Thornhill Veterinary Clinic – Celebrating our 70th birthday!!
THE PUPPY AND KITTEN PEOPLE- INTRODUCTION
With any profession there are areas of special interest, here at the Thornhill Veterinary Clinic, one of our special interests is puppies and kittens. After all, who wouldn’t want to say their day at work was playing with puppies and kittens?
The doctors and staff here at our animal hospital are aware of the costs of raising a puppy or kitten. That is why we want to make it more affordable for you and your new family member. We at the Thornhill Veterinary Clinic want to help. As part of our 70th birthday celebrations, we are offering 50% OFF all puppy and kitten vaccinations! ALL THE TIME.
VACCINATIONS
Here at the Thornhill Veterinary Clinic a big part of ensuring your puppy or kitten’s ongoing health and development is to properly vaccinate them. Our job is to make sure your young pets’ immune system is prepared to handle the circulating germ population that exists in our older pet population. We also want to prepare your new puppy or kitten for what they will be exposed to in the world outside your home.
SOCIALIZING
Remember puppies and kittens were born to run and be carefree. When it comes to socializing our pets, we need to be protective of who they meet and where they go. That is why at our animal hospital we will advise you on the proper ways to socialize a young animal. For example, a vaccinated puppy should never go to the dog park, or socialize with unknown animals. A young puppy should be socialized but should never be socialized in a heavily populated environment, or with an animal that has an unknown history. We will explain to you how to keep your puppy or kitten away from all potential disease, toxins and potential trauma.
PARASITE CONTROL
Here at the Thornhill Veterinary Clinic we will advise you on how to properly protect your young kitten or puppy from potential parasite infestation. Some of our young pets can be born with parasites, for example, hookworms can be transferred through the mother’s milk in both dogs and cats. Other parasites such as Giardia are environmental and often come from breeding facilities. There are a host of other parasites you will need to know about, such as fleas, ticks and heartworm. Your puppy or kitten will develop faster and be stronger if it doesn’t have to deal with these parasites robbing them of important nutrients needed to fully develop.
BEFORE BRINGING YOUR NEW PET HOME
Here at the Thornhill Veterinary Clinic we can help you think through things you need to consider before bringing your new pet home.
When getting a young puppy or kitten there are several things you need to consider and think through.
1) Choose your pets name wisely. For training purposes, it is always best to pick a name that is short with a distinct strong ending. The ending of the name should be powerful enough to perk your puppy’s ears.
2) Decide on the rules. Before bringing your puppy or kitten home you need to decide, is he allowed on the bed? Can he sleep on the couch? Are there areas in the house that you want to keep animal free? Settle on the rules, stick to them and present them to your new pet on day 1.
3) Set up a quiet place. In the early weeks of raising a puppy this is usually their training cage. As your puppy becomes house trained you will no longer need the crate for training. The crate can now second as their own personal quiet den where they can go to get away from the daily confusion of households.
4) Teach him or her on dog time. You have to remember your puppy or kitten is brand new and they know nothing. Your young pet is quick and will get into trouble and do the wrong things at a moments notice. Two minutes after they have done something wrong it is forgotten. When they do something bad, and they will, only correct their actions if you can catch them in the act. Otherwise they will never be able to make the connection between the bad behavior and your correction.
CRATE TRAINING
Some people think that it is cruel to put your puppy in a crate. That is just not so. Puppies will take to crates very well and when properly done it is a very efficient way to house train your dog. Teaching your puppy to wait inside its crate until you can take him outside to do his business helps strengthen the puppy’s bladder and bowel control. Here at our animal hospital we will help guide you through this.
To start you will need to choose a crate. A crate should be large enough to let your puppy lay down and turn around but not much bigger. They should be provided with comfortable bedding to lay on. You will want to introduce the crate slowly to your puppy. A crate should never be used as a place of punishment. The crate should be your puppy’s happy spot.
At night you would want to keep the crate in your bedroom. Your puppy will not feel alone hearing you in the room with them at night. You will also want to hear your puppy if they need to go outside.
Depending on how old your puppy is will depend on how often they will need to go outside. The rule of thumb is 1 hour for every month they are plus 1 hour. For example, a 12-week-old puppy will be 3 hours plus 1 hour. This means the maximum amount of time before they need to go out again will be 4 hours. The older your puppy gets the longer they are able to stay in the cage overnight.
You need to get into a consistent routine of feeding and letting your new puppy out. You should select a safe spot, encourage him to pee by using a command word. Use a word like “Hurry” and when he goes again, tell him how good he is and praise him.
In order to get the most sleep time, it would be best to take your puppy out just before you go to bed.
Just to warn you, your puppy will probably cry the first few nights as it wants your company. You need to resist and leave them in the crate. When you take them out every night you need to give them time.
