Why Should I Vaccinate My Pet? Just as in humans, VACCINATIONS given to your pet will PROTECT against many DEADLY DISEASES. Even if your pet does not leave the house or the yard, they can be exposed to these diseases through STRAY ANIMALS or free roaming pets in the neighborhood. The COST of a vaccine is INSIGNIFICANT compared to the cost of treating these diseases,to say nothing of the risk of great SUFFERING and possible DEATH. Most vaccinations give protection against diseases caused by viruses. To date, there is no known cure for any viral disease, only treatments for the many secondary effects that these diseases cause. Some diseases will ultimately result in the loss of life. Others may or may not lead to such a tragic result, depending on how well the body itself is able to fight off the infection and how effectively the secondary problems that result from the viral infection are treated medically. Sometimes, even if the victim survives the disease, permanent damage may result. For example, sometimes dogs that survive distemper will have seizures when they get older. Fortunately, this can be easily controlled with medication. Also, by vaccinating your pet, just as your child that goes to day care and public school, you will help PREVENT the SPREAD of these diseases to OTHER ANIMALS. If we were as conscientious about vaccinating our pets as we are our children, then perhaps some of these diseases could be eliminated as have been polio and other diseases in humans. How do Vaccines Work? Vaccinations are based on the same principal that natural immunity to disease occurs. They contain actual viruses or bacteria, or portions of them, in a form that will not cause disease, but will stimulate the immune system to be able to destroy these disease causing agents before they can make the animal sick. When these agents get into the bloodstream they are called ANTIGENS because they will stimulate certain white blood cells to produce proteins called ANTIBODIES. These antibodies will then attach to the viruses or bacteria and aid other white blood cells in destroying them. Once these antibodies have been produced by the white blood cells they will remain in the bloodstream for a long period of time to provide immediate protection against any of the viruses or bacteria that they attack that enter the bloodstream. Over time, and this length of time will vary for each different virus, these antibodies will disappear from the bloodstream and eventually there will be none to offer protection. This is why it is important to revaccinate on a regular basis, to be sure that these disease fighting antibodies are present in sufficient numbers to keep disease from occurring. But there is also the ability of the white cells to "remember" the antigens that they have encountered before for a long time, and they will produce antibodies again when the antigen is encountered; the advantage of this is that these antibodies will be produced much more rapidly and in greater numbers than the first time the antigen was encountered. So, even if the antibodies in the bloodstream have dwindled, the immune system still has some ability to fight off an infection. Vaccinating Your Puppy or Kitten There are important things you need to know to understand why your puppy or kitten needs to be vaccinated, and why it is so important that they receive a series of these vaccinations. To begin with, when the mother dog or cat has been properly vaccinated in the past, she will have ANTIBODIES to the diseases she was vaccinated against flowing in her bloodstream. When it comes times for her to deliver, these antibodies will go into the mammary glands, in the "first milk", which is called COLLOSTRUM. This collostrum is a bit different from milk, and it has a different color - sort of a golden, watery color. This is the "milk" that will be present in her breasts when the babies are born. Antibodies are very large molecules (proteins) and only during the first 24-48 hours of the baby's life are the intestines able to absorb them into the bloodstream. This is one reason it is so important for a newborn to start nursing right away. Once these antibodies are absorbed into the bloodstream of the infant, they will stay there for a number of weeks, to provide protection against these diseases. Over time, and this will vary from puppy to puppy or kitten to kitten, these antibodies will slowly disappear from the bloodstream and at some point during the first 4 months of life, the young one will no longer be protected. This vulnerability will occur anywhere from about 6 weeks to 4 months, but there is no way to predict in an individual at what time this will occur. During this time it is very important to begin a vaccination schedule. The vaccinations will cause the puppy or kitten to produce its own antibodies, and thus keep it protected. However, if there are still antibodies present from the mom then this will interfere with the vaccination, and the immune system will not be stimulated. So it is important to vaccinate every three or four weeks, to be sure that the immune system gets stimulated as soon as it can respond, so that the puppy or kitten is not at risk during any period of its youth (remember that any disease is much