Vaccinations for Dogs ~ Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.

Pawprints and Purrs, Inc.
Dog Health Care
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Any health care links located here are NOT to replace a veterinarian visit; please take your cat to a vet immediately at any sign of odd behavior or any symptoms of illness or injury. Call your vet and describe your cat's symptoms with any of your concerns about the cat's well-being. Your veterinarian may discover changes in your cat's health that you have overlooked. It is always better to err on the side of caution.

Vaccinations for Dogs

What vaccinations should be given to puppies and dogs?

Vaccination schedules can vary slightly, depending on the type of inoculation being used and the latest veterinary research. Most veterinarians would concur with the following:

Puppies should be vaccinated at 7, 10, 13 and 16 weeks of age for distemper, hepatitis, leptospirosis, parainfluenza and parvovirus. This usually is given in a single combination injection called DHLP-P. Annual boosters are extremely important.

If an adult dog has not received a DHLP-P inoculation, initially two vaccinations should be given three weeks apart. Because of new outbreaks of parvo from time to time, an additional parvo booster is recommended at 20 weeks of age.

Rottweilers and Dobermans are especially sensitive to parvo and should receive parvo boosters every six months for the first two years. Rabies vaccinations, which are required by law, should be given to puppies at 4 to 6 months of age. Boosters are given a year later in Louisiana. If an adult dog has never been vaccinated against rabies, initially only one vaccination should be given every year.

Bordetella, which helps to protect against Kennel Cough and similar respiratory infections, is required by most kennels before a dog can be boarded. Puppies usually are given an internasal bordetella vaccination at 8 to 16 weeks of age. Annual internasal boosters are recommended. If the dog is exposed to a kennel situation, or routinely comes in contact with other dogs at a grooming parlor, veterinary clinic, park or in the neighborhood, boosters should be given every six months.

Coronavirus vaccinations are given to puppies at 7, 10, 13 and 16 weeks of age. Annual boosters are recommended. If an adult dog hasn't been vaccinated against the coronavirus, initially two vaccinations are give two or three weeks apart.

Vaccinations are probably the single most important part of your dog's health care. Nothing is more tragic than a wonderful, loyal pet coming down with a deadly disease that was preventable if the guardian had only kept the pet current on vaccinations.

Your dog's first visit to the veterinarian often occurs at eight weeks of age. This is when maternal antibody protection passed by the bitch to the puppy is beginning to decrease below a protective level. The first visit usually includes a physical examination, parasite control and the initial vaccinations against the important infectious diseases. This is also the best opportunity to get many important questions answered by your veterinary care providers.

Vaccines to consider are:

1. Distemper: causes a fatal disease that starts with respiratory signs and ultimately causes seizures and death. This disease may be making a come back. ESSENTIAL

2. Kennel cough viruses: these virus are highly infectious and cause disease in the major bronchi and trachea resulting in a loud, dry, nonproductive cough. Although, this is a very annoying disease and should be treated it rarely is fatal. ESSENTIAL

3. Leptospirosis: causes serious disease in the kidneys and liver of dogs. The disease is uncommon in dogs and is primarily a large animal disease. Combination vaccines frequently include these infectious agents.

4. Parvovirus: causes serious dehydration from profuse vomiting and bloody diarrhea often resulting in death even with intravenous support. Severe destruction of white blood cells severely compromises the dogs immune system. Some breeds are more sensitive to the disease (Doberman and Rottweiler). The mortality can be as high as 25% in puppies and older dogs. ESSENTIAL

5. Lyme Disease: causes short term serious arthritis and lethargy. Occasionally a relapse will occur several months after the initial infection (see update on Lyme Disease). The disease is never fatal, responds well to antibiotics and long term problems are extremely rare.

6. Corona virus: causes minor diarrhea in puppies that can add to the severity of a concurrent infection with parvovirus. The virus alone is not fatal or serious.

7. Rabies: the disease is always fatal and provides serious potential public health problems. The disease is on the increase in some states. Some states have three year vaccine booster is available after the initial vaccine; Louisiana DOES NOT. Rabies are given each year. ESSENTIAL AND REQUIRED IN LOUISIANA

Many of the vaccines can be combined into one injection depending on the manufacture. Vaccines should never be administered to an unhealthy or sick animal. Their immune system may not be capable of responding effectively to produce protective antibody levels. Schedules usually recommended by manufacturers start injections at eight weeks of age and repeat every four weeks until sixteen weeks of age. Between three and four months an initial rabies vaccine is given. All the vaccines are repeated again in one year and then annually. This schedule can vary depending on the dogs age, your state's Rabies laws and requirements, and the incidence of disease in your area.

Canine Distemper: An infectious viral disease occurring in dogs, characterized by loss of appetite, a catarrhal discharge from the eyes and nose, vomiting, fever, lethargy, partial paralysis caused by destruction of myelinated nerve tissue, and sometimes death.

