Owning a new puppy or kitten can be a very exciting (and busy!) time for pet owners. There are some crucial health care measures that need to be taken to ensure your new furry friend gets the best start in life.

Moving to a new home can be a stressful time for a puppy or kitten. This stress combined with their immature immune system can make them prone to illness and disease. Visit one of our hospitals with your new puppy for a FREE health checkup to ensure they have the best chance of settling into their new home smoothly. Our vets will conduct a health check and discuss important health care measures to keep your new puppy or kitten healthy and happy.

Nutrition

Puppies and kittens need a balanced, premium quality puppy/kitten food. Puppies and kittens grow and develop rapidly and have very different nutritional requirements to adult dogs and cats. For example, puppies and kittens require additional calcium and energy to facilitate proper growth of bones and muscles, in dogs this ratio of calcium and energy can be different for small breeds to large breeds. It’s essential that you discuss the best nutritional plan for your new pet with a trained veterinary professional. At Sydney Animal Hospitals, we are committed to providing your new puppy or kitten with the best nutrition available, following a free health check your puppy will receive a FREE sample bag of Hill’s Science Diet puppy/kitten Food to trial.

 Parasite control

Parasite control is also very important for puppies and kittens as they are more likely to be carrying gastrointestinal worms at this stage in their life. An all wormer tablet should be given every 2 weeks until 12 weeks of age, every month until 6 months of age and then every 3 months for life.

For puppies heartworm prevention is even more important – the best way to prevent heartworm is with injectable medication administered by your vet, this removes the possibility of forgetting to give a dose as one missed monthly heartworm dose can result in heartworm infection. Puppies need to start this heartworm prevention medication at 12 weeks of age, they will then need a booster at 6 month of age and then need repeat injections every year at the same time as their annual vaccinations. For more information on heartworm in pets, click on this link: Heartworm Prevention in Dogs.

Tick and flea prevention is also a must. The newer oral flea and tick preventatives and tick collars are highly effective and very safe. These products prevent these parasites for extended periods. Paralysis ticks can be rapidly fatal for dogs and cats of any age, for more information on paralysis ticks visit our webpage here: Paralysis Tick Emergency Care.

 Vaccinations

Vaccinations are also imperative to prevent deadly infectious diseases such as parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis and infectious canine cough in puppies and feline herpesvirus, calicivirus and felinepanleukopenia in kittens. During the vaccination consultation, the veterinarian will also complete a health check examination to ensure your puppy or kitten is healthy and fit for vaccination. Puppies and kittens require vaccinations at 6-8 weeks of age, 10-12 weeks of age and 14-16 weeks of age. After these vaccinations are completed your puppy or kitten will then be able to safely mix with other pets at dog parks and public places without the risk of acquiring these infectious diseases. For more information about vaccinations visit this link: Dog Vaccinations.