Sandfly

Hi
We gave our dog vaccination (3 times first year and after that once a year) we also give him Advantix, drops You put on the back every month.  In the evning he get a Little citronella on.
Ann

We went with the Scalibor collars for ours however the MinPin reacted very badly and is now on Advantix.

We were at the vet to apply for the dog licence and he wasn't surprised when we told him about the reaction to the Scalibor as he's so small. Within a few hours he got blister on his neck and "mental" problems, as reported by others, which was very distressing. http://www.amazon.com/review/R2EDUOD56B … UOD56BYD47

That being said our Chi had no side effects and has been happily wearing it for 2 odd months without any issue. One thing I have read since trying Scalibor is to wipe the collar with a damp cloth and leave it to breathe for a day before putting on dog. I believe this is meant to remove any excess loose chemicals form the manufacturing process.

As others have mentioned there is now an injection but I've not met anyone using that yet. I understand you still have to use a secondary product even once they have had the injection.

Tim

Thank you all:)

MKer wrote:

We were at the vet to apply for the dog licence and he wasn't surprised when we told him about the reaction to the Tim

Hi Tim....Dog licence?? Really...we need one?
Cheers,
Roy

There used to be an annual licence, its now replaced by a one-off chipping

Its the "Licence of Ownership". Its very straight forward, assuming your dog is already chipped (which it must be to bring it into Malta) you take it to the vet, they scan the chip and confirm your ID and then take your address details and passport/ID # and register the dog with the National Livestock Database. If your dog is neutered the cost is less than 5eur. I don't know what it is for un-neutured.

I'm not sure why this process doesn't take place at time of entry when a government vet has to check the animal but thats just what it is (and thats the best attitude for life here, things may seem strange but heck its a new country and every place has their own way.

Note: don't forget your own scanner if you dog isn't ISO chipped, i.e. AVID 9-digit chipped.

We ended up going to the chief government vet (in a practice in Mosta) to get ours scanned as our regular vet didn't have an AVID reader. The cgv was sure there was an AVID reader on island but in the end we found one on ebay from the uk for gbp50. Our vet and the cgv didn't want to double chip the dogs with an ISO standard chip as well as their original AVID 9-digit. This does lead to the question of how they were scanned on entry (we used a local agent at this end so weren't present).

oh I like most things here I think its 3 months to register your dog from arrival.

http://www.mva.org.mt/about-micro-chip.php

Tim

If your dog isnt ISO chipped, I would seriously consider getting a 2nd chip. If your dog is lost and picked up by a sanctuary, they will check for a chip - if its a chip they can't scan, they will assume its not chipped, and after 7 days will try to rehome the dog. In the meantime they will have the dog chipped anyway.

In fact the law says the chip must be compliant with ISO11784 or ISO11785

ps by law a dog must also have an ID tag

georgeingozo wrote:

In fact the law says the chip must be compliant with ISO11784 or ISO11785

ps by law a dog must also have an ID tag

PHEW!! I thought I missed something and I actually never thought of it.

Thank you:)))))))

annjette wrote:

Hi
We gave our dog vaccination (3 times first year and after that once a year) we also give him Advantix, drops You put on the back every month.  In the evning he get a Little citronella on.
Ann

Hi,

I've just been speaking to our vet (still in UK until we travel next month) he told me about the vaccination - as annjette mentions, first year, 3 jabs - one jab each three weeks and it becomes effective a week after that (and then the annual booster). Unfortunately we don't have enough time to do more than 2 of the jabs before we go. So, just thinking ...

!. Do vets in Malta stock the vaccination (as a rule)
2. Is Sandfly prevalent (the vet says the manufacturers of the vaccine say it is!)
3. Please could you indicate costs in Malta for the course (it's about £200 in UK, with £50 a year booster).

Thanks also annjette for the heads up re the Spot on treatment - the vet wondered whether that might be enough on its own?

Thanks one and all for any input. 

