Vetscriptions.co.uk Joins the Battle Against New Exotic Diseases

Dogs and cats in the UK are suffering from increasing levels of exotic diseases brought in by pets traveling in from other countries. Vetscriptions is at the forefront of a campaign by vets to protect pets from tropical and other previously unknown animal diseases in the UK.

London, UK (PRWEB) August 22, 2007 -- Dogs and cats in the UK are suffering from increasing levels of exotic diseases brought in by pets traveling in from other countries according to the latest CICADA small animal disease survey. Vetscriptions is at the forefront of a campaign by vets to protect pets from tropical and other previously unknown animal diseases in the UK.

The recent CICADA research carried out by Intervet has shown that cats and dogs that travel overseas from the UK are bringing back an ever-wider range of unwelcome exotic diseases with them when they return.

at least in part due to most UK vets' unfamiliarity with them, and they can present considerable treatment problems. We advise all our customers that they should take full professional advice from their vets on suitable protective medication for their pets before leaving the UK.

Vetscriptions Managing Director Andrew Prentis says, "The UK's stringent 6 month quarantine regulations were initially put in place to protect the UK from the Rabies that was endemic in many other parts of the world. What was not generally appreciated was that the 6-month period of isolation also allowed government vets to identify and treat some of the less well-known non-UK diseases before letting them loose into the pet population."

The UK Pet Travel Scheme was set up by the Department of the Environment (DEFRA) to allow dogs and cats to come back into the UK from a limited range of countries without the need to go through quarantine.

The DEFRA regulations require pets to be microchip identified, fully immunised against Rabies and blood tested to ensure that they pose no risk to the UK population, both human and animal. As an additional safeguard, these pets have to be treated for ticks and tapeworms before entry, to prevent a non-indigenous tick fever and a potentially fatal human tapeworm from entering the UK.

The vets and pharmacy staff at vetscriptions.co.uk are advising all owners of traveling pets that despite these tight controls on re-entry, vets across the UK are now beginning to identify previously unknown diseases such as Heartworm, Leishmaniasis and Erhlichiosis, with sometimes disastrous consequences.

"These diseases can be difficult to identify" says Andrew Prentis "at least in part due to most UK vets' unfamiliarity with them, and they can present considerable treatment problems. We advise all our customers that they should take full professional advice from their vets on suitable protective medication for their pets before leaving the UK."

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