What Are All of These Vaccinations For?

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This is just a small definition of the dog vaccinations that you may encounter along the way. Some veterinarians may choose to vaccinate your puppy with a different schedule or with different combinations of vaccines to better suit your puppy. If you have more questions or concerns please contact your veterinarian for greater detailed information.

VACCINES:

DHLPP – Distemper / Hepatitis / Leptospirosis / Parainfluenza / Parvovirus

  • 8 weeks / 12 weeks / 16 weeks
  • 1 year boosters

Annual titers can check for protective antibody levels / immunity changing administration to as follows:
Distemper 1 – 5yrs & Parvo 1-3 yrs

BORDATELLA / PARAINFLUENZA – Kennel Cough

  • Usually intranasal every 6 months for socially active dogs or annually for isolated dogs.

RABIES

  • Administered 4 – 6 months of age
  • Booster 1 year later
  • Boosters every 3 years after that

DEFINITIONS:

DISTEMPER:

  • Viral disease.
  • Affecting respiratory and nervous systems causing: fever, lethargy, coughing, vomiting, diarrhea, seizures & death.

HEPATITIS:

  • Contagious disease of the liver.
  • Symptoms include: fever, vomiting, diarrhea & abdominal pain.
  • Can also cause severe kidney damage.

LEPTOSPIROSIS:

  • Bacterial disease carried by wild animals and in contaminated water.
  • Symptoms include: high fever, jaundice, hemorrhaging, and bloodstained feces.
  • Can affect humans through infected urine.

PARVOVIRUS:

  • Parvovirus (Parvo) is a highly contagious disease that causes diarrhea and vomiting, and often leads to death.
  • Transmitted through contaminated feces in soil.

INFECTIOUS TRACHEOBRONCHITIS (Kennel Cough or ITB):

  • Acute, highly contagious disease.
  • Caused by Bordetella bronchiseptica, canine parainfluenza (CPI), canine adenovirua 1(CAV-!), canine adenovirua 2 (CAV-2), canine distemper virus (CDV), reovirus, and small organisms called mycoplasma. (Bordatella = bacterium & Parainfluenza = airborne virus)
  • Symptoms include: severe coughing spells especially after short exercise sometime followed by vomiting and gagging, watery eyes and runny nose.

RABIES:

  • Virus from wild animals particularly skunks, raccoons, bats and foxes.
  • Attacking the brain and is always fatal.
  • Can be passed to humans through bite or scratch from infected animal.
  • Symptoms include: unusually aggressive irritated behavior, drooling or frothing mouth, drunken walk.

Some kennels may require a current Corona vaccine too:
CORONAVIRUS:

  • Second leading cause of viral diarrhea.
  • Transmitted through contaminated feces in soil.
  • Symptoms include: diarrhea, vomiting, excessive thirst, weight loss, loss of appetite.

OTHER MEDICATIONS:

HEARTWORM (Dirofilaria immitis):

  • caused by bite from infected mosquito.
  • Parasitic infection living in bloodstream and/or heart restricting the blood flow to the lungs, kidneys & liver.
  • Symptoms include: difficulty breathing, coughing, loss of appetite, lack of energy and heart damage.
  • Preventative measures only control larvae development not adult worms so you must test for adults worms too.
  • Annual blood tests needed for the monthly preventative medication.
  • “Interceptor” prevents heartworm, hookworms, roundworms and whipworms.
  • “Sentinel” contains Interceptor and Program (flea birth control).
    Other products to look at : Trifexis, Revolution, Heart Guard – ask your veterinarian what is new these days as products change as research becomes available

FLEA & TICK

  • Program is a once a month tablet for flea birth control (6 weeks or older).
  • Advantage is a topical can be used weekly if necessary for adult fleas (7 weeks or older).
  • Frontline is topical used monthly for adult fleas and all stages of ticks (8 weeks or older).
  • Frontline Plus topical kills fleas, ticks and flea birth control.
  • K9 Advantix once a month kills adult fleas, repels/kills mosquitoes, kills ticks.
  • Neem Oil (Azadirachta Indica) natural remedy for flea & tick control when added to shampoos. Used externally for ringworm, eczema, lice, fungal infections & painful joints and muscles.

TICK CONCERNS:

LYME DISEASE (Borreliosis):

  • bacterial disease from infected deer ticks.
  • Symptoms include: arthritis, sudden onset of severe pain and lameness, lethargy, depression, loss of appetite.
  • Severe forms of Lyme disease can affect heart, brain & kidney.

CANINE EHRLICHIOSIS

  • Second most common infectious disease in US caused by common brown dog ticks.
  • Symptoms include: loss of appetite, runny nose or eyes, depression.
  • Can result in permanent blindness, autoimmune diseases, bleeding complications and even death.
  • NOT COMMON WITH HUMANS.

OTHER COMMON PUPPY CONDITIONS:

TAPE WORMS:

  • Caused by fleas.
  • Caused by infected rodents.
  • Can pass to humans through ingestion of fleas or eggs.
  • Flat rice (linguine) like debris in stool or around bottom (I know, kind of gross).

ROUND WORMS:

  • Parasite eggs in stool, soil, ground fruits veggies.
  • Can cause blindness in humans.

HOOK WORMS:

  • Parasite eggs in soil from stool.
  • Can infect humans.

GIARDIA:

  • Parasite in/around water from feces.
  • Symptoms include: diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal pain, poor weight gain.
  • Can be passed to humans.

OTHER CONDITIONS YOU MIGHT HEAR ABOUT:

DEMODECTIC MANGE (Demodicosis):

  • Skin disease caused by microscopic parasitic mite.
  • Can be localized small areas of hair loss on head and front legs or generalized covering large areas of the body (generalized symptoms include: red crusty skin, warm to the touch with pustules, bleeds easily & has a strong odor.
  • Frequently seen in puppies however adult onset happens after 5 yrs or so and can be indicative of internal disease or cancer.

SARCOPTIC MANGE (Scabies):

  • Skin disease caused by parasitic mite.
  • Highly contagious.
  • Symptoms include: intense itching, reddening of skin, thinning hair, crusts and scabs (bacterial skin infections occur in the inflamed irritated skin.
  • Mites burrow directly into the skin where they deposit eggs that hatch in 3 – 10 days. The larvae burrow up to the skin surface to feed and molt into a nymph stage. The nymphs travel about the skin surface to feed. They molt into adults, which then mate and deposit more eggs in the skin. The entire life cycle is complete within 3 weeks. Sarcoptic mites prefer skin w/ little hair, so they are most numerous on the ears, elbows, abdomen, & hocks.
  • Can pass to humans.