Cat Vaccinations:

The following are our current vaccination for cats. Vaccination protocols are constantly being reviewed and we update our recommendations based on the most recent research.

• Rabies vaccine: Recommended for all cats over 3 months of age.
• Rhinotracheitis/ calicivirus/ panleukopenia virus vaccine: Recommended for all cats over 8 weeks of age, regardless of indoor or outdoor status.
• Feline leukaemia virus/ Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) vaccine: Recommended for all cats over 10 weeks of age that will have potential exposure to cats of unknown leukaemia/FIV status.

Dog Vaccinations:

Kanata Lakes Animal Clinic offers a puppy program for puppies that come to our clinic for vaccinations and are younger than 12 months of age. It covers all needed vaccinations and gets them started on a parasite program.

The following outlines some of our vaccine recommendations. We tailor these recommendations to your pet’s needs and your concerns. Recommendations are constantly changing, and we try to stay current and update our protocols as needed. If you have any concerns about our vaccine protocols, please discuss them with us.

• Rabies vaccine: Recommended for all dogs over 3 months of age.
• Distemper/ adenovirus/ parvovirus/ parainfluenza vaccine: Recommended for all dogs over 8weeks of age.
• Bordetella (Kennel Cough) vaccine: Recommended for all dogs that will be attending puppy/ obedience classes, large grooming facilities, boarding kennels or dog shows, or that will be frequenting the local dog park.
• Leptospirosis: Recommended for most dogs.
• Lyme vaccine: Recommended for most dogs.

Heartworm/ Tick Transmitted Diseases Screening

Heartworm disease is common in Ontario. Mosquitos are carriers of canine heartworm. Screening for heartworm is particularly important in all dogs.

The Snap 4Dx Test is a very simple blood test that can check your dog for heartworm and tick-transmitted diseases (Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis and anaplasmosis).

Tick and heartworm diseases are common in Ontario, and most owners whose dogs test positive for tick disease never saw the tick on their pet. If your pet is exposed to or develops one of these diseases, early detection is important in discussing treatment options.

Microchip Implants

We recommend all pets have this permanent identification chip implanted when they are spayed or neutered. If your pet is not going to be spayed or neutered, it can be done during an appointment. This is a very cost-effective means of giving your pet a permanent identification that can be read by each Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and veterinarians all over the world.

Parasite Control

Dogs: We recommend all dogs to be treated with heartworm preventive (such as Nexgard, Heartgard, Nexgard Spectra, Proheart) from at least May – November. These products will prevent heartworm if used appropriately. In addition to heartworm, some of these products also treat or prevent:

• Lungworms
• Mange Mites
• Roundworms
• Hookworms
• Whipworms
• Tapeworm
• Fleas
• Ticks

Cats: Indoor – only cats should be dewormed at least once or twice a year for intestinal worms.

Cats that go outdoors should be dewormed at least monthly in May – November. This will help prevent or treat:

• Roundworms
• Hookworms
• Lungworms
• Heartworms
• Tapeworms

Fleas can be prevented on a monthly basis. Call us today to discuss.

Pet Food

There are many, many brands of pet food and lots of different places to buy them. We offer to our clients’ high-quality foods that will promote good health and help prevent diet-related problems such as dull haircoats, dental disease, obesity and growth problems in puppies and kittens.

We recommend Hill’s products, Royal Canin’s Medi-Cal products and Purina Veterinary Diet as an excellent diet for all life stages of cats and dogs, and we carry these brands prescription veterinary diets. These companies have spent a large amount of money and time developing their diets to enhance pet health. We stand behind their pet food 100% and provide professional dietary and medical advice for patients with problems. We also take pride in the safety of the products we recommend.

Ask us about which veterinary diet(s) are suitable for your pet during your next visit.

Puppy/ Kitten Pre-Anesthetic Blood Screening

We offer to all puppies and kittens to have a blood screening test prior to spaying or neutering. This test helps detect health problems, either congenital or acquired, that may impact how your pet deals with the anaesthesia and surgery. It can be performed the morning of their surgery.

Senior dog

We recommended that all our senior patients be screened every 6-12 months for diseases that are common in older animals. By detecting diseases early, sometimes even before the animal is acting sick, we can usually do more to keep the pet feeling happy and healthy for a long time.

Any dog over 7-8 years of age and cat over 8-9 years of age could be considered seniors. The screening process usually involves an examination, analyzing a blood sample and, if possible, checking a urine sample. Even when screening test indicates an animal appears healthy, the test provides us with a baseline to which we can compare future blood samples from that pet.

Spaying & Neutering

Unless your pet is going to be used for breeding purposes, we strongly recommend spaying or neutering at 6 months of age. Spaying or neutering at this age will help prevent mammary cancer, uterine cancer, prostate cancer, testicle cancer, uterine infection (pyometra), prostatitis, urine spraying/ marking and aggression.

These are day procedures that require general anesthesia. All of our patients undergoing surgery receive a combination of several pain medications to minimize discomfort. All patients are monitored by the veterinarian, veterinary technicians and electronic monitors.