Your veterinarian will recommend a schedule based on your pet’s age, health, exposures and lifestyle. The clinic’s published vaccination information is below.
An initial series of vaccines is needed during your pet’s first 16 weeks of age. Typically, initial vaccinations for your puppy or kitten start at around 6-8 weeks (after being weaned from their mothers) and continue until they are 16 weeks of age. After going through these initial vaccinations, there are additional vaccines that your veterinarian may recommend based on your pet’s exposures and lifestyle. Vaccination is the best way to prevent against some common life-threatening diseases.
Rabies Vaccine: Dogs and cats should be vaccinated for rabies at 12 weeks of age. The rabies vaccine is boostered throughout their life, and a schedule is created based on the most current guidelines provided by the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association).
DHPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus, and Parainfluenza)
Dogs should be vaccinated by the combination vaccine DHPP starting at 6 to 8 weeks of age and boostered every 3 to 4 weeks until they are 16 weeks old. At this time, a puppy no longer has maternal antibodies and can develop its own immunity against distemper and parvovirus.
Bordetella: If your dog comes into contact with other dogs, such as going to a groomer, boarding facility, training facility, day care, or even a veterinary clinic, we recommend vaccinating for Kennel Cough. Our practice includes this in our core vaccines because of how contagious kennel cough can be. This vaccine is typically given orally and is then boostered annually to help prevent kennel cough in your dog.
Lyme and Leptospirosis Vaccines We also recommend vaccinating against Leptospirosis and Lyme disease. We will discuss these vaccines during annual check-ups and create a schedule to help protect your dog based on their lifestyle, however due to the large number of cases in our area, we do consider these vaccines core in our area. The AVMA has also changed their guidelines on Leptospirosis, considering it a core vaccine as well. We also strongly recommend blood parasite screens yearly for heartworm disease, and three tick-borne diseases: Lyme, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis.
Feline Vaccines Kittens and stray cats should be tested for two common viruses that can affect your cat’s immune system, Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency virus. Cats should be vaccinated for Rabies and FVRCP (feline panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis, calicivirus). FVRCP is started in kittens at 8 weeks of age and boostered every 3-4 weeks until 16 weeks of age. Rabies is given at 12 weeks of age or older. For cats that go outside, the Feline Leukemia vaccine may also be recommended. This vaccine is started after the kitten has been Rabies vaccinated and is boostered in 3-4 weeks, then yearly.
It is important to protect your dog or cat against these diseases. For more information on vaccinating your pet(s) please call us.