Information for Owners

Vaccinations

Why should I vaccinate my pet and how often?

Fleas and Worms

Why and how often should I use preventative treatments?

Neutering

Why is this beneficial and what does it involve?

Microchipping

What is microchipping and what does it involve?

Nutrition

How to choose the best food for your pet

Insurance

Why should I insure my pet and how do I choose the best policy?

Pet Passports

Why are they needed and how do I get one for my pet?

Fleas and Worms

Both aniamals and humans are at risk of disease associated with worms. The eggs that cause the infections are present in the environment and can be picked up and ingested by your pet, even house-pets are at risk as worms can be brought in on your shoes and clothes. We are all at risk of picking up worm eggs from handling our pets, but especially children. Ideally we must all wash our hands after handling pets and it is a good idea to teach children to do this. Worms affecting children can cause illness or in some cases blindness.

Puppies should be wormed from 2 weeks of age and kittens from 6 weeks. Both should be wormed at least once a month until 6 months old. All pets must be wormed every 3 months.

Fleas are equally as common as worms, and once you can see evidence of fleas on your pet there may a significant infestation. It is important to regularly treat your pet for fleas to prevent any amount of fleas being present on your pet or in your home. As a lot of the flea's life cycle occurs off your pet, regular vaccum cleaning your house and washing your pet's bedding will help to control fleas.

There are many types and brands of products avaliable to keep your pet free of worms and fleas -

Oral wormers - there are tablets, liquids and pastes to give your pet for worming.
Spot-on wormers - there are now wormers that can be put on the skin on the back of your cat's neck and absorbed from there, for cats which don't appreciate tablets!
Spot-on fleas - treatments for the back of dog or cat's necks to treat against fleas, typically once every 6 - 8 weeks.
Combination spot-on - some spot-on products which treat both fleas and worms, usually applied once a month (note - generally do not treat for tapeworms, although most tapeworm infections are associated with fleas it is reccommended to use a complete worming product at least every 6 months).
Flea injections - For cats an injection every 6 months can be given which prevents the development of fleas, it does not kill fleas already present so must initially be used with one of the other products.
House sprays - If your pet has had a large infestation with fleas or they have an allergy to them you can treat your house with a spray to kill the developing stages of the flea life-cycle.

You can discuss the most appropriate treatment for your pet and the details of each product with your vet or one of our trained staff.