Vaccines: Are They Important for Your Pet’s Health?
National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) is a campaign held each August to bring to light the importance of vaccinations for not just humans, but your pets as well. Getting your pet their regular vaccinations is the key to ensuring they live a healthy and happy life with you. Initial vaccines should be given to puppies and kittens around six to eight weeks of age with a final dose administered around sixteen weeks old. As pet parents, we want to do what’s best for our fur-iends and follow the advice of the veterinarians, which is why we want to dive into the reasoning behind the importance of vaccines for your pet; because living those long and healthy lives may just depend on those vaccines.
Vaccines were made to provide immunity against diseases, ultimately known to lessen the severity of a disease or prevent certain diseases altogether. Determining which vaccines your pet should receive is better left to your veterinarian to figure out, as their assessment deals with your pets risk exposure which includes their age, geography and lifestyle.
Age: There are specific vaccinations that are necessary for puppies and kittens to help them build up their resistance to disease while the immunity that is passed from their mother wears off. Once the initial vaccine series is completed, boosters are then required for adult pets to maintain their immunity.
Geography: In some locations, there are higher risks for diseases than in others. Depending on where you live, your veterinarian may suggest your pet have specific vaccines for the type of land that is around you.
Lifestyle: Pets who live solely indoors, such as cats, and have no contact with other cats from the outside will have less of an exposure risk to some diseases than if you had a pet who lived outdoors and was constantly coming in contact with other wildlife and animals. With the higher exposure risk, your pet will need to have more specific vaccines to help fight diseases that linger on other animals.
According to the Animal Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), giving your pet the proper immunizations can prevent serious diseases such as distemper, Hepatitis, Rabies, Parvo virus and kennel cough. Many of these diseases are highly contagious but infections can be prevented with proper vaccines. While there are a variety of vaccines available for your pet, not all pets should be vaccinated with all vaccines just because they are available. There are “core” vaccines and “non-core” vaccines that will be recommended by your veterinarian based on the three risk factors we just discussed: lifestyle, geography and age. The “core” vaccines are recommended for most pets in a particular area while the “non-core” vaccines are reserved for pets that have unique and special needs.
The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) Canine Task Force recommends puppies and dogs to have these 4 “core” vaccines:
Canine distemper virus
Canine parvovirus
Canine adenovirus-2 (hepatitis)
Rabies virus
Some of the common “non-core” optional vaccines that are available for puppies and dogs are:
Leptospira series (a bacteria that can affect animals and humans and is carried by wildlife)
Lyme disease
Kennel cough (commonly known as the bordetella vaccine)
Canine influenza
While we are no medical experts here at Going Mutts Pet Services, we do want to give you a little bit of the medically researched background along with realistic expectations and reasoning when it comes to your pet’s needs. If you’re still on the fence about why it’s important to vaccinate your pet, check out these five reasons as to why it could help produce a better life for your favorite fur-iend:
Reason #1: Vaccines strengthen your pets immune system. If you want to skip risking your pet with infection and illness, getting vaccinated is a safe way to trigger your pet’s immunity.
Reason #2: Your pet’s vaccines can improve public health. There are several diseases out there that are zoonotic - which means they can pass from animals to humans - so by vaccinating your pet, you are helping to diminish any widespread outbreak in either population. Rabies is the most common example of a zoonotic disease.
Reason #3: Vaccines can extend your pet’s life. While pets can survive illness and disease, there are often lifelong effects even after recovery. Poor development, pain, weak immune systems and medical conditions can be some of the effects seen from diseases that were not prevented with vaccines. Vaccinated pets typically enjoy a better health record along with a resilience against diseases as they grow up.
Reason #4: Vaccines can help avoid costly treatments for diseases that can be prevented. Although some vaccine series may seem like it’s burning a hole in your wallet at the moment, in the long run it can be way cheaper than if your pet contracts a serious disease and you find yourself paying for treatments, boarding expenses, medication, exams and vet costs.
Reason #5: In many areas, there are local and state ordinances that require household pets to be vaccinated. As per the Pennsylvania state law, all dogs and cats must be vaccinated for rabies.
Your veterinarian is a great resource for figuring out the types of vaccines that are needed for your pet to help fight off diseases if you are unsure about vaccinating your pet. Whether you believe in science or more natural ways to help your pet have a long and healthy life, the first action you should take as a pet parent is to research different ways and to have an open mind for what information is available.
If you’re looking for a fun way to help your dog live their best and most active life, look no further! Going Mutts Pet Services offers daily dog walks along with trips to dog parks to get your canine friend the exercise and freedom they need while you’re stuck at the office (or at your home office). Contact us TODAY to personalize a plan that will work for you and your pet!
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