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Cedar Grove Veterinary Clinic 02890 798457
Ormeau Veterinary Clinic 028 9032 6406

Puppy and Kitten

Our best advice for your new puppies and kittens

Congratulations on your new arrival!

What a welcome addition this will be to your home and family. We sincerely hope you enjoy your new arrival and have many happy years of companionship.

  • Your First Visit
  • Kitten vaccination
  • Puppy vaccination
  • Puppy Socialisation Classes

Your First Visit

On your visits we check that your puppies and kitten are fit and healthy, settling in well, that their diet is all good, and that you know how to care for them. We answer any questions you still have, making sure you are confident with your new pet.

This can be quite daunting for a new puppy or kitten, and for yourself if you have never previously owned a pet. We would like you to introduce yourself and your new pet to the practice as soon as possible. Come and meet the team and allow yourself and your pet to become familiar with the surroundings of the practice. This helps your new pet to become comfortable visiting the practice and to associate their visit as a pleasant experience rather than one of fear.

We are more than happy for your new family member to come and see the nurse prior to vaccinations, should you require any advice. The nursing team can help you with feeding advice, help on settling in, do's and don'ts and any questions you may have. Don't feel we are just here for when they are sick!

Kitten vaccination

Kittens are vaccinated against two types of Cat Flu, Feline Enteritis and the Feline Leukaemia Virus.
2nd vaccine is given 3-4 weeks later. It is important kittens do not come in contact with unvaccinated cats or outside areas until 2 weeks after the 2nd vaccination. Exposure before this time may expose the kitten to disease or illness before their immunity has developed. For this reason, we recommend you keep your kitten indoors until they are fully immune.

We offer a complete vaccination package for your kitten:

  • essential vaccinations
  • flea treatment
  • worm treatment
  • 5 weeks free pet insurance
  • 50% off microchipping

All for only £70!

Puppy vaccination

Vaccinations are an important part of a puppy's life, to give them the best protection against diseases and illness.

We offer a complete vaccination package for your puppy:

  • essential vaccinations
  • flea treatment
  • worm treatment
  • 5 weeks free insurance
  • microchip
  • puppy socialisation classes here at the surgery.

All for only £70!

When to vaccinate?

Young puppies are usually protected by immunity from their mother. Unfortunately, this protection decreases rapidly. By vaccinating pups once at 8 weeks old and again at 10 weeks of age, we can provide them with protection before disease has had much chance to attack.

Your puppy will be given a full examination by the veterinary surgeon prior to vaccination. This examination is vital to access the health of the puppy and to give the puppy a thorough check over to make sure it is healthy.

Puppy Socialisation Classes

Classes usually run one evening per week at 6:30pm and last for approximately 45 minutes. It is recommended that puppies attend the 2 classes.

Our Puppy Socialisation classes are free of charge and are only available to clients whose puppies have had their vaccinations done at the clinic. Owners will be contacted by the practice to offer a place.

A Guide for Owners

The most fundamental aspect of your puppy's upbringing is not toilet training, or even learning to walk on a lead. In fact it is something called socialisation.

Early socialisation involves teaching your puppy to relate properly to other dogs, humans, and other pets at a very young age.

Importantly, the lessons learnt will stay with the dog for life and if this process is started any later the opportunity may have passed. Without systematic early socialisation your puppy may grow up to be fearful of strangers (whether human or animal), and can even become dangerously aggressive. Many dogs develop behavioural problems, which often stem from poor socialisation at a young age.

This is why socialisation classes are so important. They are a means of ensuring your puppy gets the best possible start in life.

Why Socialisation Classes?

It is not difficult to assemble a large supporting cast of friends, family and neighbours who are ready and willing to introduce themselves to your puppy. This is a way to socialise your puppy amongst certain people but it will also need to meet unfamiliar people of different ages and sex.

Meeting other dogs is more of a problem.

Take a very young puppy to the park, for example, and not only do they run the risk of catching infectious diseases but they are actually much more likely to meet mainly older and potentially aggressive dogs. This does nothing for their socialisation and in fact sets them back and may leave them permanently frightened of other animals.

The puppy classes provided by Cedar Grove bring together only young puppies and a variety of people and objects in a stimulating environment.

The disease risk is minimised as the activities are controlled; and importantly, you'll receive some basic training yourself on what to do when you get back home.

Some people question whether the puppy needs to be introduced to other dogs at all, at such a young age. In fact it's vital, dogs have a body language all of their own and like people they need to learn in infancy.

What happens at a puppy socialisation class?

All adults and children are welcome, as long as they have a young puppy. Space is limited and therefore we ask that children need to be of an age that they can sit and concentrate rather than running around.

The class is run for two consecutive weeks and the format is as follows:

  1. A brief outline of puppy socialisation and introduction from a Pet Health Councillor.
  2. Introduction from each puppy owner on the name of the puppy, breed, and age.
  3. Playing pass the puppy! This gets your puppy used to being handled by all the new and unfamiliar humans present.
  4. Time for puppies to play - this is a vital time for puppies and allows them to play with each other in a safe and enclosed environment.
  5. A brief presentation on puppy health.
  6. A brief presentation on puppy training.
  7. An introduction tour of the practice during the second class.
  8. A folder with notes and guidance on training for you to take home.
  9. Question time.

Cedar Grove has five fully qualified Pet Health Councillors. Please do not hesitate to phone them for advice at any time. We also offer appointments, during the week, for your puppy to visit a Pet Health Councillor for behaviour problems, administration of worm or flea control, training advice, nail clipping, nutritional advice and guidance.