1.What should you do when you find an animal carcass?
1. When members of the public find a dog, cat or bird carcass, they should not handle it by themselves. Improper handling of animals dying for unknown reasons may result in the spread of infectious diseases or other public hygiene hazards.
2. Members of the public should immediately call IAM’s 24-hour animal carcass handling hotline at 28870120 to report in detail the location where the carcass is found and their contact information.
3. IAM will send staff to the site for follow-up as soon as possible.
4. The animal carcass will be sent to IAM for further check-up and decontamination.
2. Registration procedure
To register, please tell our staff the services you need. In general, a number tag with letter “Z4” will be given for veterinary consultation or treatment. Please wait patiently outside Room 3 or 4 (consultation room). If you want to make appointment for surgery, have your pet vaccinated against animal-borne infectious diseases, apply license for dogs, or register / adopt a stray animal, you will receive a number tag with letter “Z3”. In this case, please wait outside Room 3 (injection room) or Preparation Room.
3. Make appointment for surgery
a. Bring your pet to the Macao Municipal Kennel where a medical record card will be issued for your pet.
b. According to the registration number, please wait to see the veterinarian for making surgery appointment for your pet. The veterinarian will conduct a preliminary body check for your pet before an appointment is made. When the appointment is successfully completed, you will receive a notice of the surgery date and time, and an information sheet regarding the surgery.
4. Points to note before surgery
a. Withhold food and water from your pet for 8 hours before the surgery.
b. Please inform the veterinarian in charge if your pet has developed symptoms such as asthma, coughing, vomiting, abnormal anxiety or excitement, or if it is in the middle of menstrual cycle, pregnant or allergic to medicine.
c. There is a potential risk for surgery that requires full anesthesia. Though the risk is extremely low, there may be unpredictable event during the surgery.
5. Points to note after surgery
a. The body temperature of your pet would be lower after the surgery, please bring along a big towel for wrapping and warming your pet on the day of surgery.
b. Before the stitches can be removed or the wound is healed, avoid bathing your pet or wetting the wound to prevent infection. To prevent your pet from licking or biting the wound or the stitches, an Elizabethan collar must be used. Feed your pet with medicines on time and apply povidone-iodine on the wound.
c. Light bleeding after surgery is normal, but if the wound keeps bleeding or discharges excessive pus, you should immediately take your pet to the veterinarian.
d. Feed your pet only after it has fully recovered from anesthesia.
e. Normally stitches can be removed from the wound 7-10 days after the surgery.
6. Points to note for vaccination
I. Important points before vaccinating dogs and cats
1. The owner must confirm whether the dog or cat is rid of internal and external parasites, and that it is clinically free of any disease or abnormality;
2. If a dog or cat has a chronic illness but is in a stable condition, it can still receive vaccination;
3. Under the following circumstances, the owner should report to the veterinarian voluntarily so that the veterinarian can decide whether the dog or cat is in a suitable condition to receive vaccination:
(1) When the dog or cat has an acute illness or a fever (body temperature over 39.5 degrees Celsius);
(2) When the dog or cat has an illness that leads to low immunity (such as canine auto-immune disease or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) or is undergoing treatment (such as use of systemic steroids);
(3) When the dog or cat once had a severe allergic reaction after receiving a particular vaccine;
(4) When the dog or cat once had severe allergic reactions to a particular substance (including medicine, vaccine, food);
(5) When the dog or cat had another vaccination within the previous week.
II. Important points after vaccinating dogs and cats
1. A small number of dogs and cats will suffer a mild and short-term (1-2 days) allergic reaction after vaccination. These reactions are considerably milder than those symptoms of the infectious diseases that the vaccine prevents, and will not produce any sequelae.
2. Common adverse reactions to vaccination in dogs and cats and their recommended treatment methods:
(1) Tiredness and unease, etc.; treatment method: provide ample drinking water and rest;
(2) Temporary localised swelling at the place of injection; treatment method: application of cold pack to the place of injection;
(3) Rashes or itchiness on the skin; treatment method: seek medical advice as soon as possible so that a veterinarian can administer suitable medication and treatment.
3. A dog or cat should rest on site for at least 15 minutes after receiving vaccine injection. If the dog or cat shows allergic reactions like rashes, facial swelling, difficulty in breathing, etc., the owner must alert on-site veterinarians immediately for suitable medical treatment.
7. What to do if your pet passes away?
a. Please bring your pet and its vaccination record to the Macao Municipal Kennel and fill in an application form. Bulk cremation service for animal bodies is free of charge.
b. If you would like your pet to receive an individual cremation and retain the ashes, you must fill in a cremation application form and pay MOP500 for pets weighing below 20kg or MOP1000 for pets more than 20kg.
8. What to do if your pet is missing?
You may visit the “Macao Municipal Kennel” webpage for information under the sections “caught dogs” or “caught cats”. If you want to reclaim your caught pet, please refer to “reclaim caught dogs”. If the caught dog is issued with a dog license, the kennel staff will be able to recognise its registration number by scanning the microchip and contact the dog’s owner according to the information. Therefore, a dog’s owner must go to the Macao Municipal Kennel to apply for change of personal information.
9. When you cannot keep your pet at home anymore…
If you cannot keep your pet at home anymore and fail to find a new owner for it, you may bring it to the Macao Municipal Kennel for abandonment. If the animal is friendly and healthy, it can be adopted by others.
10. How to take care of young animals?
The immune system of a young animal is not mature, so it needs extra care. Apart from warming and sufficient nutrition, it is also important for the owner to provide the animal with intestinal parasite expulsion treatment and vaccination timely. Parasite expulsion medicines available in the market are mostly for animals aged two months or above. If the pet can maintain stable health condition after taking the medicine, it may receive its first mixed vaccine after one week. Then the owner should follow the veterinarian’s instructions to have his/her pet done all procedures under the vaccination scheme (please refer to Civil Education Leaflet 6 for more details) and apply for a pet dog license. Effective vaccination and proper daily caring can help your pet grow healthily.
11. Intestinal parasite expulsion
Parasite expulsion medicines are oral tablets. Dosage varies according to the weight and type of the animal (dog or cat). Generally, such medicines are needed to be taken throughout the pet’s life. Frequency and application depend on the type of the medicine.
12. External parasite expulsion
Medicines for expelling external parasites available in the market are generally oil based products. The amount of drops applied also varies according to weight and type of the animal (dog or cat). Usually, such oily drops are to be applied once a month according to the instructions stated on the package of the product. In general, it should not be applied with bath. To apply, push aside the fur of your pet and drip the oil right on the skin where your pet cannot lick it off.