Preventative Care for Your Dog

Preventative Care for Your Dog

At Morningside Vet Clinic we understand there is so much to take on board when you have a pet and keeping on top of it all to keep your pet healthy can be a headache.

We offer a reminder service that can be sent as a text, via email or by post to help you keep your pet’s preventative care up to date. So just look at our check list below dogs to make sure you have everything covered:

Vaccination – Annually against parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis and canine cough

(referred to as C5)

* Puppies will need up to 3 vaccinations to boost their systems up to full immunity. These are done at 6, 10 and 12 weeks of age or 2-4 weeks apart depending on what age you get your pup.*

2. Heartworm prevention

3. Intestinal worming

4. Fleas

5. Ticks

HEARTWORM PREVENTION

This worm is carried by mosquitos and can be transmitted by a single bite from an infected mosquito. The worm travels in the blood stream and grows in the heart, which is why it’s given its name. This worm then grows within the heart filling up all the cavities, which affects how the heart works. This can be fatal if not treated.

If your pet has not had any heartworm treatment previously it is essential to get a simple blood test to make sure they are not carry the worm before

proceeding with preventative treatment.

For dogs the easiest and most effective way of protecting them against

this potentially fatal disease is a yearly injection, called Proheart SR12, which

can be given alongside their yearly vaccination. For puppies this should be given

at the 12 week vaccination, 6 months (usually alongside the desexing) then every year with their annual vaccines. There are other alternatives, but they only give monthly cover and if you’re late with a dose you could be putting your pet at risk.

INTESTINAL WORMING

Intestinal worms can be transmitted in a variety of ways, usually through direct contact with eggs or an animal with an active infestation. Even as puppies they can be carrying the worms transmitted in the mothers milk. At Morningside Vet Clinic we recommend that they are wormed fortnightly between the ages of 6 and 12 weeks, and then monthly until they are 6 months old. Once your pet is older than 6 months it’s recommended every 3 months for life. We recommend Milbemax or Drontal allwormer. Both products cover a broad spectrum of intestinal worms (tapeworm, roundworm, hookworm and whipworm).

FLEAS & TICKS

These parasites are everywhere; they can lie dormant around your house until they sense it’s a good time to hatch. They breed quickly, so when you see a few on your animal they are usually just 10% of the population living in and around the area where your pet lives! They can bite humans too, but they can not live on us. They are very irritating for pets – some can even have an allergy to them, which makes them twice as itchy and results in them losing their fur. To be effective at treating the fleas you have to make sure you treat ALL PETS in the household.

There are many different ticks that can affect your pets, however the most dangerous one in Queensland is the paralysis tick. This tick, as you may have guessed by the name, can cause your pet to become paralyzed. As its poison relaxes the muscles, including those powering vital organs such as the heart and lungs, a paralysis tick bite can be fatal if left untreated. If you see any: weakness of limbs, unusual vocalization, difficulty breathing, difficulty in keeping food down or other signs of distress, please

bring your pet to Morningside Vet Clinic straight away!

When it comes to paralysis ticks, prevention is better than the cure.

If you ever find a tick on your animal, take a picture of it for later

identification and remove it immediately.

TICKS ARE AN ALL YEAR ROUND PROBLEM!! Some people believe that they only come around in the warmer months, but we see tick cases throughout the year

There are many products on the market that cover ticks, and many that offer combination parasite prevention. At Morningside vet our preferred products are Bravecto and Nexgard/Nexgard Spectra but we are more than happy to discuss any products you choose to use.

MICROCHIPS

No bigger than a grain of rice, this amazing little electronic device could help you to reunite with your pet if ever they go missing.

Just once in their life they get implanted with a little electronic chip that carries a specific number. This number then gets registered on a database along with all your details. So if you ever move or change numbers make sure you keep it updated! There are some databases that only operate within certain states, so if you moved interstate you’d have to re-register them. Luckily, there are also some Australia-wide databases such as Australasian Animal Registry (aar.org.au; 02 9704 1450).