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Caring for Your Pet: Tips to Use for a Healthy Life
Posted: 02-Aug-11
topics that are important to your pet's health
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Caring for Your Pet,
tips from Animal Care Wellness Center 
To live a long, healthy life, all pets require regular medical attention.
Here are several topics that are relevant and important to your pet's health:
1. Wellness Exams
2. Vaccination
3. Spay/Neuter
4. Healthy Life-Stage Appropriate Diet
5. Parasite Control
6. Microchipping
7. Surgery from a qualified veterinarian
 l
Dr. Janet Troxel
1. Wellness Exams
During your puppy or kitten's routine physical examinations, our veterinarians including Dr. Troxel will listen to his/her heart and breath sounds, feel the abdomen, and check the coat/skin condition. We will also check your puppy's eyes, ears, and mouth. Ask one of our doctors when your pet will become a senior pet. Depending on size and breed of the pet, your pet may be a senior as early as 4-5 years of age. We recommend that senior pets be examined twice a year. Junior pets should be examined once a year.
2. Vaccination
New puppies and kittens require a lot of care in the beginning to give them the best start in life. Their immune systems are not fully developed, making them susceptible to parasites and disease. By following the Animal Care Wellness Plan, you can help prevent many common illnesses and diseases. Once your pet has completed all puppy/kitten vaccines they will receive continued care to keep current on all vaccines required for your pet. The general rule is to vaccinate every 3-4 weeks until your pet is at least 16 weeks old. If they are older than 16 weeks your pet will get the initial vaccines and will be boostered in 3-4 weeks.
Puppies:
8 weeks: Exam, DHLPP #1 or DHLPPC #1, De-worming #1
11 weeks: Exam, DHLPP #1/DHLPPC#2, Bordatella #1, Fecal (De-worming #2 done at week 10. Pill is sent home.)
14 weeks: Exam, DHLPP #3/DHLPPC#3, Bordatella #2
17 weeks: Exam, DHLPP #4/DHLPPC#4, Rabies (good for 1 year. The next year, the Rabies is good for 3 years.)
OTHER VACCINES RECOMMENDED, according to where you live and your pets' frequency of travel include LYMES VACCINATION and RATTLESNAKE VACCINATION
Kittens:
This vaccination schedule will vary according to age of your pet at the start of vaccinations. The general rule is to vaccinate every 3-4 weeks until your pet is at least 16 weeks old. If they are older than 16 weeks your pet will get the initial vaccines and will be boostered in 3-4 weeks.
8 weeks FVRCP #1, De-worming #1, Fecal cup is sent home to collect feces for 11 week (or 2nd visit)
10 weeks Deworming #2 (pill is sent home)
11 weeks FVRCP #2 , FIV/FELV/Heartworm Snap Test (if test is negative the FelV vaccination #1 is given).
14 weeks FVRCP #3, FelV (annual)
17 weeks FVRCP (annual), Rabies (annual)
Dr. Susan Holt
3. Spay/Neuter
Dr. Holt and our veterinarians recommend spay or neuter at 4 months of age for all puppies and kittens as well as older pets. Reasons to spay and neuter
Spaying:
· Prevents pyometra (deadly uterine infection)
· Prevents breast cancer
· Prevents unwanted pregnancy
· Prevents perineal tumors
Neutering:
· Prevents benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)
· Makes it less likely that your pet will run away
· Prevents testicular/prostatic cancer
· Prevents anal tumors
· Prevents perineal tumors
Dr. M.A. DiCarlo
4. Healthy Life-Stage Appropriate Diet
"At Animal Care Wellness Center, we have all the Purina prescription diet foods your pet may need. We carry the highest quality for your pet's dietary needs. We caution all our clients to not feed table scraps to their pets. Table scraps disrupt your pet's balanced diet and should be avoided. Human food is high in sodium and fat and pets can quickly gain weight which will lead to serious health problems in the future" says Dr. DiCarlo.
5. Parasite Control
We will check your puppy for external parasites, such as fleas, ticks, ringworm, and ear mites. We will also check for internal parasites, such as tapeworms, heartworms, hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, coccidia, and giardia. Please bring a stool sample to all scheduled puppy/kitten appointments.
De-worming is done at the initial puppy/kitten exam. The CDC recommends yearly de-worming of all pets due to zoonotic potential (disease is transferable to humans). This is not required but recommended.
6. Microchip Placement
Animal Care Wellness Center offers a permanent form of identification with a Home Again Microchip System. The chip is the size of a grain of rice, and is inserted underneath the skin. The i.d. number and owner information is then registered with the Home Again Registry. If a pet is lost and recovered, the number can be read by any agency or veterinarian who has a microchip scanner and the owner can be traced.
7. Surgery
At Animal Care Wellness Center, we are a full-service, Class IV Surgical and laser therapy facility. We perform all surgical procedures on the premises including orthopedic surgery and soft tissue surgery.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES DICTIONARY:
DHLPP/DHLPPC: This vaccination protects against a combination of diseases that infect dogs. The viral diseases from which we seek to protect dogs with this vaccine include the following:
Canine Distemper Virus (D). This is a viral disease transmitted by aerosolization of infective droplets. It can cause neurologic disease, respiratory complications, conjunctivitis, seizures, and death..
Infectious Canine Hepatitis (H). This is a viral disease that is shed in the urine and feces and is picked up through the oral mucosa and nasal cavity. It can cause fever, abdominal pain, diarrhea, coughing, and lethargy.
Leptospirosis (L): Leptospirosis is caused by bacteria that can permanently damage your pet's liver, kidneys, and other major organs. Other dogs and even humans can become ill after contact with an infected dog's urine.
Parainfluenza Virus (P). This is a virus transmitted by aerosolization. It is part of the kennel cough disease complex and will often cause coughing.
Parvovirus (P). This is a viral disease that causes severe bloody diarrhea, vomiting, dehydration, and anorexia. Since the virus will also attack a patient's bone marrow, immunosupression and sepsis can result. Puppies and dogs can die from parvovirus infection. It is shed in the feces of infected animals and can persist in the environment for months to years.
Coronavirus (C): This is an infection that is highly contagious gastrointestinal disease among dogs. Clinical signs include vomiting, diarrhea and listlessness. When combined with other infections such as parvovirus, signs are more severe.
Bordetella (Kennel Cough): This is a bacterial disease that is part of the kennel cough disease complex. Animals with the disease will often present with a cough. The vaccine is recommended for dogs and puppies that are boarded in kennels, groomed in professional grooming facilities, participating in puppy or obedience classes, frequenting pet stores, or attending dog shows. This vaccine requires a bi-yearly vaccination booster. If a puppy receives a bordetella vaccine before turning 16 weeks of age, the vaccine will need to be boostered 3-4 weeks later. Then once every six months.
Rabies Vaccination: Rabies is a disease that is transmitted from the bite of an infected animal. Any warm-blooded animal is capable of becoming rabid. Signs of rabies include changes in behavior (i.e. aggressive behaviors or blunted mental status), seizures, coma, or any other neurologic signs. This vaccine is extremely important due the severity of this disease; it is 100% fatal and there is no cure. Additionally, it is a public health concern, as people can get this deadly disease. Vaccinated your pet against rabies is also required by law and must be done once a year.
Lyme Disease: Lyme Disease is acquired by both dogs and people from infected ticks. It is the most-commonly-reported-tick-borne disease in the country. Lyme disease bacteria (Borrelia burgdorferi) can seriously damage joints, kidneys and other tissues.
THANK YOU FROM ALL OF US DOGS
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