Puppy & Kitten Care
Building a Healthy Foundation From the Beginning
The first months of your puppy or kitten’s life are full of change — and the care they receive during this time helps establish the foundation for their future health.
There’s also a lot to navigate as a new pet owner.
At Abbey Animal Hospital, we’re here to guide you through those early milestones, answer your questions and help you understand what your new puppy or kitten needs as they grow.
Your Puppy or Kitten’s First Visit
Their first visit is about much more than vaccinations.
It gives us an opportunity to perform a thorough physical examination, review their history, identify any early concerns and begin developing a healthcare plan for the months ahead.
Early care may include:
- Comprehensive physical examination
- Age-appropriate vaccinations
- Intestinal parasite testing
- Deworming when indicated
- Heartworm, flea and tick prevention
- Nutrition and feeding guidance
- Behavior and socialization discussions
- Dental and home-care guidance
- Microchipping
- Discussion of spaying or neutering and appropriate timing
We’ll review any medical or vaccination records you received from your breeder, shelter, rescue or previous veterinarian so we understand what your pet has already received and what comes next.
Building Protection as They Grow
Puppies and kittens typically require a series of vaccinations during their first months of life as their immune systems develop.
We follow current veterinary vaccination guidelines while considering your pet’s age, health, previous vaccinations, lifestyle and potential exposure.
We’ll explain which vaccines we recommend, what they protect against and when your puppy or kitten should return.
Starting Parasite Prevention Early
Young pets can be particularly vulnerable to intestinal parasites and other parasite-related disease.
We’ll recommend appropriate screening, deworming and ongoing heartworm, flea and tick prevention based on your pet’s age and individual needs.
There’s More to Growing Up Than Vaccines
Those early visits also give us time to talk about the things that shape everyday life with your new pet.
Nutrition. Growth. House-training. Socialization. Behavior.
Dental care. Exercise. Spaying or neutering.
And all those questions you thought of after you got home.
We want to help you understand not only what your puppy or kitten needs today, but what to expect next.
We’ll Help You Keep Track
There are a lot of milestones during your pet’s first year.
Before you leave, we’ll make sure you know when they need to come back and help you schedule the appropriate follow-up visits.
Have a new addition to the family? We’d love to meet them.