Joey’s Tuesday Tip – Vaccination

By Scott Lackenby | Dated November 18, 2014

Hey peeps! So here is the Tuesday Tip I accidentally didn’t post last week. But you know what they say, better late than NEVER!

My tip this week is a polerising issue in both human and animal medicine. In human medicine, a decline in vaccination rates has seen outbreaks of diseases that we hadn’t seen for decades, and unfortunately, there has been fatalities as a result. Unfortunately we are seeing a similar thing in the Vet world. Unvaccinated pets are at risk of contracting several serious, and potentially fatal diseases. So what’s the best way to protect your beloved pet from these nasty, but preventable, diseases? Make sure they are vaccinated! Pretty simple, right?!?

So when should you be vaccinating your pet? At GVH we recommend that puppies and kittens be vaccinated at 8, 12 and 16 weeks and then every 12months for life. Without this annual booster, your pet may contract one of the diseases we are vaccinating against.

What are we vaccinating against? In dogs, we give what is referred to as a “C5”. A C5 vaccination gives your dog protection against the following:
• Parvovirus: a potential fatal disease that causes severe diarrhoea, most commonly seen in puppies
• Distemper: an incurable viral disease affecting the nervous system
• Hepatitis: a viral infection that causes liver failure
• Parainfluenza: a highly infectious virus that affects the respiratory system which causes coughing and nasal discharge. It is the viral cause of Kennel Cough.
• Bordatella: a bacterial disease that causes a hacking cough. It is the bacterial cause of Kennel Cough.
Your dog can also have a “C7”, which some of the boarding facilities request them to have, which gives them protection against two further strains of Bordatella. There are over 60 strains of Bordatella so it is still possible for your dog to contract Kennel Cough.

So what about us felines? We commonly get what is referred to as an “F3”. An F3 protects us against the following nasties,
• Enteritis: caused by Feline Parvovirus, it is a severe gastrointestinal disease with a mortality rate of around 70%
• Feline Calicivirus: one of the most common culprits in cat flu. It causes symptoms such as sneezing, conjunctivitis and mouth ulcers.
• Feline Rhinotracheitis: another cause of cat flu with similar symptoms to Feline Calicivirus but it can lead to permanent nasal and sinus infections.
For additional protection, your pushy cat can have an “F5” which also covers them for Feline Leukemia Virus, which causes bleeding issues and cancers, and Chlamydia, a bacterial disease that can cause conjunctivitis, respiratory disease, infectious arthritis and abortion in pregnant queens.

My bunny friends need to be vaccinated against Rabbit Calicivirus, also known as Rabbit Haemoragic Disease. The local council and National Parks and Wildlife regularly bait the wild rabbit population with this, and it is transmitted by mosquitos. Rabbit Calicivirus is nasty and fatal, so it’s super important to make sure your bunny is regularly vaccinated.

And while we don’t see a lot of them, Ferrets can contract Distemper, so they are given a modified dog vaccination. It is especially important to vaccinate your ferret if they live in the same house as a dog.

Wow, that’s a lot of info, isn’t it?!? With the holiday season fast approaching and many animals going into boarding kennels, it’s a good time to make sure that your pet is up to date with their vaccination. If you’re unsure or have any questions about vaccinations, please give us a call. Meows for now, love Joey xoxo