What you always wanted to know…..
- What should I do to keep my pet healthy?
- Why does this treatment costs so much?
- How do I do that?
- How do I place my cat in a travel basket without stress?
- My pet during hospitalization
- Some handy links for your pet
- Your pet and fireworks
Better to prevent.
Animals are our biggest friends. And you want the best for your friend. You want to take care of them, so they can be with you as long as possible. Your vet knows that and wants to help you taking care of your pet. This is called preventative medicine.
Besides treating diseases we are also very good at preventing them. We would like to advice you to minimize the risk of disease in your pet. And if something might go wrong anyway we will do our best to treat the disease as well as possible.
Preventative medicine consists of five major items. We will discuss these in detail:
- Vaccination
By vaccinating your pet regularly you can prevent a number of nasty and sometimes dangerous diseases. In earlier days animals were vaccinated completely every year. We now know that that is no longer necessary. Some vaccination protect for more than one year. Others need to be done yearly. Your vet will vaccinate ‘as needed’, depending on the circumstances.
There are also some vacinations that are obligatory. If you take your pet abroad it has to be vaccinated against rabies. And when your pet is taken into a pension thay need kennelcough.
The rule to follow: you make an appointment with your vet once a year for vaccinations. Your vet will then decide with you which vaccinations are needed.
- Perfect food
Maybe you think that every petfood is the same, but that’s not the case. In general more expensive foods are better. This has to do with the ingredients. Higher quality food ensures a healthier life and prevents diseases. Because of better palatability and higher energy values you give less of a high quality food each day. This makes up for the difference in price.
Besides general health food we also use different diets, aimed to help treat certain diseases. These prescription diets can only be sold through a veterinarian, because they are part of a veterinary treatment.
- Anti parasitic treatment
Most modern anti flea and anti tick treatments are sold in veterinary clinics. To keep your pet healthy regular treatment is necessary. For animals that life outdoors we advice you to treat for fleas and ticks monthly. Deworming is done every three months.
If you go abroad then anti parasitic treatment is certainly necessary. In southern Europe we see a number of parasites that are not common in The Netherlands. We can advice you on this.
- Taking care of skin and fur.
A clean shiny fur is not only a beautiful sight, but is also an expression of good health. A bad fur can lead to skin inflammation and illness. Skin inflammation can be caused by parasites, but also by bacteria. This can be prevented with regular care like brushing and the use of special shampoos. Your vet will know what to use. Not every regular shampoo is suitable.
- Perfect teeth.
Good health starts with a healthy mouth. We now know that bacterial inflammation in the mouth can cause all sorts of problems elsewhere in the body, like inflammation of cardiac valves, liverdisease and kidneydisease. There is no difference between animals and humans in this case.
Insufficient dental care will lead to accumulation of dental plaque. This plaque contains millions of bacteria and these can cause gingivitis. This is a superficial inflammation of the gums. It can be treated by regular brushing. If dental plaque is not removed in time it can lead to periodontitis, which is an inflammation of the deeper parts of the gingiva. It is irreversable and causes pain, a bad odor and eventually loss of elements. Good oral care consists of daily brushing. Besides brushing we can use dental foods, chlorhexidine containing pastes or fluids and chews.
We charge clear and honest prices. Prices of medication are more or less fixed, depending on the purchase cost. Most foods are sold at adviced prices. But prices of handling can vary depending on the costs. Each practice has it’s own costs: staff salary, use of instruments, mortgage or rent. Therefore these prices can vary between different practices. Vetcare is working in a state of the art clinic with high quality instruments. We garantee an optimal treatment. In this way we can take care of your pet in the best possible way.
We use terms and conditions according to the Royal Dutch Veterinary Association. You can find them here.
You sometimes have to do certain things with your pet that you have never done before. We are very eager to show you how to do this. But it can be nice to have an example available. Therefore we have placed a few links for you. Movies are in Dutch.
For many owners and their cats it is a recurring stress moment; get the cat in the travel basket if a visit to the vet is needed. The association that the cat has with the basket can be trained and with a positive association the cat will go into the travel basket much easier, even voluntarily!
- Start by choosing a practical travel basket. We recommend a sturdy plastic basket, nice and spacious and one whose lid can be removed or opened. This allows the cat to be placed in the travel basket from above and removed as well.
- The basket must then be introduced to the cat. This can be done by placing the basket in the living room well in advance or permanently and inserting a rug with the cat’s own scent. The top of the travel basket can optionally be removed. Only after the basket is no longer “an annoying object” you can let your cat get used to sitting in the closed basket, lifting and moving the basket.
