One of the most exciting things in life is adopting a puppy or kitten!  Our team at FVH wants to help ensure the health of your new family member and we consider them a member of our family as well!

Part of setting him or her up for a healthy, happy life involves providing for physical, mental and emotional health.  Of course, this includes immunizations, deworming, testing for and treating infectious diseases.  But, it also includes facilitating mental and emotional wellness to allow your new friend to grow into a healthy, confident, well-adapted companion.  The care and experiences at this important life stage have life-long impact.  FVH is a Fear-Free Certified and Gold-Status Cat-Friendly Practice.  We go the extra mile to make vet visits a positive experience and as stress-free as possible.  We strive to contribute positively to your puppy or kitten’s socialization and comfort.  Part of your visits will include discussion of environmental enrichment, socialization and positive reinforcement to help ensure mental and emotional health for pets and pet-parents alike!  You will find no shortage of love, treats and toys for both cats and dogs here!

Below is the recommended vaccination, deworming and preventative care schedule for puppies and kittens.  Your doctor may adjust the schedule based on medical history, health conditions, and previous vaccination status.

Click here for AHAA and FVH’s core vaccine recommendations.

Helpful tips about introducing your new puppy or kitten to their new home:

  • If possible, ensure negative parasite test results before introduction to prevent spread to other household pets.
  • Initial introductions with other pets at home should supervised and limited in duration.  Each case is different.  Some cats and dogs need time to warm up to a new member of the family.  Monitor for signs of fear/anxiety/stress (FAS), over-stimulation, and resource guarding.  Provide a separate set of toys, food/water bowls, beds, perches, letterboxes (for cats), and personal, separate TLC time with you to ease the introduction.  Jealousy is real!
  • Use plug-in calming pheromone diffusers such as Feliway (for cats) and Adaptil (for dogs) to help your new dog or cat settle into their new home.   These pheromones provide a message of calming and familiarity to ease stress.  We recommend at least 2 diffusers for a couple rooms of your home.
  • For new puppies, walks and introductions to non-family member dogs:
    • Leashed walks are ok.
    • Avoid interactions with unfamiliar dogs whose vaccination, parasite and health status is not known.
    • Interactions with friendly, familiar, up-to-date vaccinated, healthy dogs is ok.  Positive, safe interactions will help the socialization process and build confidence, which is very important between the ages of 8 -16 weeks and 9 months of age in particular.
  • Provide LOTS of positive reinforcement.  House-training, manners training, and socialization should all be POSITIVE.  Multiple studies have shown that punishment actually increases fear, anxiety and stress and leads to more behavior problems including fearfulness, aggression, and reactivity.  The key formative ages in dogs and cats is between 8 weeks – 16 weeks of age and at 9 months.  This is a critical time to lay the groundwork for a confident, well-rounded, socialized companion.  The experiences they have during these periods can have life-long impact on their mental, emotional well-being.
  • Provide mental exercise!  This is as important as physical exercise.  The smarter the individual, the more mental exercise they need!
    • For cats: Provide multiple perches, hidey boxes, different types of scratching posts (angle and material), and hunting exercises with reward at the end,.  Be sure to provide reward (ie. treats) at the end of play sessions. Lack of reward can lead to frustration and behavior issues.  This is true with dogs too!
      • Provide at least 1 litterbox per cat + 1 additional (eg. For 1 cat have 2 boxes, for 2 cats have 3 boxes).
    • For dog with high drive (think working dog breeds like Shepherds, Cattle Dogs, Pointers, Belgian Malinois, etc): mental and physical exercise are both essential to their overall health.  These are highly intelligent breeds who need a job and energy outlet.  All humans to want to adopt these breeds need to know this fact and be prepared to commit time and resources to provide for this important aspect of their care and health.  Lack of mental and physical exercise is a major cause of behavior problems.  Constant training activities, regular exercise and puzzle toys are key.
      • Similar to cats, avoid laser pointers and any play without reward at the end (ie. treats), as this can lead to frustration, OCD and other behavior problems.