DOGS
The purpose of a vaccination program is to prevent disease. A puppy receives disease protection from its mother’s milk, but this immunity begins to diminish between 6 to 8 weeks, making the puppy more vulnerable to infection.
The first set of vaccinations for your puppy are recommended at 6 to 8 weeks of age. These vaccines are repeated at 10 to 12 weeks, and then at 16 weeks to make sure that your pet is fully protected. The vaccines are divided into these time periods to give the animal’s immune system time to build up antibodies for the particular diseases they are vaccinated for. After this series of close vaccinations, our pets just have to maintain their vaccines once a year, depending on the vaccine used.
Dogs are vaccinated against:
Distemper – an often fatal, highly contagious virus that can cause vomiting, diarrhea, fever, convulsions and paralysis.
Parvovirus – a very potent virus causing bloody diarrhea and vomiting. Seen quite often in young pups, and can be fatal.
Infectious Canine Hepatitis – causes liver damage, breathing and eye problems.
Parainfluenza & Bordatella – these are the causative agents for kennel cough, which is easily transmitted from dog to dog, particularly in kennels or at dog shows.
Rabies – is an incurable, fatal viral disease of almost all mammals, including humans. This vaccine is a legal requirement in Ontario and is also required to travel out of the country.
CATS
The purpose of a vaccination program is to prevent disease. A kitten receives disease protection from its mother’s milk, but that immunity begins to diminish between 6 to 8 weeks, making the kitten more vulnerable to infection.
The first set of vaccinations are given at 6 to 8 weeks, and are then repeated at 10 to 12 weeks, and then at 16 weeks. The vaccines are divided into these time periods to give the animal’s immune system time to build up antibodies for the particular diseases they were vaccinated for. After this series of close vaccinations our pets just have to maintain their vaccines once a year.
Cats are vaccinated against:
Rhinotracheitis – causes upper repiratory-tract infection and is easily transmitted from one cat to another. Can cause sneezing, eye and nasal discharges.
Calicivirus – causes upper respiratory-tract infection. Is wide spread and highly contagious, causing fever, ulcers & blisters on the tongue and pneumonia.
Leukemia – causes neoplastic (cancerous growths) and degenerative disease in cats, as well as destruction of the immune response system
Distemper – an often fatal, highly contagious virus that can cause vomiting, dehydration, weakness and a low number of white blood cells.
