Vaccination

There are many dangerous or even fatal diseases that can be easily prevented using vaccines. Some of these diseases will be fatal even if caught early and treated properly. Your new puppy or kitten will receive a series of vaccinations monthly until it is over 4 months old. Then most animals require vaccines yearly or every 3 years. Based on your individual animals’ environment and risk for contracting these diseases, different vaccines will be recommended.

Canine Patients are Vaccinated for:

Rabies – a viral infection that affects the brain and spinal cord and once contracted, results in fatality. This infection is passed through saliva and blood (bites most commonly) and can be transmitted to humans. The law requires protection against the rabies virus. We want to help protect your family and your pets.

DA2PP – the components of this vaccination are recommended for all puppies. The Da2PP vaccine is a combination vaccine that protects against the following:

• D – Distemper; a contagious, viral disease that affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and central nervous systems. Puppies ages 3-6 months are extremely susceptible to infection and, once infected, this virus contributes toward a high mortality rate.
• A2 – Adenovirus type 1 and 2; type 1 causes an acute liver infection known as infectious canine hepatitis; type 2 causes respiratory disease and is associated with ‘kennel cough.’
• P – Parvovirus; a highly contagious virus that has a high mortality rate when left untreated. Signs include lethargy, vomiting, fever, and diarrhea which causes dehydration.
• P – Parainfluenza; a contagious respiratory infection that is seen in areas with high dog populations, such as boarding kennels, dog parks and pet stores, but it is highly contagious to any dog of any age. Signs of Parainfluenza include coughing, fever, runny nose and eyes.

Leptospirosis – a zoonotic (can be passed from animals to humans) bacterial disease that is carried by wild animals and is shed through urine. Leptospirosis can be fatal and causes liver and kidney disease.

Bordetella – a highly contagious bacterial infection that spreads through the air. This infection rarely leads to death, but the vaccine can prevent breakouts of the infection and help the disease be very self-limiting. This vaccine is recommended for any dog that will be in contact with other dogs, especially dogs who visit dog parks, doggie daycare, and grooming and boarding facilities. This also applies to dogs that attend agility trials, performance events and dog shows. This vaccine is labeled for use once per year, but if your pet is frequently in contact with many other dogs or boarding in a kennel often, it is recommended to receive this vaccine every 6 months.

Lyme Disease – a bacterial infection spread by the deer tick. This disease is extremely prevalent in Connecticut and New England. This disease most commonly causes a fever and lameness, but can also cause kidney failure or neurological issues.

For our adult dogs, after they have received appropriate puppy vaccination cycles, we change to a 1-year or 3-year rotating vaccine schedule, which allows us to booster the appropriate antigens and keep protection levels high without over-stimulating the immune system.

Feline Patients are Vaccinated for:

Rabies – a viral infection that affects the brain and spinal cord and once contracted, results in fatality. This infection is passed through saliva and blood (bites most commonly) and can be transmitted to humans. The law requires protection against the rabies virus. We want to help protect your family and your pets. We use a very safe vaccination that causes a low amount of risk for our feline patients, but only has a one-year duration of immunity and therefore, needs to be repeated annually. We also offer a 3 year vaccine for cats.

FVRCP – this is a combination vaccine that is recommended for all cats and protects against the following:

FVR – protects against feline viral rhinotracheitis; a respiratory infection that is caused by the herpes 1 virus. This infection can become fatal.

C – Calicivirus; causes a highly contagious upper respiratory infection.

P – Panleukopenia virus; a severe, extremely contagious infection that can be fatal.

Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV) – a contagious disease that causes immunosuppression and is one of the leading infectious causes of death in cats. Any cat that will be exposed to other cats should get the feline leukemia vaccination, for indoor only cats that have no risk exposure to other cats – this vaccination is not necessary.