Vaccines/worming and defleaing

Caring for your puppy
Having taken on the responsibility of looking after a new puppy it will be helpful to bear in mind the following information on their care to ensure they have all the necessary treatment to prevent various diseases and to enable them to lead a healthy life.

Vaccinations
The initial course can be started from 8 weeks of age and the second vaccination 2 to 3 weeks later. Immunity must be maintained by giving annual 'boosters'. The protection is against the following diseases:

Canine Distemper or 'hard pad' - this causes diarrhoea, vomiting, coughing, sneezing, sore eyes and a high temperature. The virus can also affect the brain causing fitting.

Canine adenovirus or 'hepatitis' - causing liver failure.

Leptospirosis - a bacterial infection which affects the liver and kidneys also causing vomiting and diarrhoea together with blood stained urine.

Canine Parvovirus, commonly known as 'Parvo' - this disease is often fatal in young pups and elderly dogs. It causes severe diarrohoea and vomiting with blood.

There has been some concern with regards to vaccinations in recent years due to very few patients showing temporary side effects. These side effects are hardly ever seen as we tend to use mostly dead/inactivated viruses. For the few pets that have shown some side effects we do offer alternating the vaccine combinations on alternate years.

Worming
Roundworms and tapeworms are found in dogs. Treatment is simple to administer and is usually given in either tablet or powder form, as one dose.

Roundworms can occasionally cause serious problems in humans and so control is essential.

Tapeworms - the segments, which resemble grains of rice, are often seen around the dog's anus. Their life cycle is tied up with that of the flea and so effective flea treatment in addition to the worming tablet is essential. The treatment should be given fortnightly until 12 weeks of age, then every 3 months for the first year and then every 4 months.

We have recently seen lots of cases of Lungworm.

Fleas
The safest preparation to use on our pets in todays market are the spot on applications of Frontline and Stronghold. Stronghold has the advantage of doing most worms, ear mites and fox mange as well. As fleas lives on the animal for a short period of time and they breed in carpets and furnishings, it is essential to treat the home environment by spraying all the corners of the rooms with Acclaim every 6 months.