Tag Archives: puppy worming

Covid – 19 – Has It Affected Your Pet?

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Covid – 19 – Has It Affected Your Pet?

 

Covid – 19 – Has It Affected Your Pet?

The early experiences a puppy or kitten has with people and their surroundings has a huge impact on their behaviour and personality for the rest of their lives. Our Spring News Blog talks through how a rescue centre or good breeder can help the socialisation process with your pet. If Covid has effected your pets socialisation, do not hesitate to seek help from a vet or qualified behaviourist.

 

Socialising your puppy - What Is The Right Age Of Puppy To Get?

How the heart pumps

Our Spring news explains how a healthy heart  works and the different heart conditions that can effect your pet. Older cats are at an increased risk of developing a condition where the heart muscle excessively enlarges in size. The signs of heart disease are explained in our Spring News Blog, the good news is both our Ealing and Hounslow surgeries have the facilities to offer ultrasound scans of your pets heart to help diagnose a condition. Contact our team if you have concerns about the articles mentioned and your pet.

 

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Lungworm awareness!

The warmer Spring weather provides the perfect opportunity for parasites to start spreading onto your pet and into your home. Lungworm is a parasite effecting dogs and foxes, it can cause significant disease and in some cases, it can be fatal. Our Spring News discusses how your dog can become infected, and more importantly how simple prevention can be. The good news is Lungworm protection is automatically included in our Dog Pet Healthcare Club, find out more here.

 

lungworm

We hope you have enjoyed reading our Spring News Blog, if you have a question on any of the articles mentioned please do not hesitate to discuss it further with one of our vets at your pets next appointment or drop us an email on admin@youngvets.co.uk

We are passionate about pets – almost all of our vets, nurses and receptionists are pet owners – we love them too! If you and your pet are not yet registered with our surgery, please click here to register online we can’t wait to meet you and your pet soon.

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Puppy care- feeding, vaccinating, worming, and training

Cavalier King Charles puppies

 How to care for your puppy:

 

Make sure that you have suitable transport for your new puppy.  Puppies may be put in a collapsible cage in your car, which ensures they are safe during a journey. Be sure to have them on a lead/harness so that they can’t run away. Also before your puppy has its first vaccinations it is imperative that your puppy does not touch the floor outside (other than your garden) and is only introduced to dogs that are vaccinated.

 

  • Night Time:

     

    Your puppy may whine about being left alone for the first few nights. Soft toys can be good company. If you are planning to train them to use a crate you can cover the crate to make them feel more secure. Leaving a radio station on (eg. Classic FM) quietly in the background can also help them to feel more secure. Sometimes a ticking clock can provide some company. A covered hot water bottle may also be a very warm friend (care though- it should be hand hot only – any hotter can cause burns).

 

 

  • Training:

     

    Make sure to train and handle your puppy from an early age. Plenty of handling will make them comfortable with human contact. Reinforcing good play behaviours with treats is also recommended. When doing any training always give verbal praise first, and immediately after give a little treat. Eventually your puppy will be happy to receive the verbal praise alone. Get the puppy used to being checked over (like at the vets). Lift and handle the ears, try getting a dog toothpaste and brushing their teeth, with a finger brush. Lift and handle the paws. Be sure to expose your puppy to as many different people as possible whilst it is developing. This can include a person in uniform (eg. A postman), someone wearing a hat, someone with a beard even! Puppy classes are a great way to socialise them. Other puppies will help to teach your puppy how to behave in social situations.

 

 

For further tips on training your puppy see our other puppy and dog training blog post here

 

 

  • 1st Vaccinations: 

     

    This can be done on the first vet check between 8-10 weeks of age. The 2nd vaccination is 2-4 weeks after. Until a week after the 2nd vaccination it is imperative that you keep the puppy away from un-vaccinated dogs and do not place him/her on the floor in public spaces where viruses could be on the ground.

 

 

  • Worming and parasite control–

     

    Puppies will need to be wormed as most will have picked up worms from their mother. This can be done with either tablets, or with a spot on treatment, which will treat other parasites such as fleas and lungworm. Your vet will advise on the most appropriate treatment.

 

 

  • Exercise:

     

    Puppies do not need long walks – they only have little legs! Puppies aren’t considered fully grown until 6-18 months of age (larger breeds mature more slowly). It is then that a good exercise plan can be implemented. Larger breeds especially may be prone to bone and joint problems, and should not be over exercised, when growing.

 

 

  • Food:

     

    Little and often. A puppy’s tummy is very small and so their food intake needs to be split between 3-4 meal times. Find out what your puppy has been fed on at the breeder’s and try to maintain that regime for continuity. If your puppy has diarrhoea, give them boiled chicken and rice. Introduce any new puppy foods gradually over 3 days, as a sudden change in food will often cause a digestive upset.

 

 

  • Play: 

 

Puppies like to chew a lot especially during teething between the ages of 3 and 6 months, when they will lose all of their milk teeth.  Provide rubber Kongs or rope chews. Avoid bones as they can crack their milk teeth on these.  Play is an important way of learning for your new puppy and can be a lot of fun too!

 

 

Finally enjoy playing with your puppy – they grow up much  too fast, and send your cute pictures to our facebook page here !

