Recommended vaccinations for dogs and cats. Vaccinations are recommended for all healthy cats and dogs. A health examination is always given prior to receiving a vaccine. This ensures your pet will get the best benefit from the vaccine and to rule out any underlying health issues. Vaccines offer safe and cost effective protection against infectious diseases that could otherwise be fatal or debilitating to your pet. Vaccination also protects against infectious disease across the community population of pets. Dogs: The basic combination of vaccines for dogs include: Canine Distemper; Hepatitis; Parvovirus and corona virus. These vaccines along with the rabies vaccine are the most important for your puppy or dog. Depending on your lifestyle with your pet, other vaccines may be recommended such as Bordetella (Kennel cough); Giardia (Beaver Fever); Lyme disease and Leptospirosis. Higher risks would include staying at a kennel; puppy/obedience classes; competition dogs; hiking in wooded areas; swimming or drinking puddles; visiting farmland etc. If you feel your dog is in a higher risk group, please consult with your veterinarian to determine the best vaccination schedule for your dog. Puppies should ideally start their vaccination schedule at 8 weeks of age and from there have boosters at 12 and 16 weeks. Rabies vaccine should be given between 12 and 16 weeks. Puppies are now boosted for 1 year. After 1 year, rabies vaccine is administered every 3 years. Your dog should then be given vaccines and a health examination once yearly. Cats: The basic combination of vaccines for cats include: Feline Rhinotracheitis; Calicivirus; Panleukopenia. These vaccines along with Rabies vaccine are the most important for your cat. Additional vaccines may be recommended according to increased risk of exposure to disease, especially for outdoor cats or multi-cat households. These vaccines are Feline Leukemia Virus; Feline Infectious Peritonitis; Feline Immunodeficiency Virus; and Chlamydia. If you feel your cat is in a higher risk group, please consult with your veterinarian to determine the best vaccination schedule for your cat. Kittens should ideally begin their vaccine program at 8 weeks of age and have boosters at 12 and 16 weeks. Rabies vaccine should be given at around 12 weeks of age. Kittens are now boosted for 1 year. After 1 year, rabies vaccine is administered every 3 years. Your cat should be given vaccines and a health examination once yearly. Antibody Titre Testing After puppy or kitten boosters are complete, an alternative to annual vaccination is having a yearly health examination and antibody titre test. Titre testing is a blood test that shows if your pet has produced any antibodies to a particular disease whether by previous vaccination or contact with the disease itself. A test must be performed for each individual disease. At this point, there is controversy as to how much antibody constitutes protection for your pet. If your pet has a low titre, you may wish to vaccinate for that particular disease. Please consult with your veterinarian about your option to antibody titre test.
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