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Feeding Your New Puppy
We recommend feeding your puppy a high quality diet. We recommend this to ensure that your pet has a better nutritional diet that is not filled with filler products that provide no nutritional value to your pets’ health. Higher quality diet also allow the puppy to absorb more nutrients from the diet which causes the pet to produce less stool, which I am sure we all can appreciate. Dry diets tend to be a better choice than the alternative wet food diets. Dry diets act as an additional tooth brush for your pet by scraping against their teeth removing build up. Dry diets also contain less water content which will help make your pets stool firm and in one place.
Puppies like to eat just like newborn infants, three meals a day. Let your puppy eat as much as he/she wants in 20 minutes, but not let your puppy eat too fast. This will teach your puppy that there is a consistent meal time. Food that is left will be taken up but new food will be available at the next meal time. You may find like children some just like to eat more than others, this is normal and not all puppies fall into the guidelines given on the diets recommended feeding guide. If you are concerned about your puppies eating habits or lack of eating please consult with your veterinarian at your next puppy appointment. Or you can telephone your veterinarian at any time and they would be happy to consult your pets’ diets with you.
Treats are good for between meal snacks and training. Some healthy treats suggested by the veterinary staff at The Animals’ Hospital of Levittown are:
- IAMS Puppy Biscuits
- Frozen string beans, frozen these provide great treats for our teething puppies
- Carrots, frozen or refrigerated
- Hills Science diet training treats
- Kong toys, they provide hours of entertainment and they are hard to destroy
The Veterinary staff at The Animals’ Hospital does not recommend supplying your puppy with rawhide treats. Rawhides can often times become sharp causing esophagus damage and they are also found to be hard to digest for puppies.
Heartworm Disease
Heartworm disease is transferred to your pets by the mosquito. The mosquito transfers the worm larvae from an infected dog to your pet. The larvae then develop into worms that live in your pets’ heart and vessels. The veterinary staff of The Animals’ Hospital recommends giving your pet heartworm prevention on a monthly basis, year round. Your puppy received a free dose of Interceptor at your first visit to our hospital. This is a great way to prevent heartworm disease in your pet. However, if your pet misses a dose please contact our office to schedule a heartworm check prior to giving the next dose to your pet. Products found in the heartworm medication can have a negative impact on your pet if your pet is found to be heartworm positive.
Lyme disease
Approximately, 10% of our patients test positive for Lyme disease. Lyme disease is transferred by the deer tick and the area where we reside happens to be an area that is heavily populated by the deer tick. Did you know that Lyme disease can be found in every U.S. State, and dogs are 50% more likely to get Lyme disease than are humans? There are two steps you can take to protect your puppy from Lyme disease.
The first is a prevention product called Frontline. Frontline is a liquid spot treatment that is applied once a month. This product not only protects your pet from ticks it also prevents fleas.
The second is a prevention vaccination called the Lyme vaccine. The Lyme vaccine is a two series vaccine, which means to get started we need to administer the vaccine and then booster is three weeks later. After we boost the vaccine it will need to be administered once a year. The veterinary staff highly recommends the Lyme vaccine for pets that reside in this area due to the high population of the deer tick.
Spaying your female puppy is highly recommended by the veterinary staff at The Animals’ Hospital. This is a surgical procedure in which both ovaries and the majority of the uterus is removed. Spaying your puppy will help prevent a vast majority of diseases that can affect the health of your pet as she gets older. Some of the diseases include but are not limited to behavioral issues, uterine or ovarian tumors and pyometra “a condition in which the uterus becomes filled with pus”.
It is highly recommended by the veterinary staff of The Animals’ Hospital to spay your pet before the first heat cycle occurs. This will help to reduce the chance for development of mammary gland (breast) tumors. If your pet is spayed after many heat cycles have occurred, the preventative measures to reduce the mammary tumors are reduced.
It’s a Boy!
Neutering your male puppy is highly recommended by the veterinary staff at The Animals’ Hospital of Levittown. This is a surgical procedure in which the testicles are removed. Castrating your puppy helps to prevent many diseases that can affect the health of your pet as he gets older. Some of the diseases are behavioral issues, certain types of prostate disease, tumors that reside in the testicles, some metabolic disorders and other types of tumors, such as those affected by testosterone.
The veterinary staff of The Animals’ Hospital recommends that your puppy get neutered at six months of age.
Vaccinations are an important part of keeping your puppy happy and healthy. The Animals’ Hospital of Levittown recommends that your puppy begins their vaccination schedule at six weeks of age and end at their sixteenth week of age. The following is a recommended schedule of vaccinations:
|
Age |
Vaccination |
Vaccination |
Vaccination |
Vaccination |
|
6 weeks of age |
Dhp-Cpv (Distemper) |
|
|
|
|
9 weeks of age |
Dhp-Cpv (Distemper) |
|
|
|
|
12 weeks of age |
Dhp-Cpv (Distemper) |
Lyme Vaccine |
Lepto Vaccine |
|
|
16 weeks of age |
Dhp-Cpv (Distemper) |
Lyme Vaccine Booster |
Lepto Vaccine Booster |
Rabies Vaccine |
Distemper vaccines should be given a booster at least 2 times but we will administer the vaccination up to 4 times depending on the age of the puppy. Lyme and Lepto vaccinations need to be given a booster one time after the initial vaccination is given. The rabies vaccination does not need a booster.
The veterinary staff at The Animals’ Hospital recommends having your pets feces (poop) examined at least two times before the puppy is one year of age. We will automatically deworm your puppy at his/her first visit as a precaution
Spay & Neuter Link:
If you have additional questions about spaying and neutering your pet you can visit www.wonderpuppy.net and search under a specific topic. This website will provide you with information that may be helpful to you about the surgical procedure. However, if you feel more comfortable speaking with your veterinarian you may call us anytime at 215-949-1010 and we will be happy to answer all of your questions.
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