Information on Pet Safety
Adopting a dog
There is a responsibility that goes with adoption. The range of costs includes feeding, vet bills - regular inoculations, general health etc.
They need discipline, exercise and affection so that you can control them, and most responsible dog owners will clean up after them. They need company - so it is important that you are able to spend time with them.
Dogs are pack animals and they look to you to be the leader of the pack. If you do not give them rules, boundaries and limitations they may try to take over as pack leader and become less controllable. Walking is key for your dogs overall disposition. This has the advantage of bonding with your dog whilst giving you exercise at the same time!
If you are interested in adopting please take a look at the dogs we have to re-home, and go to contact us for more information. You will be asked some simple questions about your environment in order for you to find the right dog for your circumstances.
SEE BELOW RE ADOPTING A DOG OUTSIDE SPAIN.
Keep your Dog Safe!
Here you will find some information about keeping your dog safe. Much of it is common sense but it still needs to be stated.
Below there is also information about the
Mediterranean diseases: Leishmaniasis - Ehrlichia
Filariasis (Heartworm) & Canine Babesiosis
Microchip identification - a legal requirement, a permanent identification - a microchip painlessly implanted under your pets skin at the back of the neck. The dog has a unique number which is placed on the pet log register. If your dog is lost, it will be scanned with a special hand held reader, the chip number displayed and we can reunite dog and owner. It is 100% safe, reliable and highly recommended especially in the event of an accident.
Don't let your dog wander on its own - Always put it on a lead in busy places or on roads. Be careful about leaving your dog outside shops. Never leave your dog in the car. Make sure you always know where it is - dogs can disappear quickly. Make sure your dog has an identification tag just in case it does manage to wander off and get lost.
Keep photographs - Dogs love to have their photo taken and if you do ever lose it, you'll be glad to have photos to show your neighbours, put on notices, give to local Police Station's and the Dogs Home to help you in your search.
Mediterranean diseases
On arrival with us, each dog is thoroughly examined by the veterinary surgeon. Amongst other things, the blood is tested for the Mediterranean diseases Leishmaniasis, Dirofilariose, Ehrlichiose and Babesiose. With most dogs the results are fortunately negative. You will, of course, be fully informed by us about the state of health of your preferred dog.
Leishmaniasis
How does a dog catch leishmaniasis?
Almost always dogs get infected by the bite of a tiny blood-sucking insect called a sand fly. Female sand flies suck blood for protein to make their eggs. If a fly bites an infected dog, the Leishmania parasite grows in the stomach of the fly and, later, when the fly bites again, infective forms of the parasite are injected into the skin of the animal which may then develop leishmaniasis. Very rarely, a healthy dog can get infected by being in close contact with a dog with leishmaniasis.
When and where is leishmaniasis a danger to dogs?
The name sand fly is misleading: sand flies are not on the beach. They are most abundant in gardens, around houses in the countryside, parklands and woodland. The period of activity of all sand fly vectors is from sunset to sunrise. The dangerous times of year are different in different countries. Around the Mediterranean, leishmaniasis is transmitted from May to September, or later if there is an Indian summer, to October. It is endemic in most of Greece, much of Italy, the Balkans, Malta, southern France, many parts of Portugal and Spain (particularly in the south east and the Balearic islands) and in the humid parts of North Africa. Among the safe places are the Scandinavian countries, the UK including the Channel Islands, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, northern France, and the mountains of Switzerland.
What treatments can be offered to dogs with leishmaniasis?
If a dog is severely affected by the disease, it will be difficult to cure it. But if the dog is in the early stages of the illness, there is a good chance of controlling the disease. However, with the therapies currently available, parasitological cure cannot be established. The clinical signs can go in remission but the dog will probably still be infected at a very low level for life and might have a relapse.
Once diagnosed, Lieishmania can be managed easily with the correct treatment. The treatment of a Mediterranean illness belongs in the hands of veterinary surgeon and alternative medicine (e.g. homoeopathy, Bach flower remedies) can support this treatment gently.
What can I do to protect my dog ?
The use of Deltamethrin-impregnated collars (such as Scalibor) are effective in killing sand flies that feed on dogs and also have a strong anti-feeding effect on the flies. The plastic dog collar containing a depot of a complex of deltamethrin and the excipient triphenyl phosphate that permits the insecticide to be slowly released into the lipids of the dog's skin. It covers the complete body of the animal and, unlike conventional dog collars or applied insecticides, the deltamethrin retains its activity on the dog for many months.
Laboratory studies have shown that Scalibor protects dogs from the bites of more than 90% of sand flies for more than six months; a complete sand fly season in countries of the Mediterranean Basin. The current evidence strongly suggests that Scalibor will greatly reduce the risk of leishmaniasis to individual dogs.
Erhlichiasis
Ehrlichia, named for the Dr. Ehrlich who first described them, are a special type of bacteria which infect and live within the white blood cells of their hosts. Different types of Ehrlichia live in different types of white blood cells. Hosts can be human, pet, or wild animals. Ehrlichia are spread from host to host by tick bites and their intracellular location makes them difficult to remove as most antibiotics do not penetrate to the inside of cells.
