Vaccinations:(back to top)
Just like children, new puppies and kittens need to be vaccinated against easily preventable viruses. Starting at 6 weeks, puppies and kittens should get regular boosters until they are 4-6 months old. While nursing (generally up until 6 weeks) puppies and kittens are protected by ‘passive’ antibodies in their mother’s milk as long as the mother is up-to-date on her vaccinations as well. Vaccinating your pet is the most effective way to protect them against the viruses they could come in contact with. While some of the diseases, like Rabies and Hepatitis, must be transferred through bodily fluids, other diseases, like Bordetella, can be carried on air currents and transferred easily among animals at places like dog shows, kennels and parks. And although some of them are easily treatable with antibiotics, many of them are lethal - especially to puppies and kittens - and all of them are expensive to treat.
For more information on vaccinating your pet, see our August 2006 Newsletter.

Heartworm Prevention:(back to top)
In the muggy south, heartworm prevention is a must for all dogs and cats, even indoors. Heartworms travel in mosquitoes from animal to animal, getting into the blood stream of a dog or cat when the mosquito bites them to suck their blood. The immature heartworms will mature in the animal’s bloodstream if they aren’t killed by a product like Heartgard, Tri-Heart, or Revolution. Once mature and into the heart, the worms will restrict blood flow, causing coughing, weight loss, lethargy and other symptoms. Unfortunately for South Carolina, mosquitoes are prevalent throughout the year and pets must stay on prevention year-round. Even inside pets are vulnerable as mosquitoes can get in through tiny cracks in windows or doors, and can even hitch a ride on you! If you have missed a month’s treatment, however, don’t panic. Giving an ivermectin-based product (such as Heartgard or Tri-Heart) for 16 months straight will sometimes cure the dog of all heartworms. If you have missed more than three months of prevention you should take your dog in to be tested for heartworms. Be careful though, as heartworm tests may show a false negative if it the test is run less than six months from the time of exposure.

Flea Prevention:(back to top)
Just like heartworm prevention, flea and tick prevention must be given year-round in South Carolina. During the hot summer months fleas are prevalent here, while the cooler winter months usher in the perfect weather for ticks. Luckily for our pets, ticks in South Carolina do not usually carry lyme disease like they do up north, but unluckily for our pets once there is an infestation of fleas or ticks they can be especially difficult to get rid of. Without the deep winter frosts, our natural populations of these pests aren’t killed off as they are up north. Therefore, keeping your pets on flea and tick prevention, such as Frontline or Revolution, is a must year-round.
But what happens if your pet already has fleas or ticks? Getting them on prevention first thing is the key - it will kill the currently living populations, their eggs and offspring, and keep the pet safe from future infestations. Ticks embedded in the skin of an animal should be removed carefully with tick tweezers. When using these special types of tweezers you must remember to twist to the right in order to make the tick let go and be pulled out whole, mouth-parts and all. Leaving any part of the tick imbedded in the animal’s skin can cause nasty infections that are hard to get rid of. Fleas are much harder than ticks to control, although the thought of finding a tick burrowed into your pet’s skin is undoubtedly a little more disturbing than finding a flea crawling around. To determine if your pet has flees look for small black moving insects or what looks like reddish-black dirt on your animal. The most common places to find fleas and flea dirt is near the anus and ears - great hiding places for fleas. If you find fleas, we recommend using a combination of flea-killing products: a Capstar pill given at the same time as a Frontline or Revolution is a great kick-start to a month-long flea-killing process. The Capstar starts working within 30 minutes to kill all the adult fleas that bite the animal and after 24 hours the medication wears out - just in time for the Frontline or Revolution to really start kicking in. And remember: it can take up to a month for the flea eggs to hatch that are hidden in the nooks and crannies of your house, so you will need at least two doses of monthly flea prevention to kill all of the fleas present in the population.

Internal Parasites:(back to top)
Tapeworms are the most common type of worm found in dogs and cats, probably because of the way they are transmitted. Tapeworm eggs (which look a lot like white sesame seeds) will be ingested by fleas - when the flea bites the animal and it itches, the animal will sometimes turn around and eat the flea, thus ingesting the tapeworm eggs as well. When the dog or cat then defecates, the grown tapeworm can be seen in the fecal matter (it usually looks like a small inchworm or piece of rice) and if another dog ingests the fecal matter (or even licks the infected dog’s perianal region) they can then ingest the tapeworm or its eggs and the process starts again. Luckily, flea prevention is the best prevention for tapeworms as well, and there is dewormer that can kill the tapeworms in the system.