- With peace, patience and rewards your cat will go into the basket without stress. If necessary, spray a pheromone spray such as Feliway spray onto the rug at least 30 minutes in advance.
- Keep the travel basket as still as possible when you walk with it so that the cat does not get shocked by movements or bumps. And never react angryly to meowing, but don’t ignore the cat either. Reassure her by talking to her in a neutral and calm manner.
- If you are traveling by car, secure the travel basket with the seatbelt or secure the basket between the front seat and rear seat. This way the basket will never fall when you have to brake hard. Do not listen to loud music in the car. If you want to transport the cat on the bike the basket must be fully introduced to the cat and only then can you start practicing: Securely fasten the travelbasket to the luggage carrier, while continuing to walk next to the bicycle. If the cat stays calm, try cycling. Ignore standard meowing, but do not continue if your cat is clearly scared.
- Always take some cat food with you to distract the cat from stress and make it calmer.
- What is usually forgotten is to pay attention to the reintroduction when coming home when there are several cats in the house. The cat that has been gone, smells differently and sometimes looks differently (a collar or a bodysuit) and that can cause a conflict. Do not place the travelbasket immediately in the room with the other cat, but first in a different room. It can also help to rub the cat that has been gone with a rug that he often sleeps on so that he can adopt the familiar scent again.
Sometimes we have to hospitalize your pet. This can be because of a surgical treatment, for further diagnostics or intensive care. The latter can even mean we have to take your pet in for more than one day.
When you make an appointment we will send you a letter describing the procedure and with a number of questions regarding anaesthesia. Please read the letter carefully, fill it out and bring it with you on the day of the appointment.
When your pet is hospitalized for a whole day we usually make the appointment to bring your pet around 9 am. For dental care and other appointments in the afternoon you can bring your pet around 11.30 am. Animals that need to be sedated have to be fasted for at least 12 hours. This means no food, water is ok. It’s advisable to have your dog taken out before you bring it in. The nurse will fill out an admission letter and sometimes will give the first injections. These can be painkillers or sometimes antibiotics.
During your pet’s stay we will keep you informed about any results. As soon as your pet is waking up again we will call you to inform you how the treatment went and when you can pick your pet up again. So it’s important that we can reach you. If any additional treatments are necessary we will only perform them with your consent. If we cannot reach you it might be necessary to make another appointment at a later date.
The vet will always completely inform you about the hospitalization. And when you pick your pet up afterwards the nurse will tell you what we did and how the results are. Besides you will receive a letter explaining the whole procedure.
In case of anaesthesia we will call you the day after the appointment to ask about your pet.
Some specifics regarding surgery and dentistry:
- Keep your pet fastened for at least 12 hours prior to the treatment. When an animal has eaten there’s a risk of vomiting during the anaesthesia, which can cause pneumonia or even death.
2. We use a lot of painkillers before, during and after painful treatments. Pain can cause extended wound healing and discomfort. In most cases we use a combination of both non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs and morphine.
3. During anaesthesia hypothermia is a major risk. It can cause prolonged recovery, bad wound healing and even death. Low body temperatures are the most common cause of problems during surgical procedures. To prevent this we take very good care in maintaining a normal body temperature. During surgery and dentistry we use Bair Huggers, where hot air is circulating aroung your pet’s body. After treatment your pet is waking up in a heated cage where oxygen is also administered. During treatment and recovery your pet is controled with a machine measuring temperature, heart function, breathing, pCO2 and pO2. Be aware that hypothermia is also possible during the first few days after surgery. Keep your pet warm, let it eat as soon as possible and try to prevent physical excersise.
4. As mentioned we use a lot of painkillers. This is also necessary after treatment. These drugs are best given with some food. If your pet refuses to eat then use the painkillers anyway. Some animals will not eat because of pain.
Sometimes you may need other people than your vet for your pet. Here are some links to different organizations in Amsterdam
Vuurwerkangst bij hond en kat
Het is al december, dus willen wij u nu al informeren over het jaarlijks terugkerende probleem van vuurwerkangst bij uw hond of kat. Nog altijd komen veel eigenaren in de laatste dagen van het jaar aan de balie om enkele rustgevende pilletjes te halen. Een echte oplossing voor dit probleem is dit echter niet en bovendien kunnen dit soort medicijnen ook vervelende bijwerkingen hebben.
- – Laat een angstig dier niet alleen met oud en nieuw.
- – Beloon gewenst gedrag, geen vertoon van angstgedrag, met voer, spel of aandacht.
- – Negeer angstgedrag! Als u uw dier troost op het moment van angst, beloont u het angstgedrag en bevestigt u dat er iets is om bang voor te zijn. Uw dier zal hierdoor alleen angstiger worden!
