Vaccines

Today I'm going to write about why we give vaccines and a brief overview of each vaccine.  I will talk about each individual disease we vaccinate against separately.
Puppies and kittens are on different schedules, and obviously get different vaccines.  I will start with dogs.
Dogs are usually started with vaccines at about 6 weeks of age, and are boosted until about 15 weeks of age.  The reason for vaccinating until a certain age is that the puppies should get some protection from their mother and that protection starts to wane between 10 and 12 weeks of age.  We need to make sure that the puppies immune system is responding, which is why we go so long.  The reason why we recommend starting so early is that not all the puppies in a litter get even amount of protection, especially in large litters.
The recommend, or core, vaccines for dogs include: distemper virus, adenovirus (which causes a form of hepatitis), parvovirus, parainfluenza (which causes severe upper respiratory disease) and rabies.
The non-core, or optional, vaccines are leptospirosis, bordetella (kennel cough) and coronavirus.

Kittens are usually vaccinated between the ages of 6 weeks and 12 weeks.  Cat litters are usually smaller than dog litters.  Cats usually do not have more than 6 to 8 kittens, while some dogs can have 12 to 15 puppies per litter.  This means that cats are more likely to get protection from their mother and that protection wanes faster, which is why we vaccinate them less.
The core vaccines for a cat are: rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, panleukopenia, chlamydia and rabies.
The non-core vaccines are leukemia.
The vaccine that is available, but not recommended for cats is FIV vaccine.

There are a lot of people worried about over vaccinating their pets.  The immune response for each part of the vaccine varies and different parts are due on different schedules.  Once your pet is past the initial series of vaccines, the immune response lasts for at least a year, but beyond that it depends on a lot of factors which is why it is important to talk to your veterinarian about the best vaccine schedule for your pet .  They will be able to help you determine your animals level of risk and plan the best time to re-vaccinate your pet.