!. Do vets in Malta stock the vaccination (as a rule) - yes
2. Is Sandfly prevalent (the vet says the manufacturers of the vaccine say it is!) - yes
3. Please could you indicate costs in Malta for the course (it's about £200 in UK, with £50 a year booster).  - about the same, maybe slightly cheaper

re the Spot on treatment - the vet wondered whether that might be enough on its own?  -it works in a different way, and so doing both gives more cover, but still not 100%

Our vet here has considered everything before embarking on our long trip for 6 months with our 2 border collies and he has renewed their boosters, got their passports, Advantix collars, wormers tablets and Advantix 'spot-on' treatment (under the skin once a month).

If anyone knows what else that we may have forgotten please say so...we would appreciate all advice?

Cheers,

Roy

RoyR5085 wrote:

Our vet here has considered everything before embarking on our long trip for 6 months with our 2 border collies and he has renewed their boosters, got their passports, Advantix collars, wormers tablets and Advantix 'spot-on' treatment (under the skin once a month).

If anyone knows what else that we may have forgotten please say so...we would appreciate all advice?

Cheers,

Roy

Hi Roy, Yes we've got Hannah (Our Collie X) Passport up to date yesterday with her Rabies shot - it was that conversation that sparked the thoughts on Sandfly and our vet kindly just called me with the details. Did you get your Borders vaccinated for that?

Is that what the Collars are for? (Repellant) as well as the Spot On?

Cheers
Matt

georgeingozo wrote:

!. Do vets in Malta stock the vaccination (as a rule) - yes
2. Is Sandfly prevalent (the vet says the manufacturers of the vaccine say it is!) - yes
3. Please could you indicate costs in Malta for the course (it's about £200 in UK, with £50 a year booster).  - about the same, maybe slightly cheaper

re the Spot on treatment - the vet wondered whether that might be enough on its own?  -it works in a different way, and so doing both gives more cover, but still not 100%

Many thanks GeorgeinGozo!  ...Hoping the costs might be cheaper in Malta, as I'm suspecting that people in the UK don't vaccinate their dogs for it and so the lower quantities used here would mean a higher price.

GinG - do you know if it is common for Expats and/or locals to vaccinate or do most trust in repellents?

I'm sure we will go for the belt and braces approach - so perhaps we have the first 2 jabs in the UK and get the last one when we arrive (does anyone foresee a problem with that, both medically and bureaucratically)?

Thanks as ever!
Matt

Just tried to upload a picture of our collars which covers sandfly, ticks and mosquitoes (but doesn't work here) but once a month 'spot-on' as well (it seems) won't hurt either.
Roy

I think vaccination costs more like  150-200 v £200 you mentioned.

I would guess less than 10% of owners vaccinate - why ? its new, its expensive, and most dogs dont even have the scalibor collar


many owners dont even both chipping and ID tagging their dogs (both required by law)

Hi
We paid 175 euro for the 3 first shuts, the vet that we  consultet had the vaccine in stock, And I Think that most Vets have it. The sickness  Your dog can get is lifelong, with medication. The vaccine will cover 90%.But You still have to protect the dog with  some other stuff like advantix.

the euro sign didn't print in my reply, should say 150-200 euros v £ 200

annjette wrote:

Hi
We paid 175 euro for the 3 first shuts, the vet that we  consultet had the vaccine in stock, And I Think that most Vets have it. The sickness  Your dog can get is lifelong, with medication. The vaccine will cover 90%.But You still have to protect the dog with  some other stuff like advantix.

Thanks for the update Annjette - was there also a three week gap between the first 3 jabs?
Best, Matt

Yes, 21 Days!
Ann

Just reading this too http://www.blog-jess.com/2012/04/danger … malta.html

RoyR5085 wrote:

Just reading this too http://www.blog-jess.com/2012/04/danger … malta.html

Thanks Roy - interesting (and worrying)

been out of the loop for a few days while in hospital, but out now and next week we will begin the final countdown and preparations for our move.
Matt