Here is a rundown of the veterinary work we do on the shelter dogs. Our veterinary treatment can be divided into two groups, the standard treatment that we give to all dogs, and extra treatments that we carryout should the need arise.

Puppy Treatments

Anti-parasite Treatments

We routinely treat all puppies against coccicidiosis, roundworms and tapeworms. As needed we treat against Sarcoptic mange Demodex and Ringworm

Vaccination

We follow the protocol recommended by the American Animal Hospital Association for shelter dogs. For more information see www.aahanet.org

For the puppies this involves:

Vaccinate all puppies older than 4 weeks of age with core vaccines and repeat every 2 weeks till the dog is over 12 weeks old. We use Intervet DHPPI vaccine.

Rabies Vaccination

Puppies older than 12 weeks receive rabies vaccination with their final DHPPI inoculation. Puppies older than 8 weeks but younger than 12 weeks old will receive a Rabies Vaccination with recommendation to revaccinate after 1 month. We use Nobivac Rabies Vaccine made by Intervet.

Microchip

We implant an ISO standard microchip in all the puppies before they travel.

Sterilisation

We try to sterilise most of the puppies before they travel. Males will be castrated if we are able to palpate both testicles without difficulty. Females will be sterilised if they are older than 3 months.

Other Treatments

In puppies that arrive at the shelter in a weak, undernourished, unthrifty, or unhealthy state are treated with interferon to boost their immune system. We use Virbragen Omega for these cases. This treatment is not routinely used on all puppies only as the need demands.

We provide surgical treatments should it be required see Surgery section  

Adult Dogs

We routinely treat all the dogs against Roundworms and Tapeworms and as needed against tick infestation and against Hookworm. We vaccinate all adult dogs according to the recommendations of the American Animal Hospital Association for Shelter Dogs. All adult Dogs are vaccinated against Rabies. We use the Intervet Line of Canine Vaccines, the same as for the puppies. All dogs will have an ISO standard microchip before travelling. We blood test all the dogs for Leishmania and Erlichea before travelling we use an in practice ELISA Test.

Should we detect any other problem we send blood samples to an outside Laboratory for full health profile. We may take X-Rays as needed we have H/F 300 ma equipment in the Clinic; the films are interpreted by Dr Carlos Macias.

Surgery

All adult dogs are sterilised before they are allowed to be adopted. The surgery is carried out to the highest professional standards. All dogs receive high standard analgesia and premeditation. We induce anaesthesia using Propofol and maintain on Isofurane. The surgery is carried out using aseptic technique, all instruments are sterilised by autoclave and single use gloves gowns and drapes are used for each dog. The best quality suture material is used; we use intradermal polidoxone sutures to alleviate the need for suture removal in the new home.

We carry out many other surgical procedures on the shelter dogs as needed: Recently we have repaired hernias; carried out intestinal resection and anastomosis; done plastic surgery for reconstruction of severe wounds; and of course, treated several pyometras