Vaccinations Protect Your Pet

1. Vaccinations are given to prevent the development of specific infectious diseases.

2. Vaccines do NOT cause a disease, but act as a stimulus to your pet’s immune system, causing it to produce ANTIBODIES capable of protecting your pet against those specific diseases.  Antibodies fight disease by neutralizing disease-causing organisms within the body.  
   
3. Antibody levels produced by the initial vaccination diminish with time.  When your pet is revaccinated, it’s immune system is stimulated to “remember” the specific disease causing organism and manufacture more of the appropriate antibodies.
   
4. Vaccines are not guaranteed to prevent disease because too many variables are involved.  The most important factor is the immune system of the individual pet.  Like people, pets have varying abilities to respond to vaccinations and fight off infections.  Some animals naturally respond better to vaccination that other animals. 
   

5. Very young pups and kittens, as well as aging pets appear to have diminished ability to respond to vaccination. In such cases, it is CRITICAL that the pet be REVACCINATED at the appropriate interval.  An animal that is underweight, pregnant or stressed because of serious parasite infestation or other illness may also respond poorly to vaccination.
    

6. If an animal is exposed to disease shortly before or after vaccination, it may not have time to develop immunity from the vaccination before it becomes sick.  This often occurs in pets adopted from shelters where they have been exposed to all sorts of diseases.  Remember that it takes time for a disease to develop after exposure, and the vaccine may not have enough time to activate the pet’s immune system if the disease is already working in the pet’s body.
   

7. Normal puppies and kittens that are allowed to nurse absorb antibodies from their mother’s milk.  This only occurs during the first 6-12 hours of life and is only present in the mother’s “first milk.”  These antibodies defend against disease until the young animal’s immune system is able to do so. 
    
8. Puppies and kittens need vaccinations to stimulate their immune system as soon as the protective level of antibodies that received from the mother’s milk mav disappeared from their blood stream.  To determine the exact time at which this level change occurs is very expensive.  Therefore, a series of vaccinations is the most inexpensive way to protect puppies and kittens against disease, ensuring the pet is vaccinated at the best time.
   
9. Vaccinations for DOGS that are recommended include: Distemper, Infectious Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza, Parvo Virus, Corona Virus, Tracheobronchitis, and Rabies.  
   
10. Vaccinations for CATS that are recommended include: Feline Panleukopenia (distemper), Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis, Calici Virus, Chlamydia (Pneumonitis), Feline Leukemia, and Rabies.
    
11. Fortunately,  many of the above vaccines are available in the same injection.
    

Vaccination – Your Pet’s First Line of Defense

What is vaccination?  Vaccination is a means of stimulating an animal’s immune system to produce disease-preventing antibodies.  An antibody is a protein molecule that neutralizes disease agents.  When an animal’s immune system produces antibodies in sufficient quantity to prevent disease, it is considered immunized against that specific disease agent.  Antibodies are specific for each disease agent.  A dog vaccinated against only canine distemper virus will not develop immunity against canine parvovirus infection, and vice versa.  This is why vaccination against each of the various disease agents your pet may be exposed to is necessary.  The first time your pet is immunized, a series of vaccinations may be needed to achieve an effective level of antibodies.  After the initial series, your pet requires periodic booster vaccines that enhance antibody production and provide continuing immunity.  These periodic boosters are usually given annually.

How does vaccination work?  A vaccine is produced from a specific virus or bacteria that has either been killed or modified so that it will not cause disease.  When a vaccine is administered to an animal, its immune system still responds to the prepared virus or bacteria as if it were an infection by producing antibodies.  In this way, vaccination actually “tricks” an animal’s immune system into behaving as if natural infection were occurring. Antibodies produced by the animal’s responding immune system then circulate for months following vaccination, ready to neutralize any infectious viruses or bacteria.  Keep in mind that an initial series of vaccinations is necessary to confer an adequate level of immunization. 

Can all dogs, cats, and ferrets be vaccinated effectively? Effectiveness of vaccination is influenced by several factors.  For the first few weeks of life, most animals’ immune systems are not fully competent, so vaccination at an early age may not result in immunity.  Additionally, when young animals nurse, they receive many different kinds of antibodies in their mother’s milk.  These “maternal antibodies” can neutralize vaccines both during the nursing period and for a short but variable time after without stimulating the animal to produce its own antibodies.  To overcome these barriers to immunization, most veterinarians recommend an initial vaccination routine beginning when the animal is 6 to 8 weeks old, and concluding when the pet is around 16 to 18 weeks old. 

            Your pet’s general health at the time of vaccination directly contributes to its immune response, and thereby the effectiveness of the vaccine.  Pets that recently have been exposed to disease agents nay already be infected though they may not yet appear ill.  Such animals rarely are able to respond to vaccination.  Similarly, an animal that is malnourished, stressed, or harboring parasites (such as worms or fleas) may be too weakened to respond adequately to vaccination.  It is for these reasons that veterinarians examine pets thoroughly for signs of disease and debility prior to administering vaccines.         

 It is important to keep in mind that, by itself, vaccination does not confer immunity.  It is simply a tool for prodding an animal’s immune system into creating an antibody response.  It is the quality of that immune response which determines whether the animal is immune to disease.  Some animals, like some people have naturally stronger or weaker immune systems than other animals.  This means that individual response to vaccination varies, and therefore does each animal’s individual level of immunity.  Accordingly, periodic checkups and booster vaccines are your pet’s best defense against infectious disease.

Important Points About Vaccines 

• A vaccine contains a specific virus or bacteria that has either been killed or modified so it will not cause disease.
• By itself, vaccination does not confer immunity; vaccination simply stimulates an animal’s immune system to produce disease-preventing antibodies. 
• Vaccination at an early age may not stimulate immunity because the immune system may not be fully developed yet or antibodies from the mother’s milk may neutralize the vaccine before the animal’s own immune system can respond to it.
• The immune system may be unable to respond to vaccination if the animal is already infected with a disease agent, is malnourished, stressed, or parasites.
• Individual response to vaccination varies and so does level of immunity.
• Vaccination is needed against each of the various disease agents to which your pet is exposed
• Periodic revaccination is important for maintaining immunity.
• Regular check-ups and vaccinations are your pet’s best defense against infectious disease.