Affordable Vaccines and Wellness Care Plans for Puppies in the Kansas City Area
Blue Springs Animal Hospital & Pet Resort offers an affordable and comprehensive Puppy Wellness Plan that includes all the services and care your puppy needs to get off to a healthy start in life. We are happy to accept new puppy clients from Blue Springs and the surrounding Kansas City areas.
What Does The Puppy Plan At Blue Springs Animal Hospital Include?
At Blue Springs Animal Hospital & Pet Resort our top priority is improving the health and well-being of the pets in our community. Many health problems and expenses can be avoided through completion of the puppy wellness series followed by regular wellness visits throughout the lifetime of your pet. To make it easy and affordable for you, we offer a comprehensive puppy plan which provides optimal healthcare.
While vaccines and parasite prevention are vitally important for puppies, at Blue Springs Animal Hospital your baby’s visits are about much more than vaccinations. Raising a puppy up to be a happy adult with an enjoyable temperament requires more than just good healthcare. Our Puppy Wellness Plan provides education and enrichment opportunities to help you meet all your little one’s needs.
Your new pet will receive the following during his or her wellness visit series:
- a “nose to toes” physical exam by a doctor at each visit to screen for developmental problems and make sure your pet is growing up healthy
- vaccinations and boosters against puppy diseases
- testing and treatment for internal parasites (worms)
- complimentary doses of dewormer and heartworm/flea preventative
- advice and education on everything from healthcare to nutrition to house training
- puppy socialization guidance including complimentary passes to Doggie Daycare and Boarding with Pampered Pet Playtime
- gift card toward spay or neuter ($20 value)
- complimentary microchip identification ($70+ value)
When you entrust your new little one to the care of Blue Springs Animal Hospital, you can be confident we will do all we can to make sure your pet will be a healthy and happy companion for many years to come!
What Vaccines Does My Puppy Need?
Our veterinarians monitor local risks for contagious diseases and make specific recommendations to protect pets in our area while being mindful to avoid over vaccination. As an American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) accredited hospital for more than 30 years, we also closely follow the latest research and adhere to highest standards of care.
It is vitally important that puppies receive their recommended vaccinations at the proper age and intervals. Immunity from the mother's milk protects young puppies to a variable extent, but it also interferes with vaccines. As the maternal immunity wanes the puppy becomes vulnerable and must be boostered at specific ages to ensure protection. The veterinarian will discuss the schedule for your puppy and it is important to follow through until the puppy plan is completed.
At your visit we will review your puppy's age, history, and anticipated lifestyle in order to adjust our vaccine protocol to best fit your puppy's needs. Factors such as living indoors vs outdoors, visiting grooming or boarding facilities, playing at the dog park, going camping or hiking, and exposure to other types of animals are just a few things that can impact our recommendations.
The following vaccines may be recommended and are including in the price of the Puppy Plan:
- Canine DHPP: Diseases including Distemper and Parvo which cause serious illness or death. These are recommended for all puppies and are administered at sequential ages with the final series booster at 4-6 months of age. Boostered again in 1 year and then every 2-3 years.
- Canine Leptospirosis: Deadly disease in the Kansas City area which is contagious to people as well as dogs. Administered twice during the puppy series and repeated yearly.
- Canine Bordetella: Contagious respiratory infection. Given once in the puppy series with boosters every 6 mos. Separated from the DHPP to reduce immune stress.
- Canine Influenza Virus: Contagious respiratory infection which causes serious pnuemonia in 20% of infected dogs. Given twice in the puppy series with boosters yearly.
- Rabies: Administered once to puppies and repeated every 1-3 years.
Other vaccines such as Lyme Disease may be recommended at an additional charge only for pets with significant exposure risks.
Does My Puppy Need Deworming and Parasite Prevention?
Intestinal Parasites
Almost all puppies have intestinal worms which are an important health care concern for pets and their human family. The Centers For Disease Control (CDC) reports many cases each year of parasitic diseases which are contagious from pets to people. Most of these diseases could have easily been prevented with routine veterinary care. The CDC has produced a brochure for pet parents entitled "What every pet owner should know about roundworms & hookworms". Another excellent resource for additional information about parasites is the Companion Animal Parasite Council.