Diet:(back to top)
It is important to eat a healthy diet, but unfortunately the foods that usually look the most appealing to us are actually the least healthy for our pets. Colorful, shaped kibble looks like it would be fun to eat, but let’s face it: dogs are colorblind. Not only that, but the dyes contained in these types of foods are not healthy for our pets and can cause food allergies. The best types of food are plain brown kibble that list a protein (meat) as the main ingredient instead of a carbohydrate (wheat or corn). Foods that list carbohydrates as the first ingredient can cause food allergies in dogs, and are not as healthy in general (after the Atkins craze we should all know that carbohydrates cause fat). Once you have the appropriate food, you should feed the puppy as much as it can eat in fifteen minutes, three times a day, until it is around 4-5 months. Large breed dogs should only been fed three times a day until they are 10-16 weeks, at which point they should only be fed once daily. Large breed dogs should also be switched to an adult maintenance diet earlier than small breed dogs (around 6 months instead of a year).

Training:(back to top)
For information and tips on training (and crate training) dogs, please see the Homecare section of our website!

Toys and Treats:(back to top)
Puppies will always want to chew on something - it’s a natural instinct. However, learning what is, and what is not appropriate to chew on, can be the difficult part. Usually, puppies under ten weeks old will want to chew on soft chew toys like stuffed animals, while older puppies and adult dogs will generally prefer harder Kongs and Nylabones. Starting young, establish what can and cannot be chewed on in your household by following the methods described in the Training section of the Home Healthcare page. To make it easier for your puppy to understand what is a toy and what is not, only keep one or two toys out for him/her at a time until he or she reaches two years old. Littering the floor with toys delivers the message that anything on the floor is fair game to chew on, and the puppy will do so energetically.
Toys are not the only thing overdone during this time in an animal’s life - generally treats are given to the extreme as well, either to help the puppy learn what is acceptable behavior, or just because “well look at that cute little puppy dog face”. If you insist on using snacks as a congratulatory prize, choose healthy snacks like carrots, peas and potatoes. A bag of frozen peas, thawed individually as needed, make great treats for small puppies and small adult dogs, while a pot full of small red potatoes or baby carrots boiled and then frozen like the peas works well for larger dogs. The boiled potatoes can also be used for pilling stubborn dogs - if they are used to getting potatoes as a treat you can put the pill inside and they will eat it without ever knowing you’ve tricked them.

Microchipping:(back to top)
Microchipping your dog or cat is one of the most important things you can do to maintain a long, healthy life. The microchip is a rice-sized transponder that is injected just under the skin between the shoulder blades (it only hurts as much as a regular vaccine and does not require sedation). Each microchip carries a unique alpha-numeric code which cannot be corrupted and when scanned will transmit that number to the microchip reader. If your pet is lost anywhere within the United States, local shelters and veterinarians can scan him or her and retrieve your pet’s unique number. They then call Home Again and can look up the pet by its number. Once found, the owner can be contacted immediately, as long as they remember to keep all of their information updated with Home Again. This unique system of ID-ing pets has become one of the leading in the nation, with over 270,000 pets recovered through Home Again microchips. To learn more about the different types of identification for pets, please see the November 2005 Newsletter.

Spaying/Neutering:(back to top)
Many pet owners consider spaying or neutering their pets while they are still young. Young pets recover much easier than older pets from spays or neuters (or any other kind of surgery), and if you spay or neuter your pet before they are sexually mature you will insure that they never have a costly litter of offspring. The more litters your pet has had, the harder it is on them to be spayed or neutered.

Declawing:(back to top)
Although considered inhumane by some cat-lovers, declawing is actually a very simple and relatively painless procedure, provided the proper care is maintained post-surgery. Declawing is usually done around six months of age, so the kitten isn’t traumatized by the loss of their front nails. Back nails are never removed. Under anesthesia, the kitten’s nails are pushed out as far as possible and clipped at the first knuckle. Unlike dogs, who cannot retract their claws, cats do not use their first knuckle of their front paws for walking, so normal movement is not hindered by the removal of it. In fact, you may be surprised just how strong the “fingers” of your cat’s paws are, even after removing their claws! Many declawed cats will still simulate clawing at a couch or use their “fingers” to grab your hand or a toy you are holding and pull it towards them.

Pet Insurance:(back to top)
If you have a breed of dog that is prone to illness at an older age you may consider buying pet insurance through the VPI insurance agency. Your vet should be willing to discuss with you the pros and cons of pet insurance; for more information on VPI pet insurance, please visit the FRAH or go to www.petinsurance.com

Emergencies:(back to top)
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Not Eating/Drinking
Dehydration