Thameswood Veterinary Clinics Ltd

Veterinary medicine is increasing becoming focused on preventative care, that is proactively preventing disease rather than treating it when it has already occurred.

There are many measures that can be taken to help your dog to live a healthy life, here are some of them:

Flea treatment

We advise year-round treatment with a prescription spot-on flea treatment such as frontline or stronghold – this is beneficial because it will prevent a house infestation, and both these products protect your dog from certain other parasites. Depending on your dogs lifestyle we may recommend one or the other.

Worming

Most pet dogs can be wormed every three months with a broad-spectrum wormer such as Milbemax. Depending on their lifestyle, some dogs may need treating more or less frequently than this and with different products – we can help you to determine your own pet’s individual requirements.

Diet

We recommend feeding a good quality complete dry dog food appropriate to your dog’s breed, age, activity levels and medical requirements. All our staff pets are fed on Hills, and we offer a discount scheme to our clients on this food – we believe it is the best range available.

We would advise against the currently fashionable practice of feeding home-prepared or raw foods; as well as the risk from bacterial contamination of raw food, it is very hard to produce a complete balanced diet with no deficiencies on either a macro or micronutrient level.

Dental care

There are many products on the market including diets, chews, treats and toys that can all help to keep your dog’s teeth clean but, just like humans there really is no substitute for brushing.

We would advise daily tooth brushing using a suitable toothbrush and pet toothpaste; human toothpaste is not suitable since it has toxic levels of fluoride in it and is designed to be spat, not swallowed. (Most dogs don’t appreciate the minty taste or foaming action either!)

Microchipping

A microchip provides your dog with a permanent means of identification, which will enable him to be reunited with you should he ever be lost or stolen – we recommend it for all our canine patients. Whilst implanting a chip can be carried out at any age, we prefer to wait until puppies are at least 16 weeks old, and out of their socialisation period before performing the procedure.

Neutering

Unless you are planning to breed from your dog we would recommend that they are neutered from six months of age onwards.

Neutering bitches eliminates the possibility of a serious condition called pyometra (womb infection) occurring in later life, and early neutering also dramatically reduces the risk of mammary tumours occurring.

Neutering dogs reduces the incidence of wandering, urine marking and interdog aggression, as well as eliminating the risk of testicular tumours and reducing the risk of prostatic disease in later life.