more dangerous for someone very young). Research has shown that by the age of 4 months, all puppies and kittens that can respond will have responded to a vaccination. So if you continue to have your puppy or kitten vaccinated up to the age of 4 months, or even longer, you can feel confident that it has been protected. Until this time, it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that you not allow your pet to go anywhere where it may contract a disease. Do not let kittens outdoors (for more reasons than catching diseases!), do not take your puppy to parks or other areas where other dogs are allowed to roam. When you go to the vet's office for vaccinations, keep them in a carrier if possible, do not let them loose on the yard of the clinic or the floor of the clinic. Do not let them come face to face with a sick animal. Once your puppy or kitten has finished its shots, then yearly boosters will keep the immune system "ready to go" to prevent your pet from getting these diseases. What Vaccines Does My Dog Need? The major diseases that dogs are vaccinated against are DISTEMPER, PARVO, LEPTOSPIROSIS, CANINE HEPATITIS, and KENNEL COUGH. Most of the time, distemper, parvo, leptospirosis, and hepatitis vaccines are combined into one injection, you may have heard of this vaccination referred to as the 6 in 1, or 7 in one shot. Kennel cough vaccine is given separately, either as an injection or with drops that are placed in the nose. Every dog should be vaccinated on a yearly basis with the combination vaccine to protect against distemper and parvo, and the others as well, and to help prevent the spread of these diseases. Kennel cough vaccine is sometimes given routinely by veterinarians, or sometimes the choice of this vaccination is left up to the pet owner. Kennel cough is very contagious through contact with dogs that are infected with it, but it is not a lifethreatening disease. It is important to have your dog vaccinated against this if he or she will be spending time boarding in a kennel, or going to the groomer's. RABIES VACCINE of course is extremely important, and this vaccination is required by law, either every year or every three years, depending on the rabies laws of your state. What Vaccines Should My Cat Get? Major diseases that cats are vaccinated against include the UPPER RESPIRATORY VIRUSES and FELINE LEUKEMIA VIRUS. There is a vaccine for FELINE INFECTIOUS PERITONITIS but there is great controversy surrounding this vaccine, be sure to discuss this with your vet. Which vaccines your cat should receive will depend upon your situation and what your veterinarian feels is appropriate. There is a small risk of a cat developing a very bad tumor, called a FIBROSARCOMA, at the site of the vaccination. Because of this, there is a great deal of discussion going on among veterinarians and feline societies as to how often and under what circumstances a cat should be vaccinated. The upper respiratory viruses are spread from cat to cat just as the cold virus is spread from human to human. There are 4 major upper respiratory viruses and most often there is one injection that will vaccinate against all 4. This vaccination will not completely prevent infection in every case, but it will help lessen the severity of the infection. Feline leukemia virus is spread most often through bite wounds from an infected cat, but sometimes it can be spread from an infected cat to an uninfected cat through close daily contact when they live together. A cat who stays strictly indoors and is never around any other cats is not likely to get exposed to these diseases. Any cat who spends any time outdoors should be regularly vaccinated for both upper respiratory diseases as well as leukemia, and should be tested for the leukemia virus prior to being given the vaccine. The risk of becoming ill from these viruses is much greater than the risk of developing an injection site tumor. Cats who live in multiple cat households should be vaccinated at least for the upper respiratory diseases. It would also be best to have each cat in such a situation tested for the leukemia virus, to be sure that this disease will not be spread to all the cats of the household. If any are found to be positive, then other noninfected cats in the household should be vaccinated regularly for feline leukemia. The vaccine is not 100% effective, but in most cases will provide protection. Measures should be taken to keep the infected cats separated from the uninfected cats as much as possible. Of course, the RABIES VACCINE is extremely important, and is required by law. This vaccine is given every year, or every three years, depending on the rabies laws of your state. Special Considerations Vaccinations by the BREEDER: Many BREEDERS will vaccinate their puppies or kittens themselves. They purchase vaccines in bulk and administer them themselves to save money. Sometimes these vaccines are fine, but many times, depending on the manufacturer, they are not good quality vaccines. Sometimes they are not handled properly, and thus will be ineffective, and sometimes very unreputable breeders will say that they have vaccinated when in fact they have not. A reputable breeder will be sure that they buy very good quality, effective