The presence of the disease is diagnosed through a blood test. Ehrlichiosis is believed to go through patent and dormant periods, much like Babesiosis does. It has been the experience of people who have owned many Ehrlichia infected dogs, that this disease does not remain dormant, it slowly and steadily grows within the dogs system. If used soon enough, treatments have a 98% success rate at curing dogs of Ehrlichiosis.
Filariasis (Heartworm)
Heartworm disease is a disease in dogs that develops when a dog is bitten by a mosquito carrying microscopic heartworm larvae of a parasitic worm known as Dirofilaria immitis. As the mosquito feeds on your dog, the larvae are deposited within your dog. They enter through the skin, then travel through the bloodstream and eventually settle and grown in the right side of the heart and the arteries of the lungs. Once there the parasites will grow until they reach a length of 10 to 12 inches at maturity. Heartworm disease causes lung disease and heart failure and is often fatal.
Preventing heartworms is as simple as giving your pet a monthly medication as recommended by your vet. Pet owners can also administer products made to prevent heartworm disease, fleas, ticks, earmites and mange and these treatments are applied directly to the skin at the base of the dog´s neck or between the shoulder blades. These treatments are relatively inexpensive. These methods are safe, easy to use and when given on time every month, extremely effective.
Your vet will give a blood test to the dog to check for parasites. This is important because the medication in these preventatives can cause life-threatening reactions to dogs who already have heartworm disease. Testing and preventing heartworm could not be easier and is much less expensive than treating your dog for heartworm disease.
If your dog is not currently taking monthly preventative then there are symptoms indicative to heartworms that you can look out for. Dogs may have a frequent and persistent cough, a decrease in energy level, reluctance to exercise, fatigue, decreased appetite and weight loss. Weight loss is often followed by a swollen abdomen caused by a fluid build up in the stomach. Dogs can be infected for years before these symptoms show up. The heartworms themselves do not cause symptoms they are a result of the damage they do to the heart and lungs over the course of the infection. As heartworm disease progresses blood flow through diseased lungs to the heart becomes restricted. This is what causes heart failure and death.
Canine Babesiosis
Babesiosis is an important tropical tick-borne disease in dogs. Signs include acute anaemia along with fever and lethargy. Although chronic infections occur, they are uncommon. Sudden death is a possible consequence of acute onset Babesia infection associated with low blood pressure shock and hypoxia. The wide variety of additional clinical signs depends on the tissues affected by the infection. Mild to severe pulmonary disease, vomiting, muscle pain, yellow-coloured urine, rapid weight loss, eye discharge, and neurological signs are reported.
Diagnosis is based on the identification of the organism within the blood cells. There are a number of very effective treatments. Recent studies show that some homeopathic remedies can be as effective as conventional drugs in treating canine babesiosis.Travelling abroad with your pet
Travelling abroad with your pet
The UK has been free of rabies for many years, but mammals are still at risk in some other countries. All rabies-susceptible animals entering the UK have to spend six months in quarantine, unless they arrive under and meet all the conditions of PETS. (http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/)
Most European Union (EU) countries and many outside the EU have joined PETS. You can check details and the full procedure for preparing your pet on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) website.
To be eligible, your cat, dog or ferret must:
- first be fitted with a microchip
- then be vaccinated against rabies
- wait 21 days from the date of their first rabies vaccination before travelling to another European Community country
- not have visited any non-approved countries or territories for at least six months before they enter or re-enter the UK
Cats and dogs must also:
- be blood tested with a satisfactory result by a European Union approved laboratory
- wait six calendar months from the date the blood sample was taken before re-entering the UK - New laws come into effect january 2012, see below.
You must also ensure that your pet:
- is issued with a pet passport by their vet
- is treated by a vet for tapeworm and ticks, not less than 24 hours and not more than 48 hours before checking in with a PETS-approved carrier for the journey back to the UK
- travels into the UK on a PETS-approved sea, air or rail route
NewPet Passport Law comes into effect January 2012
New rules mean it will be easier and cheaper to travel abroad with pets
It will become cheaper and easier to travel abroad with pets when new rules are introduced at the start of next year.
The UK will harmonise its pet movement rules with the rest of the European Union from 1 January 2012, bringing the UK’s Pet Travel Scheme into line with the most recent science. The UK will maintain its high level of protection against animal diseases after the changes, which have the potential to save pet owners around £7 million in fees.
Forcing pets to spend six months in quarantine, a practice dating from the 1800s, is no longer necessary because of vastly improved rabies vaccines and treatments.
All pets will still need to be vaccinated against rabies. Pets from the EU and listed non-EU countries such as the USA and Australia will no longer need a blood test and will only have to wait 21 days before they travel. Pets from unlisted non-EU countries such as India, Brazil and South Africa will be able to enter the UK if they meet certain strict criteria to ensure they are protected against rabies, including a blood test and a three-month wait before they enter the UK.
The changes will ensure the risk of rabies coming to the UK remains extremely low. It’s estimated that the new rules mean there would be one case of rabies in a pet in the UK once every 211 years, with the possibility of a person dying from rabies obtained from a pet once in every 21,000 years
For more infomation please go to the DEFRA website - http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/06/30/new-rules-pet-passports/
