but should be used only cautiously in animals with multidrug resistance (MDR1) genetic mutations.