All dogs and cats must be vaccinated yearly;
For dogs: Canine Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parvovirus, Distemper & Rabies.
For cats: Feline Influenza, Feline Enteritis (Distemper), Feline Aids, Leukaemia & Rabies.
Most of the above are here in Spain except Rabies which has not been here for 33 years. Vaccination for all of the above except Rabies should start at eight weeks of age then follow ups two weeks later, 2 weeks after that it is safe to take your dog out.
Puppies have immunity from their mother against some diseases, however, until they have had their injections it is not safe to take them out.
Rabies can be given from 3-6 months, and is done yearly unlike the U.K. which is every two years. Remember that if you brought an animal from the U.K.
Protect your animals against fleas and ticks, here in Spain we have more of a problem with them than in the U.K. Treat your animals every month and check them regularly especially after walks, avoid areas where you see the goat man!
Fleas and ticks are able to nest in your home! Flea and tick collars are quite good, you can treat your animal with Frontline or Advantix - Exspot products as well, some collars are anti mosquito, check the label.
Fleas
Fleas are not host specific, they like dogs cats and you! They can jump from place to place and animal to animal, can carry tapeworm to your dog and act as an intermediate host for heartworm disease and can cause dermatitis, a skin disorder when your dog has an allergic reaction to the flea saliva.
Ticks
There are various ticks - brown dog tick, sheep & goat tick and hedgehog tick. The type depends on climate and geographical location. Female ticks leave your dog to lay several thousand eggs! They can cause dermatitis and anaemia, blood loss, self trauma due to skin irritation, tick fever, rocky mountain fever - Cymes disease and tick paralysis to your dog.
Worms
Roundworm and Tapeworm, treat your animal every 3 months here in Spain as opposed to 6 months in the U.K. Dogs can contract these worms from contact with other dogs with worms, tick or flea infestation, contact with rodents or rabbits, and ingestion of flea or ticks from chewing and licking.
Kennel Cough
You don't have to protect against kennel cough here, and kennel will allow your dog in without the vaccination for it. It is a highly contagious respiratory disease and can be passed from dog to dog like a cold. A nuisance disease which can cause little or no damage to your dog, can run it's course in 1-3 weeks, if not obtain treatment from your vet with aural antibiotics & cough suppressants. Allow your dog to rest, don't exercise much for 2-3 weeks, isolate from other dogs.
Heartworm
A big problem here in Andalucia, heartworm disease is serious and can be a fatal disease in dogs. It is caused by a worm, dirotilaria immitis. The dog is infected by the mosquito, an intermediate host, disease coincide with the mosquito season. As many as 30 species of mosquito can transmit heartworm. The female mosquito bites an infected dog with microtilariae in the blood, the mosquito will ingest some of these immature heartworms in the blood meal. inside one mosquito , the immature heartworms develop, when the mosquito feed on another dog some of the infected larvae escape, during one bite the larvae pass through the animals skin. Once the infected larvae have entered the animal they begin migrating through the tissues and make their way to the heart and lungs where they will mature. You can treat your dog or cat every month against heartworm but before doing so get your vet to test that your animal does not already have the disease. This is done by a blood test.
Leishmaniosis
From May to October - Dusk to dawn - Does not effect cats. There is no treatment to prevent this it can be a fatal in dogs and can affect adults with a low immune system and children. This disease, like heartworm, is transmitted from dog to dog by the mosquito, the disease is from the same family as malaria. A mosquito feeds on the dog with Leishmaniosis, then transmits it to another infecting it. The disease is a parasite which feeds on the white cells in the blood, eats and destroys it then moves on to another cell. there are two types of Leishmaniosis, Visceral which is usually fatal and infects the internal organs, liver, kidneys, intestine; and Cutanea which affects the skin causing hair loss. A blood test is taken to test for Leishmaniosis, the symptoms of the dog tell which type of Leishmaniosis it has. Visceral is usually fatal, Cutanea is treatable with injections and tablets. The condition is not curable, the dog will have it for life, even when in remission from it. Protect dogs with anti-mosquito products and collars and keep then indoors as much as possible in the evenings.