It is very important to do multiple fecal tests at progressive ages and to deworm puppies for the common intestinal parasites. A fecal test is included at each visit in the puppy plan and the puppy will be dewormed initially and then as needed based on testing. We perform and recommend fecal testing by centrifugation, which has been shown to be much more reliable than the more common fecal floatation. Please bring a fresh, teaspoon sized stool sample in a ziplock baggie to your puppy visits.
Heartworms
In the Kansas City area there is a significant risk for heartworm infections whether a dog lives primarily indoors or outdoors. Heartworms are not contagious from pets to people, but they are a serious disease in both dogs and cats, causing respiratory and heart damage which may be fatal. Often dogs and cats show no symptoms of the infection until severe damage has already occurred. In dogs, the cost to treat heartworms is substantial, whereas prevention is only a few dollars per month.
The veterinarian will discuss Heartworms and preventative options during one of the Puppy Plan visits. Puppies will receive an initial complimentary dose of preventative and should continue on a regular testing and preventative schedule for life.
For more information on heartworms, view the video below or visit the American Heartworm Society website.
Fleas and Ticks
External parasite control is important for the comfort of your pet and because fleas and ticks can transmit diseases. Fleas often carry tapeworms and ticks carry several dangerous diseases diagnosed in our area in both people and pets, including Lyme disease, Ehrlichiosis, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has identified Missouri as a high risk area for tick borne diseases due to multiple species of ticks that are common in this area and capable of spreading diseases.
Choosing a safe and effective product to prevent fleas and ticks can be a confusing decision. Many available over the counter flea and tick products are ineffective or even unsafe. Adding to the confusion, some safe and effective products work well in certain circumstances, but not in others. Our veterinarians will help you evaluate your pet’s risks and recommend a product for your puppy.
The video below illustrates why it is important to prevent fleas. Just one flea can lay 50 eggs in your home or yard in one day! Multiply that by several fleas over several days, and it becomes clear why prevention is a good idea.
How do I socialize my puppy?
While proper preventative health care is critical to raising a healthy puppy, providing positive early social development opportunities is critical to raising a puppy who is a friendly companion and enjoyable pet.
A dog’s adult temperament is largely dependent on the social care and education provided to the puppy during the first 12 months of life. Fearfulness, aggression, and a variety of behavior problems can result from a lack of positive socialization experiences as a puppy.
During your puppy’s wellness visits, our doctors will discuss and provide educational materials on how to socialize your puppy.
Doggie Daycare, a bath or groom, and veterinary visits provide excellent social opportunities. Each time your puppy visits our office, he or she will meet lots of new friends – our staff love puppies and are trained in the importance of positive socialization experiences.
Once your puppy has received some basic vaccines, we will provide you with complimentary passes to Doggie Daycare and a night of boarding at our Pet Resort facility.
Our goal in providing socialization education and opportunities is to help you raise a happy, well-adjusted dog who will be an enjoyable pet.
Customer Reviews of Puppy and Kitten Wellness Care at Blue Springs Animal Hospital
We have an 8 week old Pug that we brought in for his first visit. We were greeted by everyone that was at the front counter! Everyone that greeted us was very friendly and took an interest in our Pug! We only waited a few minutes before Dr. Cook's assistant brought us back to the room! She went over all of the records we had and went over our options for their Puppy Program and the benefits of it. She asked us if we had any questions for Dr. Cook, which we did, being new Pug parents and wrote down all of our questions/concerns. Dr. Cook was amazing! She was so nice and seemed to genuinely care how we as "parents" were doing with him! She took the time to go over all of my questions and gave us advice on potty training and crate training and gave me a realistic time frame of when to expect certain Puppy goals. We were also encouraged to call if ever we had any questions or concerns. She even asked if it was ok to show him off to the staff in the back and if she could take a picture of him for their website, which we didn't mind at all! I am so happy that we chose Blue Springs Animal Hospital & Pet Resort and will gladly refer them to any of our Pet Parents!!!
Whole experience was amazing. From the moment we walked in the door until we left. Entire staff was friendly and knowledgeable. Dr. Ryder was awesome and extremely thorough for our 8 week puppy visit. I would highly recommend BSAH!