- – Laat uw hond overdag extra lang uit (op een plek zonder vuurwerk) zodat de hond extra moe is.
- – Geef de hele dag veel afleiding, zoals kauwstaven of voerspelletjes.
- – Sluit de gordijnen, zodat het dier het vuurwerk niet ziet.
- – Zet TV of radio aan voor rustig achtergrondsgeluid.
- – Creëer enkele rustige ligplekjes, zodat uw dier zelf een veilig plekje kan zoeken.
- – Blijf zelf zoveel mogelijk rustig!
Daarom volgt hieronder ons advies over vuurwerkangst. Dit advies is opgesteld aan de hand van de huidige kennis en gebaseerd op de voorschriften van de Gedragskliniek voor Dieren van de Faculteit voor Diergeneeskunde in Utrecht.
De beste methode: de lange termijnaanpak.
De trainingstechniek die moet worden toegepast heet officieel een combinatie van progressieve desensitisatie en counter conditioning, wat betekent dat een geluid, in dit geval vuurwerkgeluid, geleidelijk aan moet worden toegediend aan de hond of kat en dat aan de deze nare prikkel een positieve prikkel moet worden gekoppeld. Met behulp van geluidsfragmenten op de CD kan het geluid geleidelijk aan worden toegediend en opgevoerd. Uiteraard altijd met zacht afspelen beginnen. Indien het dier niet op het geluid reageert met angstgedrag, kan het worden beloond met bijvoorbeeld spel, voer of aandacht van de baas. Vervolgens kan het geluid iets harder worden gezet, enzovoorts.
Bij een zeer angstige hond is het mogelijk om deze training te ondersteunen met Clomicalm. Dit is een medicijn dat helpt om de hond meer bevattelijk te maken voor de training. Het is wetenschappelijk aangetoond dat Clomicalm helpt om de angst tegen te gaan. Dit middel werkt optimaal na vier tot zes weken geven. Vandaar dat u ook hiermee vroeg moet beginnen.
Royal Canin Calm Diet is een voeding die een aantal stoffen bevat die kalmerend werken. Dit is een natuurlijke manier om het dier rustiger te maken, en kan goed gebruikt worden als ondersteuning van andere behandelingen zoals de training met behulp van de CD. Dit moet wel enkele weken gegeven worden voor het optimale effect. Calm Diet is er zowel voor de hond als de kat.
Ook Telizen is een natuurlijke manier om de angst van een dier wat te dempen. Dit is een voedingssupplement zonder bijwerkingen. Ook dit mag zowel voor de hond als voor de kat gebruikt worden, en heeft vooral nut in combinatie met training of eventueel met sterkere medicatie.
DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) is een stof, die de hond het gevoel geeft, dat de omgeving veilig is. Dit zou een kalmerend effect hebben bij pups en volwassen honden. Feliway is de versie, die bij katten wordt gebruikt. Beide middelen moet u minimaal enkele weken geven voor een optimaal effect. Als alleenstaand werkend middel is het effect bij vuurwerkangst vaak onvoldoende. Het kan wel naast andere therapieën gebruikt worden. Bijwerkingen zijn niet aanwezig. U kunt het kopen als spray en als verdamper voor in het stopcontact. Voor honden is ook een speciale halsband te koop. Deze middelen worden ook vaak, met soms veel succes toegepast bij andere gedragsproblemen, zoals in huis plassen, sproeien en ongewenst sexueel gedrag.
De korte termijn aanpak.
Alprazolam is een angstremmend medicijn waarvan wetenschappelijk aangetoond dat het kan werken. Dit van oorsprong humane middel mag alleen gedurende enkele dagen gebruikt worden. Het kan soms sufheid opwekken. Dit middel gebruiken we daarom alleen op de dagen rond oud en nieuw, als de angst het ergste is.
Sinds enige jaren wordt fenobarbital ingezet om de angst te onderdrukken. Dit middel wordt van oorsprong gebruikt om epilepsie te bestrijden. Fenobarbital moet u enkele weken geven voor een optimaal effect, maar kan ernstige schade aan de lever en hersenen veroorzaken in de gebruikte dosering.
Conclusie:
De beste methode om vuurwerkangst serieus aan te pakken is dus het gebruik van de CD met geluiden, eventueel aangevuld met Clomicalm. Hiervoor moet u wel op tijd beginnen. De hele behandeling zal ongeveer zes weken in beslag nemen, dus een goed idee om volgend jaar op tijd aan te pakken!
Wij wensen u alvast rustige feestdagen toe!
