Dog Care

Trust us with your dog’s care.

We’ll be here for your pup.

Here at the Belmont Vet Centre species-specific care is important to us and that’s why we like to offer a range of services and products to best suit and take care of your dog.

Let’s protect your pup!

Vaccinations are a vital component to pet health and protection against potentially fatal diseases. Our core vaccination protocol at the Belmont Veterinary Centre is as follows:

Puppies:

6-8 weeks – C3 vaccination- Parvovirus, Distemper and Hepatitis

10-12 weeks- Puppy C5 Vaccination- Parvovirus, Distemper & Hepatitis, Bordetella Bronchiseptica and Parainfluenza virus

The Belmont Vet Centre uses a two vaccine protocol meaning your puppy can have its final vaccine at as early as 10 weeks of age. This way you and your puppy can get out and socialize without risking the health of your pup.

Adults:

12 months after the Puppy C5 vaccination another C5 vaccination (referred to as an adult C5) covering those conditions listed above, is administered.

All adult dogs require Kennel Cough vaccinations every year.

At our clinic, the C3 component of our C5 vaccination actually lasts for three years, meaning your dog will only require a full C5 every 3 years, as opposed to some vaccines which require a full C5 vaccination be given every year.

Nutrition

Diet and nutrition is a vital part of animal development and maintaining good health. It is vital that puppies and dogs are given a high quality, complete and balanced diet.

Different life stages have different requirements for different nutrition. It is important to get some advice from well-trained professionals that are targeted at your dog’s specific needs and stage of life. Please call the BVC to arrange a nutritional consultation with one of our trained nutritional advisors. Feeding a good quality balanced diet will also aid in weight control, coat condition, dental hygiene, and gastrointestinal health.

There are general diets available for all life stages and for many common health problems that occur in dogs, for example, mobility, weight control and kidney disease to name but a few.

Vaccinations

Many of the diseases that can affect dogs are preventable through proper pet vaccinations. Belmont Veterinary Centre recommends the following vaccinations.

Parvovirus: an often fatal and highly contagious virus causing haemorrhagic gastroenteritis.

Distemper: A virus of the brain and respiratory system. Similar to measles.

Infectious Canine Hepatitis: A virus affecting the liver.

Parainfluenza Virus: Part of a highly contagious respiratory disease commonly known as “kennel cough”.

Bordetella: The second component of the respiratory disease – “kennel cough”.

Please note medical care of these viruses, when contracted, involves supportive treatment only as no virus can be “cured”, they can only be overcome by your pet’s own immune system. Supportive treatment however often needs to be extremely aggressive and may include transfusions, oxygenation, and long term hospital care. Please keep your pet’s vaccinations current for the best protection available.

Parasites

Worming:

Dogs need to be dewormed at regular intervals to prevent intestinal worms. It is vital that the deworming product used covers all species of worm (many don’t!), We recommend Drontal Allwormer in the clinic. Deworming schedules change as puppy’s age and become adult dogs, and so the best worming schedule to follow is as follows:

Every two weeks from 2 weeks of age until 12 weeks
Once monthly from 3 months of age until six months.
Three monthly from 6 months of age, for the life of your dog.

It is crucial that deworming is performed, regardless of whether or not your dog has had worms in the past. Dogs can be exposed to worms in many ways, including picking them up in the environment while on walks, not just from contact with other dogs. This means prevention is the best treatment for your dog and the team at BVC can point you in the right direction in choosing a worming product to suit your pooch.

Flea control:

Believe it or not, you don’t have to see adult fleas for your dog to be exposed to flea burdens and fleas can occur all year round, not just in the summer time. For this reason, just like with intestinal worming prevention, using a preventative flea product is the best way to prevent and control flea burdens that can affect your dog. While fleas need to be attached to a food source to live, their eggs do not, and so can survive in the environment the pet lives in, without you being aware of it. There is a range of different flea preventative/treatment products available to protect your pet, including both topical and oral varieties and the team at BVC can help point you in the right direction as to what will be suitable for your dog. We can even tailor your worming and flea control schedule to be in sync for your adult dogs and all pets in the family.

Heartworm:

Heartworm is another form of parasite that dogs should be protected against. Prevention of heartworm needs to begin as early as three months of age. In the beginning, heartworm preventative is given in the form of an injection called Proheart. A booster of this injection is then given at 9 months of age when your dog is close to their adult weight, with a booster every year after that. Please feel free to contact the team for more information or advice.

Puppy School

The Belmont Veterinary Centre’s puppy school is a great way to begin the basics of your puppy’s training. Our team has developed our training program to suit the needs of you and your puppy. During our 5 week course, we cover a range of hands-on learning and discussion topics focusing on important puppy healthcare.

Click here to learn more and enroll!