Vaccinations...

Vaccinations are a part of preventative care for your pet. They are designed to trigger protective immune responses in pets and prepare them to fight future infections from disease-causing agents. Vaccines can lessen the severity of future diseases and certain vaccines can prevent infection altogether. Some vaccines are given locally, for example into the nose, but most require injection. Some are injected subcutaneous or just under the skin, others are injected into the muscles or intramuscularly. Injections may look easy but there are a number of precautions a veterinarian or technician is taking when giving your pet a vaccination.

It is important to update your pet’s vaccines as recommended by your veterinarian to provide optimal protection against disease. In the first few months of life, a series of vaccinations are scheduled. For most puppies and kittens, the vaccinations should start at about six to eight weeks of age and continue every three to four weeks until reaching the final vaccination in the series. This is usually about four months of age for dogs and three months or age for cats; however, in some situations, a veterinarian may alter this schedule based on an individual animal’s risk factors. Remember that an incomplete series of vaccinations may lead to incomplete protection, making puppies and kittens vulnerable to infection. It is important to remember that your puppy or kitten is not fully protected until ten to fourteen days after the final vaccination in the series. After your pet has received the full series of vaccinations, booster vaccinations should be given on a yearly basis, or as recommended by your veterinarian.

The range in vaccines available for dogs include:
rabies, distemper, adenovirus/or infectious canine hepatitis, parvovirus, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, coronavirus, Lyme disease, and Bordetella Bronchiseptica (kennel cough).

The range in vaccines available for cats include:
rabies, feline panleukopenia/or feline distemper, feline viral rhinotraceitis, feline calicivirus, feline chlamydial, and feline leukemia. These vaccines are often available in combinations given in one dose. These combination vaccines are convenient and avoid extra injections for your dog or cat, but sometimes separation of vaccines is advisable. Your veterinarian will advise you on the appropriate vaccines for your pet based on their specific lifestyle requirements.

For questions or information on any of these vaccines or the diseases they are preventing, please visit the AVMA web site at: www.avma.org.