Hepatitis: A highly contagious viral disease affecting the liver and other organs. It is spread only among domestic dogs and wild dogs and is not related to human hepatitis. Symptoms range widely, from mild to severe, and include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, jaundice, light-colored stool, and stomach enlargement.

Leptospirosis: Dogs become infected by leptospires when abraded skin comes into contact with the urine of an infected host. The organisms quickly spread through the bloodstream leading to fever, joint pain, and general malaise which can last up to a week. The organism settles in the kidneys and begins to reproduce, leading to further inflammation and then kidney failure. Depending on the type of leptospire involved, other organ failure (especially liver) can be expected as well. Leptospirosis is a life-threatening disease.

Parvovirus: Characterized by severe, bloody diarrhea and vomiting, high fever and lethargy. The diarrhea is particularly foul smelling and is sometimes yellow in color. Parvo can also attack a dog's heart causing congestive heart failure. This complication can occur months or years after an apparent recovery from the intestinal form of the disease. Puppies who survive parvo infection usually remain somewhat un-healthy and weak for life.

Parainfluenza: Can be caused by many bacterial or viral agents. It is highly contagious and can cause mild to severe inflamation of the trachea, bronchi, and the lungs. It is characterized by a non-productive cough, occasionally productive. It is usually considered to be self-limiting unless pneumonia develops from a secondary bacterial infection.

Corona: Causes infectious peritonitis and a mild intestinal disease.

Canine Bordetella: One of the causes of the canine upper respiratory disease, tracheobronchitis or "kennel cough." It is a bacterial infection of the respiratory system of dogs characterized by severe coughing and gagging. It is a very contagious airborne disease. Most cases appear after contact with other dogs in kennels, grooming parlors and other places where dogs congregate.

Rabies: An acute, infectious, often fatal viral disease of most warm-blooded animals, especially wolves, cats, and dogs, that attacks the central nervous system and is transmitted by the bite of infected animals.

Parasites

Intestinal worm checks are tests done on a dog's bowel movement to see if there are any worm eggs present in the dogs' body. In Louisiana we see hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, Coccidia, tapeworms, and Giardia.

Only two of the six worms common to Louisiana can be seen without the aid of a microscope. Hookworms can be spread through a dog's feces or can penetrate the dog's skin, or travel through the milk to nursing puppies. They attach to a dog's intestines to feed on the blood. Hookworms can cause major blood loss which is sometimes fatal to puppies. The baby stage of hookworms are called sandworms. These baby worms can penetrate the skin of people and migrate under the skin causing a human health hazard.

Roundworms can be spread for mother to puppies or through soil that has eggs in it. They can cause bloated bellies and diarrhea and vomiting. Roundworms can be transmitted to people also and can cause some serious health problems relating to loss of sight.

Whipworms can cause diarrhea, weight loss and dehydration. They are very hard to detect and also to eliminate. Whipworms do not lay eggs very often so they can be overlooked during the worm checks performed by a veterinarian.

Heartworm Prevention

Prevention of heartworm disease is very simple. Heartworm preventative for dogs is usually started between 2-3 months of age and the preventative is given once each month for life. A daily heartworm preventative is also available. Since heartworms are spread by mosquitoes which are prevalent in Louisiana all year long, the preventative must be given all year long unlike some other areas of the United States where the pills can be given only 6-9 months of each year. Heartworms are the most life threatening parasite dogs can have. The microfilia (baby heartworms) are deposited in the dog's body by a mosquito bite. These baby worms grow and move to the heart where the damage to your pet's health is done. Symptoms of heartworms do not show up sometimes for years. but early tests performed by your veterinarian will diagnose the disease before much damage is done. Your dog should be on the medication every month for life with once yearly testing to make sure the preventative is doing it's job.

Birth Control

Our organization and the vets who care for our sanctuary and adoptive dogs recommend surgery by 2-3 months of age to prevent your dog from being able to reproduce. For male dogs the procedure is called neutering or castration and for female dogs it is called ovariohysterectomy. Neutering your pet has many advantages. Male dogs will not roam away from home which cuts down dramatically on the chances of being hit by a car or being in a fight with other dogs. The surgery involves complete removal of both testicles while under a general anesthesia. An ovariohysterectomy means the surgical removal of both ovaries and the uterus. This surgery is the same procedure performed in women called a hysterectomy. In women the ovaries are generally not removed. Female dogs have a 200% less chance of developing breast cancer if the ovariohysterectomy is done before the first heat cycle. Breast cancer is a very common form of cancer in animals.

Additional vaccine information:

Vaccination Failures in Dogs

Page URL: http://www.sniksnak.com/doghealth/vaccinations.html

Resource References:
Core Animal Hospital
Daniel Core, DMV Bossier City, LA
Southern Hills Animal Hospital
M. E. Williams, DMV Shreveport, LA

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