vaccinations and they will give them as they are supposed to be given. Howver, in this situation, your safest course of action is to disregard anything the breeder tells you about vaccinations, and take the puppy or kitten right away to the vet to be vaccinated. It will not harm the puppy or kitten to receive an extra vaccine, but there is great risk in not receiving proper vaccines. If the breeder is able to provide you with proof that the puppy or kitten was vaccinated with a reliable vaccine, then you should show this information to your veterinarian, and let them make the decision as to whether or not the puppy or kitten should be vaccinated right away. There are also very good breeders who have all of the offspring vaccinated by a licensed veterinarian, and they will also provide you with a form to indicate such. You should still show this information to your veterinarian, so that they can verify that this has been done, and let you know when your pet should receive future vaccines. HUMANE SOCIETY adoptions: The Birmingham Humane Society gives certain good quality vaccinations to puppies and kittens that are adopted. They will provide a card with a vaccination and deworming history for each adoptee. This should be shown to your veterinarian when the adoptee is taken in for its first check up, which of course should be within a day or two of adoption. ORPHANED puppy or kitten: These babies may not have received any colostrum from their mother, therefore may have no protection whatsoever, and it is especially important to start their vaccinations as soon as possible. It is also especially important to see to it that they do not get exposed to disease, so extra stringent measures should be taken to protect them. You should call your veterinarian and describe your situation, let them tell you just exactly what you should do. OLDER Puppies and Kittens: If you have a puppy or a kitten that is older than 6 weeks, and never vaccinated, or you do not know whether or not it has received vaccinations, or you could not afford vaccinations when it was younger, what do you do? If the puppy or kitten is less than four months old, you do not have to double up or catch up on the vaccines it has not received. Or if you do not know if it has had vaccines in the past, it does not hurt to have it revaccinated. You just need to get the vaccinations that are appropriate for the pet's age. And you can ask your veterinarian about what is best. Even if the pet is an adult, and you do not know its history, you should have it vaccinated. Adults may not be quite as vulnerable to some diseases, but they are all at risk, if never vaccinated. DURATION of PROTECTION from a Vaccine There is much current research being done to determine just how long protection (this is referring to the length of time the antibodies stay in the blood after a vaccine - this is called a "titer") lasts from a vaccine. This research is being done in both human and veterinary medicine. There is evidence to show that protection from several vaccinations in cats and dogs lasts longer than a year, but the length of time will vary for each individual dog or cat, and it will depend on what the vaccine is protecting against. So why should you vaccinate your pet every year? Well, until all of this research leads to more specific information, you should do this to be sure your pet is protected. Also, and I think this is most important, with most veterinarians, when your pet goes in for a vaccine he or she will be given a physical exam. In fact, you can and should insist on this, if your vet does not do it routinely. This is so important because there are many diseases out there that can cause subtle changes in your pet that you may not be able to recognise. And many of these diseases or problems are quite serious, and must be caught as early as possible for treatment to be effective. They may not be so serious, but could be causing great discomfort to your pet. Since they can't talk, how are you to know? What Are the Negative Side Effects of Vaccines? VACCINATION REACTIONS: Dogs and cats can have allergic reactions to vaccines. This does not occur very often, but can occur. Most often, within several hours of receiving the vaccination, they will develop hives, large bumps all over the body. This reaction will occur within several hours of receiving the vaccine. They may experience swelling in the face and neck. If this occurs, the pet needs to be seen by a veterinarian right away, but the reaction is easily treated with steroids, and should disappear by the next day. Rarely, and I stress rarely, they can develop an anaphylactic reaction, which is a severe, life-threatening allergic reaction. It is the same thing that will happen to a human, for example, you have heard of someone who is allergic to eggs or seafood, and they eat it, this will cause this sort of reaction. Signs of this reaction include vomiting, sometimes diarrhea or defecation, falling over or fainting, agitation, respiratory distress. If not treated medically, immediately, death will result. Allergic reactions occur only when reexposure occurs, and only if the immune system has responded in such a way as to make a human or animal allergic. This is a special response of