Puppies are routinely vaccinated against five of the major infectious diseases which affect dogs. Vaccination has helped to make some of these diseases relatively rare but all still occur, in some cases quite frequently.
When your puppy visits us for its vaccination it is also an opportunity for us to perform a thorough clinical examination and for you to ask any questions you may have about your puppies health and well being.
When your puppies vaccinations are complete you will receive a certificate – keep this in a safe place as it will be needed if your dog ever needs to go to a boarding kennels.
What diseases are puppies vaccinated against?
Parvovirus
A common, highly infectious virus which causes severe gastroenteritis. Affected dogs suffer bloody Diarrhoea and vomiting leading to dehydration and, especially in very young puppies, it is often fatal in spite of treatment.
Leptospirosis
A bacterial disease of which two types (Canicola and Icteroheamorragica) occur in dogs. Dogs become infected by contact with rat urine, in ditches or drains or wherever rats are found. The disease affects the liver and kidneys causing a variety of signs, often including jaundice. Leptospirosis is frequently fatal in spite of treatment and recovered dogs may pass infected urine, presenting a threat to human health.
Infectious Canine Hepatitis
A viral disease of the liver. Not very common now but when it occurs dogs become very ill very rapidly and almost invariably die due to liver failure no matter what treatment is given.
Distemper
A viral disease which is thankfully quite rare now, due mainly to the success of vaccination. It still occurs sporadically. It affects mainly young dogs, less than 3 years old, usually causing respiratory disease. Many dogs die at this stage, those that survive the in tail infection go on to develop disease of the nervous system sometimes years later.
Infectious Bronchitis
This is a complex disease caused by the combined effects of a virus – Parainfluenza virus, and a bacteria – Bordetella. There is a commonly available and used vaccine against the virus but it is not very effective. There is also a very effective vaccine against the bacteria but unfortunately the immunity it gives only lasts a short time – about 4-5 months. For this reason we do not give it routinely but only when the dog is likely to be exposed to disease, if it is going to mix with a lot of strange dogs, for example by going to kennels or dog shows. This vaccine is unusual in that it is given by squirting the vaccine up the dogs nose!
At what age should pups be vaccinated?
Puppies can start their vaccinations at any stage from 6 weeks onward. The timing of vaccinations and which vaccinations are given at each stage will depend on the puppies age, when its mother was vaccinated, the disease situation locally and several other factors. Generally puppies will receive 2 or 3 shots and will have completed the full course of vaccinations by the time it is 14 weeks old, or even earlier.
It is a good idea to isolate puppies from other dogs who are not vaccinated until vaccination is complete. Incidentally it is never too old for vaccinations to commence.
Are annual boosters necessary?
This is an area of some controversy at the moment but in general we would say Yes. In the case of Parvovirus older dogs do not so often die of the disease but they suffer very severe illness and take a considerable time to recover. Leptospirosis affects dogs of all ages equally severely and the vaccine can begin to wear off as early as six months after it is given so annual revaccination is vital. The Distemper and Hepatitis vaccines do last for life in many cases but the only way to check if they are still working in an individual dog is an expensive blood test. For these reasons we recommend an annual booster against all the diseases.
Much research is currently underway to discover just how often boosters for each disease need to be given. It is likely in the years ahead that we will not vaccinate for every disease every year. We have looked at all the current available information and decided that for the moment we will continue to recommend annual vaccination.
The annual booster is also an important opportunity for us to do a complete check up of your dogs health. This is increasingly important as the dog gets older as we can, and often do, pick up health problems before they become serious.
