Sorry dog lovers, the cat people win again. According to the AVMA, a 2007 pet survey puts cat ownership as the top pet in America with almost 83 million cat owners out there followed by over 75 million fish owners, with 72 million dog owners nipping at their heels. Regardless of whether or not they meow, bark or just stare at you blankly, people love their pets. For most pet owners, the family pet is a part of the family and it doesnt matter if the pet in question is a turtle, snake, or something more cute and fluffy like a dog or cat. All pets, regardless of whether they have shells, scales, or fur require three main components for proper care including food, water and love. Part of being a loving and responsible pet owner is ensuring your pet receives the proper medical care that includes shots, routine vet exams and having a trusted vet to turn to for help during a medical crisis or event. Its also doing a lot of preventative care like feeding your pet a well-rounded diet to help them live as long as possible. Any pet, even the beloved gold fish, can live a long productive life with the right care and the right diet. Did you know an indoor housecat can live to their twenties, while an outdoor cat may have a life span of only three or four years? This is because an indoor cat is less likely to be exposed to the dangers of predators- think coyotes, neighborhood dogs, and those hooligan kids down the street. Plus, if your cat is indoors they are less likely than an outdoor cat to be exposed to other hazards such as parvo that can kill a healthy cat in less than a day. Dogs can live upwards to twenty years depending on their breed, with mixed breed dogs living longer lives than their purebred counterparts, and those small, yippy dogs beating out the big breeds by as much as ten years. But the trick to long life is in the quality and care of that life. If you want your new pet to live as long as they can you need to start by taking your pet to the vet for regular yearly checkups and keep them vaccinated against the main killers of pets like parvo.Your vet is also your source for information about diets. No pet should live on a diet enriched with table scrapes- its just not good for them, it makes pets fat, and fat pets just like anyone who is overweight have a shorter life span and a multitude of health problems. Whether youre a new pet owner or youre an old hand at it, your vet is a great source of information to help you keep your pet around for a long, long time to come.