Keeping Your Pet Healthy

As someone who owns a pet, I know how important it is to make sure my pet is vaccinated and receives regular trips to the vet. The care of a dog can often be as troublesome, and expensive as caring for a child. But it is just as rewarding and for those of us who don't have kids, our pets become our family. Just as we get our children vaccinated against common diseases, we should also get vaccinations for our pets, vaccinations that can protect them from dangerous and sometimes deadly diseases.
Recently during a trip to my vet to have my dog sasha treated for a calcium deficiency, he informed me about updated recommendations on vaccinations and exams that are important in keeping sasha healthy.
All animals should get an annual exam, but only get their vaccinations every 3 years.

The first series of vaccinations my vet recommended were the DHPP vaccinations for my dog, and the FVRCP vaccinations for my cat. The FVRCP vaccinations protects my cat against three diseases.
An upper respiratory infection that is caused by a feline herpes virus, this is called feline viral rhinotracheitis. Calicivirus is another disease that this vaccination protects my cat from. This virus causes upper respiratory infections also. And panleukopenia, which is often a deadly disease characterized by persistent vomiting, diarrhea and a low, white blood cell count.
Vaccinations also protect our pets against distemper, which is often a fatal disease that can cause respiratory, gastrointestinal and neurological problems. Hepatitis, which is a virus that can destroy your pets liver and parainfluenza, a contagious disease that can lead to respiratory infections, and in more serious cases, death.
Certain circumstances in the life of your pet may require additional protection. My vet suggested I get the short acting kennel cough vaccine when I left my dogs at a kennel for a week to go out of town. This vaccination should only be given if your pet is exposed to other animals on a regular basis.

There are certain pet vaccines that you need to skip, even if your vet recommends them. As in vaccinations preventing disease in humans, there are certain ones that have always been controversial. My vet recommends that I don't have my pets vaccinated against Giardia, which is a bug pets can pick up by drinking water from a lake. This is a very rare condition, and if you choose to receive the vaccination for your dog, it will test positive for the virus in future tests.
It is also recommended by veterinarians that we don't vaccinate our pets against lyme disease unless they are at a very high risk of contracting the disease. Vets recommend that we use preventative measures instead, like dog collars that are made especially to prevent lyme disease in animals. Cats can contract lyme disease but usually don't because they clean themselves of ticks before they've had a chance to cause infection. For cats, it's recommended that we avoid the leukemia vaccine because it is not 100% effective in preventing the disease in cats. Which means your cat can still contract the disease. Only use this vaccination when your cat is at high risk.
If your pet is a young adult and has finished the series of pediatric shots, which should be given by the time their 4 months of age, he wont need to be vaccinated again for at least 3 years.
If your pet is an adult over 3 years of age, their immune system is usually well protected so you can vaccinate every 3 years unless they are regularly exposed to other dogs.
If your pet is over 7 years old for dogs and 10 years old for cats, you will need to continue getting their rabies shots every 3 years. Of course all dogs require an annual physical and making sure they get that is a very important part of their development. For informative ideas on keeping your pet healthy visit www.pet-health.org.