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So you want to own a furkid?

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Dr Alif with an assistant giving a dog its check-up.
BY VOON YIH BOON

KUCHING: How often should one bathe one’s furkid? (A furkid is used to refer to a pet that is treated as though it were someone’s child)

The vet at Animal Central Veterinary Clinic (Dr Alif Kurniawan)

According to Dr Alif Kurniawan: “Bathing once a week is ideal. Too often is actually not good for the dog’s skin. The more frequent the bath, the more the dog is likely to suffer from some form of skin disease such as skin cancer or allergy.”

Dr Alif is an experienced veterinarian, having completed his veterinary studies at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

He has worked in his homeland Indonesia and Brunei, and is currently one of the veterinarians at Animal Central Veterinary Clinic, Jalan Tabuan here.

“A dog is the best and most loyal friend for humans. During its lifespan, the owner is the dog’s whole world. “Owning a dog doesn’t mean you are a dog lover. Instead, a dog lover treats his or her pet dog as a family member, not just a watchdog.

“To have a dog as a pet requires taking certain factors into consideration, including expenses, and of course, being competent and having the knowledge to care for it.

“We must take care of them like our own children,” said Dr Alif.

Before considering owning a dog, he said we must:

  • Prepare a suitable shelter in an appropriate place in the house (kennel, cage, etc. in neutral temperature – not too wet and not too hot)
  • Do homework in advance by getting to know the dog’s characteristics

When we become a dog owner, we must:

  • Prepare suitable food for them
  • Always provide unlimited drinking water
  • Time allocation for exercise and companionship (a simple walk is enough)
  • Bathe our dog regularly but not too often (once per week)
  • Vaccinate our dog according to the vet’s advice 

Dr Alif also explained that “from the day a puppy is born, the necessary care such as general check-up, dental check-up, vaccination, and grooming…all are basic needs, which will cost you hundreds or even thousands of ringgit every time.”

As soon as the puppy is between six and eight weeks, it is time for vaccination. Every vaccination costs roughly RM50-80 (Kuching market).

  • Starting from Week Six, dogs are required to have their vaccination done (CORE) on a weekly basis until the 16th week and then annually after that. 
  • The second type of vaccination (Rabisin), is a vaccine to prevent it from catching rabies. It is advisable to have this vaccination done once a year.
  • The third is pneumonia vaccination to prevent the bacteria from getting into the dog’s lungs.
A dog named Belly is waiting for her turn to undergo the CORE vaccination.

“Different size, breed, health, energy and age should also be taken into account. Like humans, dogs also need to regularly practice a healthy lifestyle in order to stay safe.

“The owner must know how to handle them appropriately. For example, exercise. The easiest way is to bring them for a walk or have some outdoor fetch-and-catch.”

Active dog breeds such as shepherd, beagle, or police dogs, need more and intense exercise.

Next up is food. “We must take note and remember that dogs should not consume the dishes that we eat or any leftovers!” 

This is because certain kinds of food are considered toxic for dogs. Food and beverages like chocolate, alcohol, coffee, tea, candy, onions, garlic, raisins could potentially lead to various sickness.

Grooming is also an important routine. It does not matter whether your dog is a short or long fur breed. Grooming is recommended once a month, which includes fur cutting, nail clipping, underbelly, paw pads, and deep cleaning of ears.

“Your dog’s personality is based on how you train it. Even if the dog is active, if we don’t give it the opportunity and appropriate training, it won’t behave in the kind of manner or character like we want it.”

In Sarawak, he said mongrels were actually the preferred choice of many. “This is because mongrels are highly adaptable, they have less problems compared to imported dog breeds. Also, their energy is not as high as (say) police dogs and not as low as small sized dogs.” 

Of course, some people still prefer to have imported breeds. According to him, a short fur dog would be more suited to Malaysian weather.

“This is because our environment is more towards hotter region. The long fur dog cannot adapt to this environment unless a 24-hour air-conditioned room is prepared.”

When it comes to the death of a dog, there is no proper law and order procedure to handle it here.

“Owners can choose either burial or cremation. For burial, the dog’s body must be placed as deep as one to two metres to prevent other animals from digging it up as we don’t know whether the carcass contains any virus or not,” Dr Alif explained.

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