Vaccines, the bain of all Jenny McCarthy’s. You are encouraged to have your pets vaccinated regularly, usually during their annual check ups. BUT do they really need them?? As health care providers veterinarians only real interest is in selling vaccines and drugs,…. yea no that totally sounds right.

The WHY: Rare diseases are rare because,…wait for it, vaccines! Do you know why North Americans don’t see many cases of human rabies in the news? It is because pets (generally) have been vaccinated against the rabies virus and public health manages rabies in wildlife populations with rabies vaccine baits. Do you NEED to vaccinate your pet? well with most cities it is a bylaw to have them vaccinated for rabies….but NEED? the risk of rabies is still relatively low but that is because of past vaccination campaigns. It is the exact same situation in humans! “oh we haven’t seen measles in years! our kid doesn’t need it,…” a month later an outbreak of measles in the news. This isn’t magic people this is science of disease and disease outbreaks. For the record, human cases of rabies are TERRIFYING, I’m talking real life Walking Dead.

The WHAT: We vaccinate to prevent outbreaks of disease. Typical vaccines in veterinary medicine are rabies for both cats and dogs. The other core vaccines are distemper, adenovirus, parvo, and parainfluenza virus (DAPP vaccine) in dogs; rhinotracheitis, panleukopenia, and calicivirus (FVRCP vaccine) in cats. Depending on your area of residence you may also have vaccines you may opt in for (Lepto, bordetella, lyme for dogs) or (feline leukemia for cats).

The WHEN: Every clinic implements different vaccine schedules depending on the brand of vaccine they use. After the series of puppy/kitten boosters typically pets will receive vaccines every year but the type will be different. For example: Your dog may receive their rabies vaccine this year, next year they will receive a combo vaccine of distemper, adeno and parainfluenza. The year after that they will receive a parvo vaccine. The pattern is repeated the next year. This achieves adequate spacing between the vaccines and allows the clinic to maintain regular checks of your pet. Some vaccines need to be done every year such as lepto, lyme and bordetella.

The HOW: Most vaccines are injectable under the skin. For bordetella there is an injectable form as well as a nasal spray and an oral form of the vaccine. There is also apparently an ocular(eye) drop form of the calici virus vaccine for cats, however this is not available in Canada to the best of my knowledge.

The WHO: ALL PETS, AS LONG AS THEY ARE HEALTHY SHOULD BE VACCINATED. Indoor cat? vaccinate, old dog or cat? vaccinate, begs for food at dinner time, annoying but vaccinate.

There is a risk of having an adverse reaction, in fact my dog Ellie had a ridiculous reaction at her last vaccination. Usually it involves facial swelling, vomiting and diarrhea. If this happens bring your pet back in, normally it just takes an injection of either antihistamines or steroids to calm the inflammation back down. For these pets we may decide to skip the optional vaccines, if we are suspicious of a core vaccine setting them off we may try splitting it up into its individual viral antigens or we may pretreat our pets with antihistamines before their next time.

I hope I’ve answered some questions, what I really want people to take away from this is that vaccines are important not only to our pets health but the health of the population in general. Unlike most of the other things we vaccinate for rabies is deadly to both pets and their humans, ensuring their protection helps to protect our whole family and our neighbors.