Vaccinations provide proven life-saving benefits, are associated with minimal risk, and should be part of routine preventative health care. Life stage, lifestyle, risk of exposure, and underlying medical conditions are all considered when determining which vaccinations you pet should receive.
There are many different types of vaccinations, but they can be divided into 2 groups: non-infectious and infectious. Non-infectious vaccinations include inactivated, killed, dead, conventional and recombinant subunit, plasmid-DNA, and a venomous. Infectious vaccinations include attenuated, a virulent, modified live, and recombinant viral vectored. In general, all vaccines are quite safe and only a small percentage of vaccinated dogs and cats, regardless or type of vaccine, develop severe adverse reactions.
Vaccinations are also classified into core and non-core vaccinations. Core vaccines are recommended for all patients. The disease in core vaccinations have significant morbidity and mortality, are widely distributed, and in general, vaccinations results in relatively good protection from disease. Core vaccinations for dogs include canine parvovirus, distemper virus and adenovirus-2 vaccinations. Rabies is considered a core vaccination for dogs and cats, and is required by law. Core vaccinations for cats include feline herpesvirus 1, feline calicivirus, and feline panleukopenia virus.
Non-core vaccinations are optional vaccines that should be considered in light of the exposure risk of the patient, such as geographic distributions and the lifestyle of the pet. Non-core canine vaccinations include canine parainfluenza virus, canine influenza, distemper-measles combination, bordetella, leptospira, and borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme). Feline non-core vaccines include feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, virulent feline calici virus, chlamydia felis, and bordetella.
A complete history of your pet’s lifestyle with you veterinary and help determine which vaccinations are best for your fury family member.