Ponsonby Tails - March 2009

Monday, Mar 2, 2009

Vaccinations are an important way to prevent serious disease in your pet. Furthermore, it allows your veterinarian to regularly examine your pet so that any problems or diseases can be detected and treated early.  If vaccinations have lapsed, or are more than two months late (beyond the due date), usually the course of vaccinations need to be restarted (a vaccination then a second vaccination in 2-4 weeks time).  In an effort to encourage full vaccination protection for all our client's pets, we have made the month of March: Vaccination Amnesty Month. What this means is that any dog or cat who is overdue for a vaccination can have the second vaccination (in 2-4 weeks time) for free. If longer than 4 weeks has lapsed, then two further injections will be required (only the second vaccination for free). 

For the month of March, Ponsonby Veterinary Centre is offering Free Second Vaccinations!  Take advantage of this deal to get your overdue pet back up to date.   Conditions apply, only for vaccination course restarts.

Why do I need to vaccinate my pet?

Vaccination is vital to provide your pet with immunity against life threatening disease and is the only proven method of prevention. For most diseases we vaccinate against there is no cure and for the others the treatment may need to be prolonged and can prove expensive.

For dogs there is the DHPPi vaccine (this covers the standard four: distemper, canine hepatitis, parvovirus and parainfluenza), the Leptospirosis vaccine and a Kennel Cough (KC) vaccine, which can be given either by injection or intra-nasally.
For cats we vaccinate against panleucopaenia and cat flu(herpes and calici virus) as well as FIV (feline AIDS) in susceptible cats.

What do I do if my pet skips a year of vaccinations?

It depends on the vaccine (see below), but generally if a vaccination is greater than 3 months over due, the course needs to be restarted (a vaccination given and then a booster is given 2-4 weeks later).

The DHP component of DHPPi is registered to last three years after the first annual vaccination.  Therefore a a single booster is enough to bring this vaccine up to date.  However, Kennel Cough and Leptospirosis are both annual vaccinations and a second booster may be required if they are overdue.  Both the cat flu and FIV vaccinations in cats are given annually.

What vaccines should my pet be given?

What vaccines are recommended to an individual pet depend on many factors: what kind of exposure to diseases the animal has, what diseases are common in the area, what kind of stress factors are present etc.

Leptospirosis is a problem in some areas of Auckland so we consider the core vaccines for dogs include DHPPi and Lepto. KC causes an upper respiratory infection and is highly recommended for any dogs which frequently come into contact with other dogs (e.g. dog parks) and is mandatory for most boarding kennels. We recommend all cats be vaccinated against the core feline viruses (cat flu).  FIV is also recommended for outdoor cats. The FIV virus is spread via cat fighting and the prevalence in New Zealand is up to 30% in some areas.

If a vaccine lasts a person his or her whole life, why do I have to vaccine my pet annually?

At this stage only the DHP vaccine is licensed by the vaccine manufacturers to last three years, hence all the other vaccinations at this stage are annual vaccines. Another important factor to remember is that dogs and cats are much more susceptible to these viral infections (than say human diseases) because of the way they interact with each other. Dogs and cats have a much higher risk of contracting these diseases.

Can Vaccines hurt my pet?

Some muscle soreness, lethargy and mild fever persisting for a day or two are considered common reactions to stimulation of the immune system. Vaccine reactions beyond this are unusual but possible. Allergic reactions characterized by facial swelling and hives are a strong sign that special care should be taken in administering vaccinations in the future. Since allergic reactions can potentially become worse with each episode, it is important to take heed of these signs, and contact us at the veterinary clinic immediately.

Dancing with the Stars

Rebecca Hobbs and her cat Freddy are long time clients here at Ponsonby Vet Centre.  Freddy is now 17 years old and still going strong, despite some arthritis and failing kidneys.  Rebecca and Aaron are appearing on "Dancing with the Stars". Tune in on Tuesday evenings and make sure you vote to keep them in the game and raise money for the NZ Spinal Trust!