Preventative Care

Preventative healthcare is one of the most important aspects of your pets care.

Vaccinations

Pet vaccinations are a safe and reliable way to protect your pet from contagious and dangerous diseases. Vaccinating your pet is one of the most important things you can do to ensure they lead a healthy life.

Regular vaccinations protect your pet against common, potentially fatal, infectious diseases. Puppies & kittens require an initial course of injections to protect them and vaccines are usually administered at 6 – 8 weeks, 10 – 12 weeks and 14 – 16 weeks of age. Adult dogs and cats need an annual vaccination which are usually combined with a full health check to ensure that they are fit and well prior to the vaccination being administered. This is also an ideal opportunity for you to ask any questions you have relating to your pets health & general care.

Your pet’s health, lifestyle and age may affect which vaccinations are necessary, so our veterinarians will work with you to develop a simple and effective vaccination program for your pet.

Dog Vaccinations

The diseases we commonly vaccinate dogs against are:

Parvovirus: causes acute, haemorrhagic diarrhoea, and serious dehydration that requires intensive treatment and can be fatal in puppies and adults.
Distemper: signs include a pus discharge from the eyes and nose, blindness, respiratory difficulties and can also cause fitting, seizures & collapse.
Hepatitis: An infectious liver condition that is not generally treatable and is therefore often fatal.
Canine Cough: Comprised of 2 different diseases
Bordatella Bronchiseptica: a bacterial infection causing a harsh, dry cough and lethargy
Parainfluenza: a viral cough that can sometimes develop into secondary pneumonia.

Other vaccinations are also available which may be recommended in certain situations, including:

Leptospirosis, a disease transmitted by rats.
Canine Coronavirus, a common cause of gastroenteritis.

Cat Vaccinations

The diseases we commonly vaccinate cats against are:

Feline Enteritis (Panleukopenia) . It causes fever, vomiting, diarrhoea, liver failure and sudden death.
Cat Flu Complex:
Feline Calicivirus is a cause of upper respiratory tract infection resulting in sneezing, discharge from the eyes & nose, and mouth ulcers.
Feline Rhinotracheitis (Feline Herpes Virus) causes conjunctivitis, sneezing, loss of appetite and can lead to long-term nasal & sinus infection.

Other vaccinations are also available which may be recommended in certain situations, including vaccination against:

Chlamydia, a bacterial disease causing conjunctivitis, respiratory disease, fertility problems and miscarriage.
Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (Feline AIDS), although rare, causes immune-suppression and is not treatable. Vaccination may be advised if your cat goes outside.

Microchipping

A microchip is a permanent method of electronic identification. The chip itself is very small (about the size of a grain of rice) and is implanted just under the skin between your pet’s shoulder blades. Each chip has a unique number that is detected using a special scanner. The microchip number is recorded on a national database, and allows veterinary surgeries, local councils and animal shelters to access important contact information that enables lost pets to be reunited with their owners. Most Queensland councils (including Scenic Rim) have made it mandatory that puppies and kittens be microchipped.