Bringing home a new puppy or kitten is incredibly exciting – and we’re here to help you get off on the right foot and ensure a healthy start to your puppy or kitten’s first year.
There are cuddles, playtime and plenty of new memories to make – but there are usually quite a few questions along the way, too!
When can they go outside? Are they getting enough exercise? When do they need their next vaccination? Is that behaviour normal? And when should they be neutered?
At Tamar Vets, we’re here to help you navigate all those little questions – as well as the bigger ones.
Alongside the support you’ll receive from our friendly veterinary and nursing teams at our Bude, Holsworthy and Hartland practices, we offer personalised emails every two months throughout your puppy or kitten’s first year, helping you understand what to expect at each stage of their development and what they may need next.
And by joining Tamar Active from an early age, you can take care of much of their routine preventative healthcare while spreading the cost across manageable monthly payments. For even greater reassurance, Tamar Active Plus includes unlimited vet and nurse consultations, making it easier to ask for help whenever you need us.
Here are some of the things we’ll help you with during that all-important first year.
Starting with the essentials: vaccinations, parasite protection and microchipping
Your puppy or kitten’s first few months are an important time for building the foundations of lifelong health.
For puppies, core vaccinations protect against serious diseases including Parvovirus, Leptospirosis, Infectious Hepatitis and Distemper. Kitten vaccinations protect against diseases including Feline Enteritis and Cat Flu, with protection against Feline Leukaemia Virus where appropriate.
We’ll make sure your new arrival has the right vaccination schedule for them and help you keep track of when everything is due.
Parasite protection is important too, particularly when you live somewhere with as many opportunities for outdoor adventures as we have here in the South West! We can recommend flea, tick and worm protection based on your pet’s individual lifestyle and risk.
We can also take care of microchipping if your puppy or kitten hasn’t already been chipped. Microchipping is a legal requirement for dogs and cats, as well as being an important way of helping reunite lost pets with their families.
When can my puppy or kitten go outside?
It’s one of the questions we hear most often from new pet owners – particularly when there’s an excited puppy desperate to investigate the world outside!
Puppies
After their first vaccination, your puppy can explore your own secure garden and can be carried outside to safely experience new sights, sounds and smells. However, they shouldn’t be placed on the ground in public areas where unvaccinated dogs may have been.
They can also begin meeting friendly, healthy dogs who are fully vaccinated in a safe environment, such as your home or garden.
Following their second vaccination, most puppies will be able to start exploring public places after a short waiting period. Exactly when this is will depend on the vaccine used, so we’ll give you a clear “go exploring” date at their vaccination appointment.
Kittens
Kittens will usually be able to start venturing outdoors around seven days after their second vaccination, but again, we’ll confirm when it is safe for your individual kitten.
When the big day arrives, start slowly. A secure garden and short, supervised adventures can help your kitten build confidence while getting used to their new surroundings.
How much exercise does my puppy need?
There’s no single amount of exercise that is right for every puppy. Their breed, size, age, development and personality all play a part.
During those early months, the aim isn’t to cover miles. Short, positive adventures can be much more valuable.
Allow your puppy plenty of opportunities to sniff and explore, introduce them gradually to different sights and sounds, and combine gentle walks with play and training at home. Try to avoid repetitive, high-impact exercise while their joints are still developing.
Living where we do gives puppies some wonderful opportunities for socialisation – from hearing the waves and feeling sand beneath their paws to encountering livestock, traffic, other dogs and new people.
The key is to introduce new experiences calmly and positively, at a pace your puppy is comfortable with. And if you’re planning a coastal adventure, please keep dogs safely on a lead around cliff paths.
Not sure whether your puppy is doing too much or too little? Ask us. We can give you advice based on your puppy’s breed, age and individual development.
Food, behaviour, neutering… and all those little questions!
The first year brings a lot of changes, and we can help with much more than vaccinations.
We can advise you on feeding and healthy growth, dental care, socialisation, behaviour and the right time to consider neutering.
There isn’t one perfect neutering age for every pet, particularly when it comes to dogs. We’ll talk you through the options and help you make an informed decision based on your pet’s breed, size, lifestyle and individual circumstances.
For many female dogs, we can also offer laparoscopic (keyhole) spaying, which uses smaller incisions than a traditional spay and can offer a more comfortable recovery.
And then there are all the questions nobody warns you about!
Why is my puppy eating grass? Is my kitten drinking enough? Should their teeth look like that? Why have they suddenly started doing that?
Having a new pet often means having lots of questions – and we would always rather you ask than sit at home worrying.
Making preventative care easier with Tamar Active
Our Tamar Active pet health plans are designed to make routine preventative healthcare simpler and more manageable, while helping you spread the cost throughout the year.
Depending on the plan selected, benefits can include:
- Annual core vaccinations appropriate for your pet
- Year-round flea, tick and worm protection tailored to their needs
- Microchipping
- Discounts on services including neutering, dental care and rabies vaccinations
- Discounts on routine blood and urine testing
- Nurse support for services such as claw clipping and anal gland checks
Starting your puppy or kitten on Tamar Active early means you can begin taking care of their routine preventative healthcare right from the start – while knowing what you’ll be paying each month.
Want even more reassurance? Meet Tamar Active Plus
Puppies and kittens have an extraordinary talent for making us worry!
Sometimes you simply want to know that everything is okay. That’s where Tamar Active Plus can make such a difference.
As well as helping you take care of your pet’s routine preventative healthcare, Tamar Active Plus includes unlimited consultations with our vets and veterinary nurses.
So if you notice a change, have a concern or simply want some professional reassurance, you don’t have to let the cost of a consultation make you think twice about asking us.
That can be particularly valuable during your pet’s first year, when they’re growing and changing quickly – and you’re still getting to know what’s normal for them.
It also gives our team more opportunities to get to know your puppy or kitten. Building that relationship from an early age helps us understand their individual needs and gives you a familiar team to turn to throughout their life.
A little helping hand, all year long
We know there’s a lot to remember when you welcome a new puppy or kitten into your family, which is why our support doesn’t end when you leave the consulting room.
Our bi-monthly personalised puppy and kitten emails will arrive throughout their first year, with timely advice based on the stage they’ve reached.
Think of them as a friendly nudge from the Tamar team – helping you know what might be coming next, what to think about and when it might be time to book their next visit.
Combined with the support of our veterinary and nursing teams, it means you’re never expected to figure everything out by yourself.
Start their adventure with Tamar Vets
From that very first health check to vaccinations, parasite protection, nutrition, socialisation, neutering and all the unexpected questions in between, we’d love to be part of your puppy or kitten’s journey.
As a local, independent veterinary practice, our aim is simple: to help you give your new companion the healthiest, happiest start we can – and to be here when you need us.
If you’ve recently welcomed a puppy or kitten, get in touch with our team at Bude, Holsworthy or Hartland to arrange their first visit.
And if you’d like to make their preventative healthcare easier to manage from the beginning, take a look at Tamar Active and Tamar Active Plus and find the option that’s right for you and your new arrival.
