Sugar Hill Animal Hospital

Congratulations on obtaining a new family member! Prepare your house for your pet’s arrival before you bring it home. Be sure and get all the appropriate items (feeding bowls, collars, leashes, crate, tags, toys, food, litter boxes, litter, etc) and have them ready when your pet arrives. Your house may also need to be double checked for pet safety (much like child-proofing your home). Any harmful plants, cleansers, fragile items, and electrical cords should be put away or covered to help prevent any injuries. Set up your pet’s sleeping area in advance so it is ready upon arrival. If there are areas of your house that you don’t want your pet to roam, have doors or baby gates ready to block passageways. Start training your pet immediately as to where they are allowed to go. As they get older, this will make it much easier to teach them their boundaries.

The AVMA recommends that for a healthier, safer pet consider keeping them indoors only. This will help prevent some injuries and accidents that occur without supervision. If you intend to have your pet go outdoors, prepare your yard or outside space for your pet’s safety. A fenced yard is safest to help confine your pet to a limited area that you can ensure is safe for their play. When your pet goes outside, make sure you know where it is at all times, that the pet is old enough to be on its own, that it is identified in some fashion (microchip ID and tag), current on vaccinations, and not outdoors in extremely cold, hot, or inclement weather. Pets left outdoors without boundaries are often victims of animal fights, automobile accidents, and even theft.

Pets, like people, can be protected from some diseases by vaccination. Although this resource provides basic information about vaccinations for your dog or cat, your veterinarian is your best source for advice regarding your pet's vaccination needs. Annual exams are recommended (and sometimes required) by your veterinarian to give continual care to your pet. In order for your pet to receive prescription-only medications, your pet must be examined every year to ensure proper health and ongoing care of your pet.

After you get a new pet, you should schedule a visit with your veterinarian as soon as possible. Your new pet’s health, and the health of any other pets you already have, is our number one concern. By examining your new dog or cat, we can ensure that it’s healthy and your existing pets are safe when you bring this one home.

Depending on where you got your pet, as well as the age, he/she may require additional vaccines. Dogs and cats begin their vaccinations at six weeks of age. They require vaccinations every three weeks until they are four months old. If you have any paperwork from breeder, shelter, or rescue group, please remember to bring those with you as they will help your veterinarian determine which vaccines your new pet requires.

Our pets require vaccines to help prevent contagious and sometimes fatal diseases spread by other animals. It is very important that all our pets are appropriately vaccinated as puppies/kittens and are boostered annually.

As with most every medical treatment (in animals and people), there are underlying risks. Most animals do not have side effects of the vaccines, although some might show some lethargy, fever, or lack of appetite. These are typically mild and may last only 24 hours. Other pets, however, react atypically to vaccines and can have adverse reactions. The most common adverse reactions seen to vaccines include vomiting and diarrhea, facial swelling, difficulty breathing, or hives. Often times these reactions occur fairly quickly after vaccination (within 1 hour). If you think your pet may be exhibiting these signs after vaccination, call your veterinarian immediately to alert them of the reaction. Sometimes veterinary care is required to help subside these symptoms. In very rare instances death can occur. However, the risk of vaccines does not outweigh the chance of your pet catching a potentially fatal illness that is preventable.

Puppies and kittens are protected by maternal antibodies passed from their mother until they are roughly 12 weeks old. These antibodies help protect them from disease during those first few months as puppies and kittens are extremely susceptible to disease. After twelve weeks, these antibodies begin to wear off and the animal must start developing its own antibodies. Vaccines are typically started at six weeks of age to help the body begin making its own antibodies. Vaccines are then repeated every three weeks until four months of age (see Vaccinations under “Pet Health Topics”).

Your veterinarian will help determine the appropriate vaccination protocol for each of your pets. A set of annual vaccines is usually recommended for healthy pets in order to adequately protect them from contagious diseases. For animals that are in boarding or grooming facilities often, the kennel cough vaccine is required every six months. New information is always arising showing some protection beyond one year. With older pets, we sometimes can give vaccines that last more than one year. These are only offered after the pet has received its one year vaccines on schedule. Rabies vaccines are required annually.

Yes! Just like with our doctors, it is imperative that our pets are examined yearly. Having your veterinarian examine your pet helps ensure their health regularly. An annual exam is often conducted along with the annual vaccines. Often times, early disease is detected at your pet’s annual exam. Early detection is key in treating disease and preventing further progression of disease. Annual exams are also required for your veterinarian to prescribe medications for your pet.

Our pets can develop many health issues that are detected on routine blood work. Kidney, liver, and endocrine diseases can be found on chemistry panels that are part of annual blood work. As mentioned above, many health issues can be caught early in the course of disease. Once disease is detected, a proper diagnostic and treatment protocol can be developed to best suit your pet. Early detection is key! Physical exams by your veterinarian can show exterior health, but blood work is the only way to determine interior health of your pet. Blood work is our crystal ball to let us know what’s happening on the inside as well as the outside. Blood work is also required before any surgical procedure to ensure safety with anesthesia and other medications.