With increasing uptake of vaccination in rabbits we
thankfully are also seeing the debilitating wasting
condition Myxomatosis far less regularly.
Vaccinations work by injecting a small amount of
the infectious agent in a dead or weakened form
allowing the body to develop antibodies and
prepare white blood cells for a future infection.
Over the last few years there has been a lot in
the press regarding the safety of routine booster
vaccinations and questions as to their necessity.
As vets we appreciate these concerns and have
taken steps to ensure we are not advising more
vaccinations than necessary. However, the immunity
that vaccines stimulate varies between the different
diseases and in individual animals. In dogs we
now only advise yearly vaccination against diseases
such as Leptospirosis and Bordatella (more
commonly known as Kennel Cough) where the
immunity derived from vaccination only lasts for
one year. In contrast diseases such as Distemper,
CAV-2 and PV are now only vaccinated against
every three years as the
immunity from vaccination
lasts much longer.
The need to vaccinate also depends on the
likelihood of exposure to the disease. For example,
the risk of a dog contracting Kennel Cough is much
higher in rural areas or where there may be contact
with rats. Similarly, the risk of a cat contracting
diseases such as Feline Leukemia is much lower
if they live exclusively indoors whereas the risk of
Kennel Cough in dogs is much higher if they have
regular, close contact with other dogs.
It is always important to discuss your pet's lifestyle
and exposure risk with your vet so that they can
formulate an individual tailor-made vaccination
programme to best protect your pet. If you have
any questions regarding your pet’s vaccination
programme please contact your vet for more details.
by
Alexandra Best MA VetMB MRCVS
Southfield Veterinary Centre
Vaccinating
your pet
For pet owners and vets alike, our main concern is to keep our
pets happy and healthy. To aid us in this we advocate regular
vaccination to prevent those diseases which can have a serious
detrimental effect on our pets' health or well-being. Fortunately,
as a result of long-standing, ongoing vaccination programmes,
we now very rarely see severe diseases such as Distemper and Viral
Hepatitis (CAV-2) in dogs and outbreaks of the diarrhoea and vomiting
bug Parvovirus (PV) are far less frequent.
Vaccinate...
Prevention
is better
than cure!