Puppies and Kittens!

Getting a new puppy or kitten is exciting! Most new pet owners have many questions. From proper diet, housetraining, appropriate vaccinations, and other health concerns, your veterinarian can help you learn about each aspect of pet health care and design a program that fits your pet’s needs.

Expect your new puppy or kitten’s first veterinary visit to be slightly longer than a normal health exam. This first visit gives your veterinarian time to pass along important information about caring for your new family member and answer any questions you may have. It is important to bring in a fresh stool sample as well as any medical information that you have received from your breeder or shelter. Your pet will visit their veterinarian every 3 to 4 weeks until he or she is about 5 months old.

Regular Veterinary Visits will include vaccinations and de-worming according to a schedule determined by your veterinarian. Your pet’s lifestyle should be discussed and a recommendation made about the right vaccines for your kitten or puppy. At approximately 5-6 months of age, your puppy or kitten should be spayed or neutered and microchipped. After this visit, annual or bi-annual examinations along with vaccination boosters are needed.

Spaying and neutering— Spaying or neutering is recommended for most pets. Electing the procedure is not only socially responsible, it also provides many health benefits for your pet. For most pets, the best time to perform the spay or neuter procedure is when your pet is approximately 6 months old. For your pet’s safety and comfort, New Hartford Animal Hospital takes a multi-modal approach to safety and pain management during spay and neuter procedures. As an AAHA accredited hospital,our approach includes IV fluids throughout the procedure and recovery, preemptive and post operative pain management, vital sign monitoring and body temperature support, and a dedicated recovery technician who monitors and comforts your pet throughout their recovery. It is important to check with your veterinarian to see what their standard of care is for this important surgery.

Microchip—Microchip identification will help ensure that your puppy or kitten can find his or her way home if he or she is ever lost. We use and recommend the Home Again® microchip identification and registration. While microchips can be implanted anytime and do not require anesthesia, we often perform the service at the same time as the spay or neuter procedure.

By establishing a good relationship with your pet at an early age, your veterinarian will be able to create an individual plan for a lifetime of good health and happiness.

When Disaster Strikes

Although we always want to believe it will never happen to us, when disaster strikes it is best to be prepared. It is important for pet owners to be prepared for natural disasters so that they and their animals make it through alive and well. FEMA has outlined several steps that all pet owners should be aware of when and if they need to evacuate their homes in a hurry.

 

1. FEMA encourages all pet owners not to leave their pets behind as there is no way to predict how long you will be away, and pets do not survive well on their own in these scenarios.
   
2. Many human shelters will not accept pets when there is an evacuation, and you need to be prepared for this in advance. Also consider that if you are evacuated and you have a local boarding facility or your veterinarian is in the same neighborhood, they too might be evacuated. If they do accept your pets, ask them if they are evacuated, what is their plan, and where they will go so you will know where the pets have been taken can worry a little less over their well-being.
   
3. Create a pet survival kit that includes an extra leash and collar (with an extra set of ID tags on the collar), bowls, cat pan, and litter, and bottled water, and pet food with a manual can opener if the food is canned. You should also take up-to-date medical records including vaccine history, a recent photo of your pet, and any medications your pet may be taking. While ID tags on the collars are good identification systems, also consider having your pet microchipped and recorded with the microchip company. Keep a copy of the microchip certificate in your pet survival kit.
   
4. What if disaster or an immediate evacuation strikes when you are not at home? Develop a buddy system with neighbors, friends, and relatives to make sure that someone is available to care for or evacuate your pets if you are unable to do so. Consider creating a phone list of pet-friendly hotels and facilities as well as identify pet-friendly shelters in your region. Share all of this with your neighbors and have a phone tree setup for contacting each other and identifying where you will meet.

Pre-planning and practicing is always helpful for those “what if” scenarios and can help make a very stressful situation less traumatic for all.

For more information, visit http://www.ready.gov/caring-animals

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.aahanet.org/blog/NewStat/post/2012/08/29/155099/Emergency-disaster-planning.aspx