 

Tips on – How to choose a puppy

puppies-labrador-retriever west london vet

“Dogs are a man’s best friend”

Getting a puppy is a very important and exciting decision. A puppy can add so much joy and companionship to your life. We love seeing puppies here at Young Veterinary Partnership and enjoy, even more so, helping you to look after them as best as possible. When you decide to get a puppy you have to be sure that you can commit time towards exercising it, keeping it company and socialising/training it so it becomes a well-mannered adult dog.

Choosing your puppy:

The Breed: Choosing the appropriate breed for you is critical. A smaller dog breed may be more appropriate for your lifestyle. Seeing both parents of the puppy can help you assess possible future temperament (and future size). Some breeds may be more ‘highly strung” than others, some need more exercise, some need more coat care and grooming than others.  Although most puppies are healthy, certain breeds may have  an increased incidence of specific medical problems. This information is readily available these days on sites such as Wikipedia, specific breed websites and the kennel club. Taking out insurance at as soon as you get your puppy is a good idea.

The Breeder: Make sure your puppy comes from a reputable breeder where the mother is up to date with her vaccinations. The puppy should have also been wormed regularly throughout their first few weeks and may have had a flea treatment before being re-homed. Ideally the puppy should be around 8 weeks old before bringing them home. Keeping mother and puppies together upto 8 weeks, has been shown to reduce the risks of behavioural problems developing later. From April 2016 all puppies should be microchipped.

Charities: A great way of you re-homing a puppy. As a policy the puppy has usually had its first vaccinations and is microchipped for you. The charity may even have neutered them, if he/she is old enough. Charities often ask for a small donation towards adopting the puppy. Dogs Trust and Battersea dogs home may have suitable puppies or young dogs for rehoming.

Make sure that your puppy is fit and healthy when you choose it:

Hips/Elbows/Eyes: The parents of some pedigree litters have to undergo compulsory scoring of their hips (for hip dysplasia), elbows (for elbow dysplasia) or eyes (for cataracts and retinal problems). This reduces the risk of the puppies developing these problems (but doesn’t eliminate the risk), by only using parents with good scores for breeding. Make sure that the parents’ scores are of an acceptable standard for their breed. Visit www.thekennelclub.org.uk for more information.

Eyes: Bright wide eyes. No discharge.

Nose: Wet nose. No discharge.

Mouth & Teeth: No teeth out of place. Fully erupted. Milk teeth are usually bright white and look shiny.

Weight: A healthy weight where you can feel the ribs but not see them. Make sure the puppy doesn’t have a pot-belly as this could indicate a worm burden. This can be easily rectified by a wormer from a vet.

Appetite: A good appetite indicates a healthy puppy.

Toileting: Normal urination and defecation. This should be normally formed, no blood in it and not watery. Sometimes you can see evidence of worms in the faeces, if this is the case he will need worming by a vet.

 

 

 

Further information about different dog breeds can be found at www.dogstrust.org.uk

How to choose a puppy

puppies-labrador-retriever west london vet

“Dogs are a man’s best friend”

Getting a puppy is a very important and exciting decision. A puppy can add so much joy and companionship to your life. We love seeing puppies here at Young Veterinary Partnership and enjoy, even more so, helping you to look after them as best as possible. When you decide to get a puppy you have to be sure that you can commit time towards exercising it, keeping it company and socialising/training it so it becomes a well-mannered adult dog.

Choosing your puppy:

The Breed: Choosing the appropriate breed for you is critical. A smaller dog breed may be more appropriate for your lifestyle. Seeing both parents of the puppy can help you assess possible future temperament (and future size). Some breeds may be more ‘highly strung” than others, some need more exercise, some need more coat care and grooming than others.

The Breeder: Make sure your puppy comes from a reputable breeder where the mother is up to date with her vaccinations. The puppy should have also been wormed regularly throughout their first few weeks and even had a flea treatment before being re-homed. Ideally the puppy should be around 8 weeks old before bringing them home. Keeping mother and puppies together upto 8 weeks, has been shown to reduce the risks of behavioural problems developing later. Some breeders may even do a first vaccination and a microchip.

Charities: A great way of you re-homing a puppy. As a policy the puppy has usually had its first vaccinations and is microchipped for you. The charity may even have neutered them, if he/she is old enough. Charities often ask for a small donation towards adopting the puppy.

Make sure that your puppy is fit and healthy when you choose it:

Hips/Elbows/Eyes: The parents of some pedigree litters have to undergo compulsory scoring of their hips (for hip dysplasia), elbows (for elbow dysplasia) or eyes (for cataracts and retinal problems). This reduces the risk of the puppies developing these problems, by only using parents with good scores for breeding. Make sure that the parents’ scores are of an acceptable standard for their breed. Visit www.thekennelclub.org.uk for more information.

Eyes: Bright wide eyes. No discharge.

Nose: Wet nose. No discharge.

Mouth & Teeth: No teeth out of place. Fully erupted. Milk teeth are usually bright white and look shiny.

Weight: A healthy weight where you can feel the ribs but not see them. Make sure the puppy doesn’t have a pot-belly as this could indicate a worm burden. This can be easily rectified by a wormer from a vet.

Appetite: A good appetite indicates a healthy puppy.

Toileting: Normal urination and defecation. This should be normally formed, no blood in it and not watery. Sometimes you can see evidence of worms in the faeces, if this is the case he will need worming by a vet.

Further information about different dog breeds can be found at www.dogstrust.org.uk