Vaccinations are a vital part of any pet’s preventative health plan and work by stimulating the body to produce a protective immune response. Individual vaccination recommendations will be made on your dog or cat based on their lifestyle, activity and history.
All puppies and kittens should receive their first dose of core vaccines around 8 weeks of age. Puppies are boosted monthly at 12 and 16 weeks with a distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus, parainfluenza and coronavirus vaccine. Kittens receive a booster at 12 weeks and 16 weeks with a herpesvirus, calicivirus and panelukopenia vaccine. All animals should receive a rabies vaccine around 16 weeks of age as it is a fatal and zoonotic disease with great public health implications. Adult vaccinations are then assessed annually for boosters.
Lifestyle vaccines for dogs include kennel cough (bordetella and parainfluenza-for dogs socializing at parks, boarding, daycare or grooming facilities), leptospirosis (shed by wildlife urine and affects the liver and kidneys), and Lyme disease (spread by ticks after a blood meal, which can cause joint pain, fever, weakness and loss of appetite). Due to the high incidence of leptospriosis in this area, we do vaccinate every dog for this bacteria at 12 and 16 weeks of age.
Lifestyle vaccines for cats include FeLV (feline leukemia vius), which is important for every outdoor cat or cats who live in multi cat households.