PUPPY FACT SHEET

Vaccination
Your puppy requires a series of vaccinations to protect him or her from potentially fatal diseases. The importance of the three boosters relates to the fact that puppies lose the antibodies they received from their mother at different rates up to 16 weeks of age, and to cover all puppies at this vulnerable time, the program is as follows:

Annual boosters are required for life.

Worming
Worms can kill puppies, and some are transmissible to humans, especially children. We recommend worming every 2 weeks up to 12 weeks of age then monthly until 6 months of age, then every 3 months for the rest of your dog's life.

It is important to dose your puppy according to their weight and to use an allwormer such as Drontal or Endogard to kill all intestinal worms including tapeworm, roundworm, whipworm, and hookworm.

However, if your puppy is on Sentinel or Interceptor, he only needs a tapewormer tablet as these heartworm drugs also treat the other intestinal worms.

Heartworm
Heartworm is transmitted by mosquitoes, so prevention is recommended all year round in Sydney. The immature heartworm is implanted under the skin by the mosquito, then matures in the heart to ultimately obstruct blood flow and interfere with heart function causing death from heart disease. Treatment is available, but is expensive and may be fatal in advanced disease.

Monthly tablets, chewables, and topspot preparations are available and we generally start heartworm prevention at the second vaccination. We recommend:

Flea Control
There are two types of flea products - insecticides and insect growth regulators. Insecticides kill fleas whereas IGRs prevent fleas from breeding. As is evident from above, there are a few products which combine flea control with heartworm. Other products include Frontline Topspot, and Permoxin.

Paralysis Tick
Paralysis ticks are present in the Mosman area. Tick season extends from September to end of February, although we have seen ticks during winter. They are prolific on the northern beaches. The tick injects a toxin which causes paralysis starting in the hindlimbs and progressing to affect the whole body. Affected dogs also have breathing problems, and sometimes vomiting.
Some of the flea products help protect against ticks and some can be used in combination for greater efficacy, but none are 100% effective. We have another handout on paralysis ticks if you want more information.

Desexing
Dogs can be desexed from 3 months of age. Speying females (removal of uterus and ovaries) stops them coming into season and significantly reduces the incidence of mammary cancer, the most common cancer of female dogs. It also means that infection of the uterus (a surgical emergency) cannot occur.

Castrating males reduces all the testosterone-related traits such as aggression, urine-marking, hypersexuality, territorality, and roaming. It reduces the incidence of prostate problems in older dogs, and eliminates testicular cancer. It does NOT alter the personality of your dog.

The operation can be performed any weekday, with females staying the night after surgery. We recommend a preanaesthetic blood profile to minimise surgical risk, and this is done on the morning before surgery. We can give you more information on the blood test - please ring to speak to a nurse, or ask for some literature.

Puppy Parties
The puppy parties at Mosman Veterinary Hospital are instructed by a qualified trainer from Hanrob Petcare. Puppies of 7 - 16 weeks of ages that have had their first vaccination are eligible to join the classes. The classes are conducted over 4 weeks, one hour each week, and each party consists of 4 to 7 puppies.

Aims:

Equipment:

Programme: