SUMMER NEWSLETTER

SUMMER NEWSLETTER

Summer is here! And as we are out and about with our pets so much more, there are some things we need to be aware of:

In many villages and towns, also  the smaller ones, the town halls are making sure pet owners follow the law with their pets, even police dressed like civilians walk up and down the Paseo Maritimo with microchip detectors, therefore, here is a reminder of what is compulsory:

ALL dogs and cats in Andalucia have to have a microchip, and a valid passport. In the animal’s paperwork it should be clear that it is vaccinated against rabies and treated for equinococcus annually. Whether or not your dog is never taken out for walks, is very good with kids or is only a small breed doesn’t matter; the law sees them all the same. If you take your dog out for a walk it is compulsory to have its documents with you. It is also illegal not to clean up after him, so remember to bring a plastic bag.

Every summer we see dogs with heatstroke, please don’t ever leave him in the car under any circumstances, remember only to take him walking very early or very late, and he should also have access to water and shade. Special precautions need to be taken by owners of bulldogs, pugs, boxer, etc: Their larynx and soft palate swell up with the heat and they are in danger of asphyxiation. In case of heatstroke you need to cool the animal down quickly with water and wet towels, put him somewhere cool like in a room with a/c and offer him water when he wakes up, without forcing him. We always advise you to take him to the clinic whether he seems to have recovered or not, as if they don’t get put on a drip and rehydrated quickly, vital organs such as the kidneys might suffer irreparable damage.

                                             


In summer as usual we are having an invasion of ticks and fleas, try to keep them under control with collars and pipettes. In our experience the cheap products from the supermarket are not enough, at the naturvets clinic we can explain to you wich product is best depending on how often you wash your pet, if he runs free or is always on the lead, if you’ve got more than one animal, the weight, long or short hair etc.

                                                     
A lot of pet owners ask us for deworming tablets every 3 months regardless of whether the dog or cat goes outside or not. It is a common mistake to think that this is a prevention similar to what we use for fleas and ticks. Worm tablets DO NOT PREVENT the pet from getting worms! They are insecticides that go through the intestine killing any worms the animal may have in THAT MOMENT, this doesn’t rule out that next day the cat catches a mouse and aquire a heavy worm burden. The 3 months interval is really for animals that are forever getting worms, and by treating them every 3 months we avoid that the amount of internal parasites gets too big. By law the animal should be treated for worms once a year (not that this has any scientific explanation or logic), and we advise that you only do it more than once annually if you suspect your pet might have worms. Unless you have actually seen the worms in the faeces, we will perform a quick test to see whether there are worms or not, before treating. It is a cheap, simple and fast test.