Puppy Information

Congratulations on your new addition and welcome to Hakuna Matata Veterinary Clinic!

Vaccinations:

Core Vaccines:

  1. 4-7 weeks- they get a Nobivac puppy DP- this is against Distemper and Parvo Virus only
  2. 8-11 weeks- they get Nobivac DHPPiL- Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvo, Parainfluenza and Leptospirosis
  3. 12 weeks and older – Nobivac DHPPiLR – same as above but includes Rabies
  4. The Rabies vaccination must always be followed by a booster 1-6 months later
  5. Thereafter it is just an annual vaccination of Nobivac DHPPiLR

Kennel cough vaccine:

  • A once-off intranasal vaccine against Kennel Cough
  • It provides 12 months of immunity against certain strains of KC virus
  • There are another 2 vaccines available which we do not generally use. They are injectable and need to get a booster one month later.
  • They are called Bronchicine and Pneumodog

Neutering/spaying:

  • Small to Medium Male Dogs we recommend neutering between 6-12 months- some owners do not want to castrate their large breed male dogs too soon as they feel it will interfere with growth- that’s fine but we do recommend to neuter them at the age of 12 – 18 months and no later than age 5-6 to prevent prostate problems.
  • For female Dogs we recommend spaying at 6 months, before their first season, the main reason for this is to dramatically reduce the risk of mammary tumours- which are quite an aggressive kind of tumour- like in humans
  • Also – every time a female dog has a season, without having a litter of puppies- they have an increased risk of getting pyometra- a severe, life-threatening infection of the uterus.

Deworming:

We recommend that you deworm your puppy every time you have them vaccinated and thereafter every 3 months.

Flea Treatment:

There are different products available for fleas such as tasty chewable tablets, spot-on treatments, and flea collars. Please come in to chat with us about the best option for your puppy. We recommend that you use a regular flea treatment even if you do not see any fleas and that you treat all animals in the house. It is also important if you do have a flea problem that you treat the environment to break the life cycle of the flea. It can take up to 6 months to start seeing a difference if there is an infestation.

Microchipping:

We recommend that you have your puppy microchipped. We see a lot of stray animals come through the door that have not been microchipped and it makes it much harder for us to trace the owner. Often, we must send an animal to the SPCA if they have not been claimed after being with us for a few days.

Diet:

It is important that you feed your puppy a good quality diet to aid in their growth and development and large breeds should always be fed a Large Breed puppy diet with added glucosamine and chondroitin to help with their skeletal and joint development. We recommend that you feed your puppy 3 times daily until 6 months and thereafter twice daily.

Puppy Training/socialisation:

We have puppy training here at the clinic. It is presented by “Just Dogs behaviour”

Please email them at justdogsbehaviour@gmail.com for more information.

Pet Insurance:

We recommend that you put your puppy on Pet Insurance, in some cases having pet insurance for your pet can mean the difference between life and death. Think about if your puppy were to ever be involved in an accident and the bill amounted to R20,000; would you be able to afford that?