Although you are tired you need to give them at minimum 10 minutes to be outside. Once they do go to the washroom tell them how good they are. The more you reward your new puppy after he goes outside the more he wants to please you.
What makes cage training work for dogs? Dogs will instinctively not go to the bathroom in the place that they sleep. That is why it is important to hear your dog at night and considering how old they are, when they will need to go outside next. If your puppy messes in the crate – don’t get mad at them. Clean it up and try again. If it happens, your puppy just had to go and couldn’t help himself. Try a shorter time in the crate next time.
If you work all day and there is no one home during the day, do not crate your dog. Designate a non-carpeted (preferably vinyl) room or tiled floor for your puppy to be in. Leave water, bedding, a few indestructible toys and pee pads in this area. Consider getting a neighbour or friend to check in on your puppy if you can’t make it home. You can also hire a pet walking service to come in and check as well.
Here at our Thornhill Veterinary Clinic we are always available to help you through these difficult months.
We are here to help your pet start off life strong and healthy.
KITTENS
Kittens are weaned from their mothers at around 8 weeks of age. Here at our Thornhill pet hospital, we feel that the ideal time to take your kitten home is between 10-13 weeks. Breeders should have given the first set of shots before leaving the facility. Here at our pet hospital there are several things we feel you should know as a new cat owner.
You will need a cat carrier. Think about how big the carrier should be. Choose one that will be big enough to transport your kitten once it is fully grown
Consider a low side litter box and where the best place it should be in your house
A litter scoop. Most people prefer clumping litter and the best way to get the clumps out is with a good scoop
Shallow bowls for food and water
A few toys
A scratching post
When your kitten comes home for the first time you may want to restrict their activities. Instead of giving them the full run of the house give them a room to settle into. Make sure your kitten knows where their litter box is and where their food is before letting them explore the rest of the house. If you have other pets in the house you want to make sure your kitten is introduced to them in a safe and controlled environment. Some older pets have a tough time adjusting to new, young and energetic animal that is running all over the place. This could take time. Have patience with the older animal and younger addition.
Your first visit to us at our Thornhill hospital should be approximately 1 week after bringing your kitten home. You will want to wait this period of time so you can answer questions regarding eating, drinking, litter habits. If there is any sneezing, vomiting or diarrhea. You can not answer these questions properly if you bring your kitten directly from the breeder.
Your first visit with us will be to discuss vaccinations, parasite control, insurance plans, spaying/neutering and indoor cat vs outdoor cat.
LETTING YOUR CAT GO OUTSIDE
If you live in a busy neighborhood like Thornhill you may never want your kitten to go outside. If you choose to do so, never let them go out until their final vaccinations are given and your cat is spayed or neutered. Letting your cat go outside before this will greatly increase the chance of having problems or illness.
COMMUNICATION WITH YOUR PET
It might sound silly but, here at our hospital we can teach you how to communicate with your kittens.
Kittens, just like dogs, will learn to recognize their names and come to you when you call them. You can enforce this behaviour every time it responds to your call by giving a treat. You should learn to listen to your cat because cats can talk back.
Owners will tell you that they can talk to their cats. Abrupt tail slapping or wagging, hunched back or hissing means they are not happy and want you to back off. Head bumping, kneading paws, nuzzling and licking are all signs of contentment – which means your cat feels happy and safe!
PET INSURANCE
Pet insurance, is it worth it? We think it is!
It is quite possible you could run into $3000-$5000 worth of unexpected vet bills at any time during your pet’s life. If you are an individual that would experience financial difficulty with such unexpected cost then pet insurance is right for you.
Veterinary medicine today is expensive. In some cases, it is just as expensive as human medicine. As time goes on it’s not going to become less expensive. In North America an estimated 1.6 million animals were insured in 2016. The average annual premium was $537 per year. In Canada, monthly premiums can range from $15 to over $100 a month. The average insurance premium is about $39/month for a dog and $29/month for a cat.
Opting for a plan that will cover major problems will keep your costs down. You need to look at these policies closely as you will find that not all policies are the same. It is possible that the less expensive one will not cover your needs.
At the Thornhill Veterinary Clinic, we often have discussions with our clients about insurance. We are not insurance people so we never try to sell you an insurance policy. We can help you decide on what policy best fits you. To advise you on things like knowing your policy exclusions. We will help you ask the key questions. For example. did you know most policies will not cover pre-existing conditions? Some will exclude breed inherited problems. Some policies will cover everything while some cover the bare minimum. You need to ask the insurance company, does my policy cover genetic conditions? What percentage of the fees will be reimbursed? What is the deductible? Do my premiums increase as my dog gets older? If you take your time, consider your budget and learn to ask the important questions we are sure you will be able to find the right insurance policy that will meet both your financial means and give you peace of mind.
