NEW PETS REGULATION

The new Comunidad Valenciana Government launched a new regulation for companion animals, which was published at DOGV last 12-03-16. This new law explains, for example, how antirabies vaccination has to be done at this area. These legal modifications don’t affect in any way import-export, travel regulations nor Pet Travel Scheme. As a matter of fact, pets with EU passport which travel regularly, are not affected with this new regulation since they already have had everything done for crossing the border. The new regulation also affects Vet Practices, which are obliged to inform Local Government about the appearing of certain diseases. What is new in this regulation? Rabies

What is new in this regulation?

Rabies inoculation becomes mandatory for cats and ferrets, even if they are not going to cross the border (remember in the past it was mandatory for every dog, and for cats and ferrets which were going to cross the border). So every dog, cat and ferret older than 16 weeks, must be vaccinated against rabies. Then, they must have a new injection when they are 1 year old, and then, as often as the vaccine manufacturer recommends. Dogs cats and ferrets must have a tapeworm treatment at least once a year (remember in the past you were obliged to deworm the pet only if you took it to certain EU countries). Microchipping cats and ferrets which are not going to cross the border keeps remaining optional, but they must have an official Valencian vaccination book (NOT a passport), signed by a Vet. Do I have to have my pets under this regulation if I just came to this area on holidays for a short time? Every dog, cat or ferret which is going to stay longer than 3 months in Comunidad Valenciana is affected by this new regulation. We must remark

Dogs cats and ferrets must have a tapeworm treatment at least once a year (remember in the past you were obliged to deworm the pet only if you took it to certain EU countries). Microchipping cats and ferrets which are not going to cross the border keeps remaining optional, but they must have an official Valencian vaccination book (NOT a passport), signed by a Vet. Do I have to have my pets under this regulation if I just came to this area on holidays for a short time? Every dog, cat or ferret which is going to stay longer than 3 months in Comunidad Valenciana is affected by this new regulation. We must remark that, if you brought a Pet from the

Microchipping cats and ferrets which are not going to cross the border keeps remaining optional, but they must have an official Valencian vaccination book (NOT a passport), signed by a Vet. Do I have to have my pets under this regulation if I just came to this area on holidays for a short time? Every dog, cat or ferret which is going to stay longer than 3 months in Comunidad Valenciana is affected by this new regulation. We must remark that, if you brought a Pet from the UK, since microchipping, rabies, passport and tapeworm treatment is mandatory for coming, your pet is automatically “legal” here, so, if that is your case, there is absolutely nothing additional to do.

How long does rabies vaccination last for?

This is probably the “million dollar question”, so we are going to try to answer it definitively. What both Spanish and Valencian laws say is: RABIES INJECTION WILL LAST FOR THE PERIOD OF TIME THE VACCINE MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDS AT THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR USE. This means, if the manufacturer declares the vaccine is valid for 2 or 3 years, the vaccine must be renewed every 2 or 3 years. Well, after investigating the instructions for use of all the rabies vaccines we know, we can say that NO ONE OF THEM GUARANTEES AN ACCEPTABLE IMMUNIZATION FOR LONGER THAN ONE YEAR, so according to the law, RABIES INJECTION MUST BE RENEWED EVERY YEAR.

So, as you can see, inoculating every 3 years as they do at the UK, is not a good idea at all, since rabies is the most dangerous zoonosis and rabies inoculation is the cheapest vaccine. About tapeworm treatment, it must be done at least once a year. This implies nothing new in case of dogs, because we always provide some tapeworm pills free with the annual rabies injection, and most dog owners deworm them every 3 months (or every month for covering heartworm). In case of cats, they owners don’t use to deworm then so often, anyway, apart from what the law says, it’s a good idea to deworm the cat (or ferret) previous to any inoculation. The intention of this law is to keep this area free of rabies and to prevent the transmission to humans of the terrible hydatid cysts.

For some extra info, ask your Vet.

CLINICA VETERINARIA GRAN ALACANT EXOTICS

Tel: 966 698 569