Frequently Asked Questions

In general, six weeks is the earliest age for a conventional vaccination program. Exceptions occur for animals in potentially infectious environments such as kennels, lazarets, shelters, etc. These animals may benefit from preventive vaccinations at a younger age. Vaccination against parvovirus in 5-week old puppies is recommended by some professionals.

It is not convenient, but the decision to vaccinate or not, an animal that is showing signs of disease, depends on each case and the professional criteria. It should be considered if the benefits outweigh the risks, a thorough physical examination should be done and if necessary, laboratory tests, all of which will help the decision.

The vaccines do not produce immunity in an instantaneous way at the moment of being applied, once the injected antigens are administered, they must be recognized by the immune system and respond with the formation of antibodies and produce immunological memory against this vaccine antigen that is attenuated, if later there is infection by the wild virus, this presence of antibodies produced by the vaccine neutralizes the wild virus, in this way, the disease caused by this virus is prevented.
In most animals, protection from the disease does not begin until 7 days after the vaccination and complete protection is achieved after 14 days.

No, although the vaccines are highly effective it can happen that in some animals they do not respond to the vaccine and suffer from the disease against which they were vaccinated, this “failure” of the vaccine although it is probably a failure of the immune system to give a good response than a problem of the vaccine itself.

Many times an animal can be parasitized even if it doesn’t present any signs, the áscaris(worms) are the most common, they measure several centimeters, they look like a noodle and they are usually observed in the dog’s feces, when they vomit, but there is the possibility that the animal doesn’t eliminate them, but that doesn’t mean that it is not parasitized. The small worms and the eggs are not observed at first sight, an analysis of fecal matter must be analyzed and observed by means of the microscope.
Tapeworms (flat, ribbon-like worms); these can appear as rectangular segments moving around the animal’s anus, or as rice grains. Except for tapeworms, the best way to diagnose parasites in an animal is through a fecal matter examination performed by a veterinarian.

The age of the dogs of puppies under 6 months is determined by the temporary teeth, then by the permanent teeth. In older dogs, the age is usually estimated by the wear on the teeth, but the calculation may vary due to the size and breed of the dog, diet and chewing habits.

The most indicated is that they fall alone by the action of a tick that can be in powder, liquid, spray or the practical pipettes that have a residual effect of 4 weeks. If there is no other alternative than to remove it, it should be done with special tweezers, without pressing the body, because the content of the tick is injected into the bloodstream and can transmit diseases to the animal.

Yes, puppies have 28 temporary teeth, 14 in the upper jaw and 14 in the lower jaw. These teeth erupt at three to four weeks of age. The temporaries begin to erupt at approximately 4 months of age and complete 42 permanent teeth.

A) To perform the evaluation, first the ribs are palpated, they must be felt and there must be a moderate amount of fat on them, but the ribs must be well differentiated to the palpation, if the ribs are observed with the naked eye, the animal is too thin, if the ribs cannot be felt the animal is overweight.

B) Palpate the back area in front of the base of the tail, it should feel full but with smooth skin, if you see the tips of the hip bones, the animal is too thin, if you can not feel any bones, that indicates that there is overweight.

C) The bony protrusions of the spine and shoulders should also be palpated, likewise, a thin layer of fat should be felt above the bony parts, if these bones are easily felt or are visible, the dog or cat is too thin. If the bones are not felt under the layer of fat, the animal is obviously obese.

The importance of knowing between one term and another is that they are signs of different diseases. Vomiting is the violent ejection of stomach contents into the outside of the body through the esophagus and mouth. Vomiting is related to diseases of the stomach, intestines, kidney, liver and pancreas. Regurgitation is the reflux of undigested food through the esophagus and mouth.

It is quite normal for puppies to have hiccups, when they eat, drink, tend to ingest large amounts of air, the esophagus fills with air producing an involuntary contraction of the muscle called the diaphragm. Hiccups are considered a normal phenomenon in puppies under 8 months old.

Papillomas, called warts, occur most often in puppies. They are caused by a virus, usually manifested in the face, mouth, tongue, cheeks and eyelids, being small in size and looking like a cauliflower.
These warts caused by a virus are usually benign and usually evolve on their own in several weeks.

Dogs can get sunburned. Dogs without pigment in the nose can develop a disease called solar nasal dermatitis, but the real cause is a hypersensitivity to the sun, which is aggravated when there is an absence of melamine.
Those dogs with short hair and for some reason have diminished hair density, can suffer burns in those areas of the body where the skin is more exposed.

