Pet Advice

As a pet-owner, you love your companion and want to look after them. But could you be looking after additional critters unintentionally?

Fleas and worms are the most common parasites that affect your pet. As parasites, they survive by feeding on your pet’s vital nutrients. Sometimes these parasites can cause disease in your pet, as carriers of infectious diseases, or causing tissue  damage where they bite, or simply through causing malnutrition. It may not just be your pet who is badly affected by parasites; a flea infestation in your home can be particularly unpleasant for you and your family.

Fleas

Fleas are small insects, renowned for their ability to jump great distances. This makes them especially skilled at transferring from animal to animal.

Fleas are blood-sucking parasites, which can create considerable discomfort for your pet. Additionally, if the fleas have an infection from a previous host, they can transmit this to your pet too. It is for this reason that preventative care against fleas is extremely important.

Here at Wellpets, we stock a range of different prescription licenced products for flea prevention. Products are available in oral, spot-on, and injection formulations. Our team are more than happy to discuss the options that are available for you.

Worms

Unlike fleas, worms live inside your pet. For this reason, it can be more difficult to tell if your pet has an infestation, which can prove especially hazardous.

The most common types of worm live inside your pet’s intestine, such as roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms. Your pet could also suffer with lungworms, which live inside the lungs and cause problems such as coughing and internal bleeding.

The earlier the diagnosis of an infestation, the less damage the parasite will cause to your pet. Symptoms include:

• Vomiting and/or diarrhoea
• Swollen or bloated stomach
• Low energy
• A dull coat
• Weight loss despite an increased appetite
• Small ‘grains of rice’ in your pets faeces

Here at Wellpets, we stock a range of different prescription products for worm control. Our team can prescribe an effective worming product, which may be a tablet or spot-on treatment.

You don’t want your pet to be exposed to anything that can put them at risk. Just like you, your pet needs to be vaccinated in order to build up immunity against potentially fatal disease.

Kittens and puppies inherit their mother’s immunity from harmful diseases for a few weeks following their birth when they suckle their mother’s milk. However, after 10 weeks, they become increasingly at risk of contracting disease as this maternal immunity declines.

Vaccinations are essential for puppies and kittens, to equip their immune system with the ability to fight certain diseases.

Once vaccinated, you should bring your pet back for an annual health check. At this time, the vet will recommend which vaccine components should be given as a “booster”.  These boosters remind the immune system how to react if the body is threatened by the challenge of a disease.

Puppy

You should enquire about vaccination at the earliest opportunity. Two doses will be required, 4 weeks apart. Routine vaccination for puppies covers the following diseases:

• Canine Parvovirus
• Canine Distemper Virus
• Infectious Canine Hepatitis
• Leptospirosis

Optional vaccines available include Kennel Cough vaccine, for dogs which may be going to boarding kennels, and Rabies vaccine for dogs which will travel abroad with a pet passport.

Kitten

Feline friends can be vaccinated from 9 weeks old and then again 3-4 weeks later. They will be protected against:

• Cat Flu Viruses (Feline Herpes and Feline Calici Virus)
• Infectious Enteritis
• Feline Leukaemia Virus

If you have a baby rabbit, they can be vaccinated against Myxomatosis and Viral Haemorrhagic Disease (VHD) from 5 weeks old.