Kittens and Puppies

A good start in life is critical for your pet. Puppies and kittens have different nutritional requirements than adult animals, greater sensitivity to drugs, and a greater susceptibility to diseases and parasites.

Your veterinarian plays a crucial role in giving your new pet a good start in life. On your pet’s first few visits to the veterinarian, here is what the doctor can do for your companion:

• Physical examination: Your veterinarian can perform a complete health check, including detection of diseases and congenital abnormalities.
• Parasite control: Start a program for detection, elimination and prevention of intestinal parasites, fleas and heartworms.
• Spay or neuter procedures: Your veterinarian can counsel you on and perform these procedures, which will help to avoid potential medical and behavioral problems, as well as to combat pet overpopulation. It is recommended that pets be altered before they reach sexual maturity (between 7 to 9 months).
• Vaccinations: Your veteirnarian can administer canine distemper, canine parvovirus and coronavirus, feline distemper, feline leukemia virus, and rabies vaccinations. Rabies vaccination is required by Oregon law for all dogs; Multnomah County requires the vaccination for cats as well.
• Identification: All pets should wear a collar and tag with your name, address and phone number on it. A microchip is another form of identification that can be helpful if your pet
  becomes lost. Discuss microchipping with your veterinarian. While not all chips can be read by the scanners in every shelter, veterinary clinic, and/or humane organization, it is a viable identification option.
• Counseling on behavior and obedience: The most frequent reason a puppy is returned, relocated, or taken to a shelter where it may be euthanized is due to improper--or a lack of--obedience training or behavioral counseling. The best time to begin a behavior/obedience training program is between 4 to 6 months of age. Socializing your puppy is an important part of this training. Socialization is the process by which a dog learns how to behave appropriately with others in its environment.
• Nutritional counseling: Since the most active growth period for young dogs and cats is the first 7 to 10 months, advice on the best choice of diet is important. Overweight pets face serious health risks.
• Health insurance: Along with the joys of a new puppy or kitten come the responsibilities of pet ownership, including meeting the cost of veterinary care. An increasing number of pet owners are choosing to purchase pet health insurance policies for their pets. Such policies typically provide reimbursement coverage for your pet’s eligible medical treatments, surgeries, lab fees, X-rays, and prescriptions. A good time to obtain coverage for a pet is when they are young. Older pets may have established medical conditions that would be excluded from coverage. And, as with people, older pets may incur higher premiums.

For more tips on caring for your pets, visit our Pet Care & Health library. To find a veterinarian in your area, use our Find a Vet service.