The most frequent cause of a dog crawling on the floor, is the obstruction of the anal glands, another reason can be the fecal matter stuck or abundant amount of hair around the anus, mainly in the breeds of long hair.
This action is rarely due to the presence of parasites as commonly believed.

The loss of hair (alopecia) in many dogs in lactation is not abnormal, normally the dogs change their hair coat in a determined time of the year, generally the greater “change of hair” occurs in spring, in the pregnant dogs and in lactation, the physiological and metabolic exigency caused by the pregnancy and lactation, can accelerate the change of hair, also influences the hormonal changes that take place in the dog during this stage. The change is so rapid that you can see that the new coat may be darker, less dense and may have a different texture.
When this happens, you should help with a good brushing, that way it favors the change as well as avoiding the presence of hair all over the house. At this moment we must pay much attention to the adequate nutrition of the animal because when this phenomenon happens it indicates us that it is at the maximum of its nutritional demand.

This list lists the most important ingredients that can cause problems for the dog:

1. Chocolate
2. Coffee
3. Tea
4. Onion
5. Garlic
6. Chicken bones, piglet, lamb, rabbit, goat
7. Human vitamins with iron
8. Tendons and cartilage
9. The threads of the chorizos
10. Food with mushrooms
11. Alcoholic beverages
12. Mushrooms
13. Tobacco
14. Yeast
15. Rhubarb leaves
16. Heavily boiled meat

Dogs do not have the right enzymes to break down the milk’s own polysaccharide called lactose. This is common in some people, they lack lactase which is the enzyme that breaks down lactose into glucose and thus be absorbed into the intestinal tract, both people or animals that do not possess the enzyme that breaks down lactose, the milk remains in the digestive tract undigested, ferments and causes diarrhea.

It is vox populi that bathing a canine too often removes its “protective fat” layer that animals have naturally on their skin.
In a way this is true: canines have a layer of lipids; under healthy conditions, this protective layer fulfills the functions of protecting the skin, giving shine and silkiness to the hairy mantle and preventing the animal from contracting external diseases in its skin. But it is also true, that these healthy animals get dirty and acquire the classic “dog smell”, that many times will depend on the type of coat they have.
Thus, long haired dogs need a periodic bath necessarily in summer, given their intolerance to heat, must also be bathed to prevent the bacteria that normally live on their skin, have the possibility of producing opportunistic infections. Short-haired dogs seem to be more resistant to dirt and bad smell. In them, simple brushing can ensure a healthy and vital hair and skin. But unfailingly, they must be bathed when the smell of dog appears and this happens, when in the previous case, when the animal gets dirty, makes intense physical activity, etc.
If we say to bathe a healthy pet, it is recommended to use soft shampoos like those that Cocobetaina and Avena contains in its composition.
Now then: When an animal is presented or consulted with dermatological disorders, whether infections, seborrhea, mycosis, etc, the concept of “hygienic bath” should be left aside to be replaced by “therapeutic bath”.
The therapeutic bath generally implies increasing the frequency of the baths using shampoos with therapeutic products that are generally more aggressive than the traditional ones: Selenium Sulfide, Tar, Chlorhexidine, Benzoyl Peroxide, etc.
We conclude that the owner of the healthy pet should bathe it when it is dirty and should take it to the clinic, when he considers that his animal is needing much more frequent baths than usual.

The animal makes a natural change of its hair periodically and leaves hairs “everywhere”, the long hair has change in the spring and short hair, also lose hair all year, it is normal that the old hairs fall and are changed by new, we must worry if you see areas of the body without hair in the house, couches, beds, etc, we must brush them regularly, once they get used to them they like to be brushed.
The fine wire brushes are very useful to keep the hair untangled and the brushing favors the oxygenation of the skin preventing some type of dermatitis, besides dragging dirt, hair and flakes of the skin, keeping it healthy.
There are also metal combs and rakes, for a deeper brushing and to extract better the “platoons”, although with care, because it can produce pain to the animal, but you have to break them first with a scissors (in these cases if you are not very sure to resort to a professional hairdresser).
Because of the delicate skin of a cat, a brush glove ( it is a glove with rubber tips on the palm) is the right one for short hairs and a wire brush for long haired cats. When saying to have a dog or cat at home, we must be conscious that we must coexist with the hairs that the animal loses, a brushing can help a lot to improve and to diminish the concentration of loose hairs by all sides, in addition this verified that when touching or brushing the pets produces a relaxing effect in the animal like in the person.