The Pet Owner's Guide to Preventative Care: Vaccinations, Worming, and Flea Treatment
Omokoroa Pet Vets is dedicated to supporting you in maintaining your pet's lifelong health and happiness by offering valuable information to guide you. Preventative care focuses on the strategic use of vaccinations, worming, and flea treatments, administering them only when needed to safeguard your pet's health from infections.
Regardless of whether your pet joins your family from a shelter, breeder, or a trade me, it's important to gather as much information as possible along with their medical records, if available. This will aid us in understanding their needs and requirements.
Worming Treatment:
Puppies and kittens become infected with worms passed through the placenta when inside the uterus and from larvae in their mother’s milk when feeding after birth. By using a broad spectrum worming treatment, starting at 2 weeks of age and every 2-3 weeks until they are 12 weeks old, internal parasites can be effectively treated. Once 12 weeks of age and not drinking their mothers milk, they may be treated once a month until 6 months of age, then 3 monthly thereafter.
Omokoroa Pet Vets stock Drontal and Endogard tablet wormers which protect against hookworm, tapeworm and roundworm. Not all tablet wormers protect against all three types of worm so if using other products, please check what parasites are targeted.
Flea Treatment:
There are many flea treatment products on the market, some more effective, while some having more side effects than others. The Omokoroa Pet Vets stock the safest and most effective external parasite products and our team are all experienced in advising you on what treatment is most appropriate for your pet. Knowing your pets age and weight will help us guide you.
Most flea treatments are not to be used in puppies or kittens less than 8 weeks of age. However, a spray called ‘Frontline’ may be used until they are at an age they can be safely treated with a flea treatment. Please ask at reception.
Some households will naturally carry a higher flea infestation risk than others. For example, a household with one dog in a townhouse that doesn’t board or go to doggy daycare will have a lower flea infestation risk than a multiple indoor/outdoor cat household on a farm. Similarly, some households may not be at risk of flea infestation through the winter months, while some warm households have have fleas that ‘over-winter’ and are a risk all year round.
Flea treatments for cats come in spot on treatments, lasting one month to three months duration.
Flea treaments for dogs come in spot on treatments, lasting one month to six months duration or chewable tablets lasting one month to three months duration.
Combination Flea and Worm Treatments
A convenient combination spot-on treatment has been developed to be an effective internal and external parasite protectant. Most of these products treat fleas and two types of worms and do not treat tapeworm. However, as tapeworm is brought to the pet through fleas biting their skin, if flea treatment is regularly given, then the risk of a tapeworm infestation is low. In this instance, a tablet wormer can be given once a year to flush any tapeworms from the system, or if a flea infestation has occurred.
Vaccinating your Pet
Omokoroa Pet Vets adheres to the World Vaccination Guidelines for veterinary vaccinations. These guidelines, supported by the most recent research, aim to protect your pet from serious diseases while strategically utilizing vaccinations only when necessary, avoiding any overuse.
Core vaccinations of cats protects against: calicivirus, feline herpes virus, panleukopenia. Core vaccinations for dogs protect against: parvovirus, distemper, parainfluenza and hepatitis. Optional vaccination for dogs include Leptosporosis vaccination and Kennel Cough Vaccination. Your veterinarian will discuss with you if your dogs lifestyle will make them at risk for these diseases.
Core Vaccination Schedule:
Puppies and kittens should receive vaccinations at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of age
A booster should be given 12 months later
After the 12 month booster, the core vaccine should be boosted every 3 yearly throughout the life of your pet. In some instances, it may still be recommended to perform annual vaccinations for a cat throughout their life. This can be discussed further with your veterinarian.
Leptosporosis Vaccinaton
Two vaccinations 3-4 weeks apart when starting the vaccination schedule
Annual vaccination thereafter
Kennel Cough Vaccination
Injectable vaccinations require two shots 3-4 weeks apart, then annual boosters
Intra-oral or intra-nasal vaccine administration requires a single annual vaccination.
Titre Testing
An alternative to the vaccination schedule above is to take a blood sample from your dog, prior to vaccination in order to ‘titre-test’ them to determine if they are protected from parvovirus and distemper. A titre test is able to show if high level antibodies are present to protect against disease but has it’s limitations as a low antibody level does not necessarily mean the dog does not have immunity. A titre test does not have the capacity to determine if the ‘memory cells’ of the immune system are capable of producing antibodies against parvo and distemper. Nevertheless, titre testing can be performed when requested.