Vets, Pets and Vaccines

This week has seen our pet pooch Max, heading off to the vet's for his annual vaccines. I always feel a wee bit mean, possibly more so than I did when it was my daughter's going to the Doctor's for their vaccinations; I'm not entirely sure what that says about me and I probably don't want to know either, though I have a sneaking suspicion, I could be considered a crap mum! Anyway, I knew where I was going to be taking the little chap, and as horrid as the weather forecast looked yesterday, I felt obliged to try and dodge the clouds and take him for a nice walk, or perhaps a nice sniff, since that is what he seems to do more of. You may have caught his last post (cheeky chap), where he pretty much admitted to sniffing more than usual to get me back for having his hair cut! If you didn't, you can catch up here.

A Happy Max Before His Vaccines at the Vets

Trust me, he spent flipping ages sniffing round there and walking around in circles. I really do wonder if running into things as a pup has maybe done something to his head, still he's cute, and who really cares about his intelligence levels when he's so pretty?

Sorry, as usual I have digressed somewhat. Back to the point, which is the annual vaccination for pets. Does your pet need to have annual vaccinations? Well now, that's a question that only you can really answer. We have a cat, and she missed her booster when I was very ill, and though I have a lifetime plan, I simply cannot afford to pay for the initial jab again, but she is an indoor cat and has no interaction with any pet, other than Max. Hence I am crossing my fingers and hoping for the best.

Now, our pampered pooch, on the other hand, is a whole other story. Like most dogs, Max is very sociable, he loves to say hello to the other dogs, sniffs anything and everything, and picks anything that is lying about, up in his mouth, so annual vaccinations are not up for debate. Thankfully, in spite of spending most of the first year of his life to and fro from the vet's, he loves the place, so getting him through the door is no problem at all.

Just a pet waiting to see the vet!

As you can see, he's pretty chilled out, plus it was very quiet so every single member of staff who walked past, stopped to make a fuss of him, and being the tart he is, he just lapped it up! He didn't even mind when he got called through to see the vet, in fact he was quite fond of the vet because he was given treats. As part of his annual vaccination visit, he gets a good overall health check up, which is good given the health problems Cavalier King Charles Spaniels can have. Thankfully, he's heart is all good, and his joints are fine (I would hope so, seeing as he has had £6000 worth of work to pin his knees in place), but there was an interesting issue (or not) with his teeth, which no one else had picked up on. Max has a teeny, tiny retained baby tooth. Thankfully, it's causing no problems, so a big sigh of relief there. Next it was time for the jab. The vet was very 'canny,' giving the boy a treat,  needless to say, he didn't even notice he'd had a needle jabbed into him. The kennel cough vaccine, well, that wasn't quite the same at all. You see, that one goes up the nose, which is not particularly pleasant. It took a couple of attempts, but it got done and Max got another treat as a reward, which made him love the vet even more.

So that's Max, covered for the next year and free to sniff and play with his friends. It may seem a bit cruel, but I'd really rather not have a poorly pooch. It's bad enough when a child is ill, but like a baby, a pet can't tell you what's hurting or how they feel. I'm glad I took out the lifetime vaccination cover too. 

As for Max, well, he's still a bit sulky, but I think he's forgiven me now.

If you would like further information on caring for your dog and his health take a look at the links below:

RSPCA

PDSA