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Providing The Quality Care Your Pet Deserves

Vaccines:

The good, the bad, and the ugly!

Vaccinations remain an important component of preventive medicine for your pet. They are especially important for puppies and kittens. Adult animals need vaccines too, but reccomen- dations for adult vaccinations are evolving as the vaccines themselves change, and as more research is done in the field.

We still see diseases that could easily be prevented by a good vaccination protocol - parvovirus, canine distemper virus, panleukopenia (feline distemper), and feline leukemia, to name a few. By starting your puppy or kitten on a personalized vaccination protocol, we can keep him or her as protected as possible.

We do not prescibe to indiscriminantly vaccinating every pet with every vaccination that is available, however. It is important to evaluate every animal individually, and to choose vaccinations for diseases that they are most likely to need protection against. Factors such as age, activity, travel habits and lifestyle of your pet help us to decide which vaccines to administer.

As pets age, they may not need to receive all vaccines every year. Different vaccines provide differing periods of immunity (protection). Bacterial vaccines such as those for Leptospirosis, Bordetella (kennel-cough), and Lyme disease need to be given at least yearly for optimal protection. Viral vaccines for diseases such as Distemper and Parvovirus have been shown to provide protection for 3 years in some instances.

The other thing to note is that not all brands and types of vaccines provide equal protection. Many over-the-counter and mail-order vaccines are based on old technology, and are not as highly refined as the newest generation of vaccines. This means that they may be more likely to cause allergic reactions when given, and may not give as high a level of immunity. We are utilizing the most up-to-date vaccine technology in order to best protect your pet, while minimizing the potential for side-effects and adverse reactions.

Vaccinations for cats have had the most technological advances at this point. Rarely, cats can form a type of tumor at the site of some vaccinations (fibrosarcoma). Reasearch seems to point to vaccines containing an "adjuvant". This adjuvant is necessary in vaccines made from killed viruses in order to stimulate the body's immune system to recongize the vaccine and to therefore produce immunity. A very small number of cats may over-react to an adjuvant, with the result being a fibrosarcoma devoloping in the place where the vaccine was given. Vaccines against feline leukemia and rabies usually contained an adjuvant. Now, we have non-adjuvanted vaccines available for these diseases, which means we can provide protection against these deadly diseases without worrying about the risk, however small, of devoloping a fibrosarcoma.

Even if your pet does not need an "annual" vaccination, it is still important to have exams done at least yearly. We look for the early signs of diseases developing, do screening blood tests for certain disorders, and generally check over the different systems to be sure your pet is healthy. This also allows you to discuss questions you may have about diet, flea and other parasite control, behavior issues, aging, etc.

Please feel free to ask any questions you have regarding prevetative care for your pet.