the immune system that only occurs sometimes, in certain individuals, to certain substances. Such reactions should never happen with the first vaccine given, however on rare occasion a puppy may show a severe reaction to its first vaccine. It is not clearly understood what causes this, but it is thought that there may be some added ingredient in the vaccine that the puppy has been exposed to previously that causes this reaction. And most pets never develop an allergic reaction to any vaccine. But if you are concerned at all about your pet having a reaction you can handle this in a simple manner. You can take your pet to your veterinarian early in the morning, and leave it all day, to get vaccinated. Inform your vet of your concerns, ask him or her to vaccinate your pet very early in the day, and to watch it closely for any signs of reaction. They will be able to deal with such a reaction promptly and successfully should it occur. If your pet has had any reactions in the past, you should by all means inform your vet of this, and discuss with him or her whether or not your pet needs to be vaccinated in spite of the risk. There are medications that can be given prior to vaccination that will help prevent this allergic reaction and other ways of minimizing the risk to the allergic pet. PERSISTENT SWELLING at the vaccination site: Sometimes, at the location where the pet was vaccinated, a hard lump will form. This is just a local reaction to the ingredients in the vaccine and should disappear slowly, within a month or so. You should take your pet to the vet, should such a lump appear, to have them check it out, and make sure that is what is causing the lump. They should do this at no charge for you, if your pet was vaccinated there. As with any lump you should keep a very close eye on it, if it is growing, getting larger, or becoming irritated or abscessed, this is a cause for immediate concern, and requires immediate veterinary attention. In light of this, sometimes in CATS a certain type of tumor will form at the vaccination site, called a FIBROSARCOMA! These tumors are very nasty, they are very aggressive at their site of location, they invade the tissues and grow to be quite large. They will most often result in the loss of life of the cat, if not treated, and many times the treatment is unsuccessful. However, it has been shown that when surgery is performed to remove this tumor, if done correctly, with lots of tissue around the tumor removed, that sometimes the cat can be cured of this tumor. At least this can greatly extend the life of the cat. If not completely removed, the tumor will grow back. Many veterinarians these days will vaccinate a cat in the hind leg, in case the vaccine results in a tumor. This way, if a tumor develops, the leg can be amputated and the life of the cat will be saved in most cases. Cats that have only 3 legs actually do almost as well as cats with four, they do not seem to notice the difference, and they can get around quite well, so don't let this alarm you! The surgery is not nearly as painful as it would be for you or I, and the cat will be up and around as if nothing happened within a day to several days. FEVER, LETHARGY, OR PAIN after vaccination: Very frequently a YOUNG PUPPY, especially if it is small and/or this is its first vaccines, will appear to be sleepy, lethargic, and painful (for example, it may cry when you pick it up or pet it) for about 24 hours after receiving the vaccine. This is nothing to worry about, the puppy should be back to normal the next day. DO NOT give your puppy any ASPIRIN, TYLENOL, IBUPROFEN, or any other over the counter pain reliever/fever reducers. Aspirin is sometimes fairly safe to give a dog, but this must be only with the approval and direction of your veterinarian. Tylenol (acetominophen) and ibuprofen and related drugs should never be given under any circumstance. Usually this does not reccur with subsequent vaccines. However, if you have any concerns at all about this, just give your vet a call. They should be able to allay your fears. And if the puppy is not 100% the next morning, be sure to call your vet and let them know, something else may be wrong. CATS will sometimes do the same thing, even when they are adults, especially if they have received multiple vaccines in one visit. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES GIVE YOUR CAT ASPIRIN, TYLENOL (acetominophen), IBUPROFEN, or any other over the counter pain reliever/fever reducers. These can easily kill your cat. Vaccine related fever and pain seem to occur more frequently when the cat is vaccinated in the leg. In this case, it might be a good idea to take the cat back to the veterinarian for a check up, he or she may want to prescribe antibiotics if there is a fever, just to be on the safe side. If this occurs, the next time you have your cat vaccinated, you can split the vaccines up, that is, you can have the cat vaccinated with each vaccine at separate times, a week apart is a reasonable schedule. REMEMBER: The vast majority of pets do not experience any significant problems with routine vaccinations. The protection that these vaccines give your pet from deadly diseases far outweighs the risks they may encounter in receiving them.