CLÍNICA VETERINARIA SANTA PONSA

From the Santa Ponsa veterinary clinic team we want to accompany you from the moment you make the important decision to add a new member to the family, both for experienced owners and for those who embark for the first time on the wonderful adventure of having a pet.

  • What should I take into account if I have a dog for the first time?

If this is the first time you are going to have a dog, we recommend you to keep in mind that it is a very important decision that implies a responsibility for the whole life of the animal.

The first thing you should know is that not all dogs need the same type of care, and not all breeds are suitable for all people. So, how do I know which dog is right for me? We recommend that before choosing a dog you stop to think about your lifestyle, if you are a person who loves to be outdoors and enjoy nature and you want your dog to accompany you we encourage you to choose dogs with a high energy index, however if your life is rather sedentary or you have little time, choose dogs with low energy or that require little exercise time, because if we do not give our pet the amount of physical and mental exercise it needs per day it will not be happy and will end up developing unpleasant behaviors such as compulsive barking, destroying things at home, inadequate urination...

In addition to the energy we must also take into account that not all dogs are equally healthy, therefore there are breeds or crosses that are more prone to disease and therefore require more visits to the veterinarian, make sure you can provide your pet with all the necessary care before adopting it.

In any case, we must be clear that all dogs need time, discipline, care and lots of love, so you should take them for a walk at least three times a day regardless of size or breed, it will also be necessary to go periodically to your veterinarian to carry out both vaccinations and deworming as revisions to prevent your pet from getting sick.

Vaccination

Puppies are especially vulnerable to diseases, as their immune system is still developing and therefore we must provide them with the necessary tools to generate a strong and long-lasting immunity. There are several types of vaccines for different diseases in dogs, some of them are essential and others are recommended.

Essential vaccines

  • Monovalent or bivalent vaccine

  • Polyvalent vaccine

  • Rabies vaccination

Recommended vaccines

  • Vaccination against canine leishmaniasis

Dog vaccination schedule

1st dose: Monovalent or bivalent vaccine: applied at around 8 weeks of age. It is important to deworm previously

2nd Dose: polyvalent vaccine: 15 days after the first dose.

3rd dose: booster of polyvalent vaccine: to be applied 1 month after the second dose.

4th dose: rabies vaccine: it is applied 1 month after the 3rd dose, it is obligatory by law in the Balearic Islands. This vaccine must be accompanied or preceded by the microchip.

5th Dose (optional): vaccine against leishmaniasis: at 6 months of age of the puppy we can apply the vaccine against leishmaniasis. It is essential to perform the test previously to verify that the animal has not contracted the disease. The reminder is applied annually and it is essential to combine the vaccination with repellent treatments against the mosquito that transmits it by means of pipettes or collars that have an effect against it.

Annual revaccination: reminders of the polyvalent + rabies vaccine must be applied annually, they can be applied together or separately.

Deworming plans

Our pets can be infected by both external and internal parasites, many of them are also known as zoonoses, which means that they can be transmitted to us, being especially vulnerable children, the elderly and pregnant women. Therefore, it is important to carry out regular deworming for their health as well as ours.

External parasites

They are those that live or feed on the outside of the dog such as fleas, ticks, mites, mosquitoes that transmit diseases... All of them can cause diseases or health problems to a greater or lesser extent, for example: flea bites often produce localized allergic reactions, ticks transmit diseases that can put the animal's life at risk... Therefore, we must apply quality treatments that prevent as much as possible the greatest number of external parasites, although it is true that there is no infallible treatment, they usually have a high protection rate.

Internal parasites

They are those that lodge inside the animal, they are more difficult to detect than the external ones, they can cause vomiting, diarrhea, apathy, nervousness .... It is very important to carry out internal deworming every 3-6 months, depending on the lifestyle of our pet. They are usually prevented or treated with tablets or syrup.

  • Microchip

The microchip is a small device that is implanted in the neck of our pets and carries a 15-digit number assigned to which a series of data is associated, this device allows us to consult the information of the animal through a reader in case of loss, theft or as a routine control. It is very important that the data is correctly registered and updated, therefore, if there has been any change you must go to the veterinarian to communicate it.

  • Sterilization

It is advisable to sterilize our pets both for health reasons and to avoid unwanted pregnancies. From when can we sterilize? Both males and females can be sterilized at

From 7 - 8 months of age, in females it must be taken into account that they cannot be in heat at the moment of the surgery, so the surgery must be planned approximately 2 months after the heat, in males however it can be carried out at any time. What health problems can my pet have if I decide not to sterilize? In males with age problems can appear such as testicular tumors, tumors in the anus area, prostate problems... In case of females, sterilization is even more important than in males because the problems associated with female hormones are more serious, for example: uterus infections that require urgent surgery, breast tumors, psychological pregnancies...

  • Periodic check-ups and analysis

At each visit our veterinarians will perform a complete physical check-up of your pet, but as our companions get older it is advisable to carry out revisions beyond those that we routinely perform when applying their vaccines, therefore we recommend for those patients over 8-9 years in large dogs and 10-11 years for those smaller ones, to carry out a complete annual blood test to prevent and make an early detection of the most common diseases associated with age.