Berkeley Puppy and Kitten Pet Preventative Care
A puppy or kitten is a bundle of energy, curiosity and love. Our Berkeley pet preventative care program will give your new pet a healthy head start for a long, active life. From pet vaccinations to nutrition counseling, our veterinary care team is committed to maintaining your pet’s health from the beginning.
The Right Course of Puppy and Kitten Care for Your Pet
Following the adoption of your puppy or kitten, we recommend a prompt visit to our animal hospital. Our veterinarian will give your pet a complete physical, deworm your pet and begin the pet vaccination series. A fecal analysis will test for parasites that require deworming. We can also recommend food that is formulated specifically to meet your young pet’s dietary needs, start a parasite prevention program, and discuss the benefits of spaying and neutering.
Young animals are especially susceptible to highly contagious illnesses. After a pet is weaned from its mother, it will be several months before a pet’s immune system matures. During this window, your young pet is especially vulnerable to distemper, parvo and other deadly diseases. The puppy/kitten vaccination series will protect your pet while the immune system develops. This shot series is first administered between 8-12 weeks of age, and then repeated every 3-4 weeks until your pet reaches 18-20 weeks of age.
Puppies receive the combined DHPP vaccine (distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza) and kittens receive the FVRCP vaccine (feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia). All pets will be vaccinated against rabies. Depending on your young pet’s lifestyle, our veterinarian may recommend additional pet vaccinations such as bordetella or leptospirosis. Our veterinarian will work closely with you to determine the right pet vaccinations as part of our pet preventative care plans.
A healthy diet will give your puppy or kitten the nutrients he needs to truly thrive. However, thanks to the wide variety of commercially available pet foods, it can be difficult to find the right food for your pet. Our veterinarian can recommend foods made primarily from nutritious protein sources and discuss the pros and cons of a raw food diet, kibble or canned foods.
Our animal hospital strongly supports spaying and neutering as part of our pet preventative care program. Spaying or neutering a puppy and kitten before six months of age offers important health benefits, including a decreased risk for certain cancers. Neutering males can also help reduce unwanted behaviors, such as spraying furniture or indoor walls in an effort to attract a mate. Most importantly, spaying or neutering is essential to reducing the unwanted animal population.