Because We Care

Vaccinations Dogs

It is all too easy to forget the days of severe outbreaks of distemper or parvovirus in dogs, or feline enteritis in cats, outbreaks that caused the death of, and misery in, many many animals. Consequently, we can only recommend vaccinating cats and dogs against infectious diseases to protect individuals against these terrible diseases. Similarly, due to the common disease of myxomatosis in rabbits, we advise at least yearly vaccination of pet rabbits.

We currently routinely vaccinate against the following diseases in dogs:

Distemper: a highly infectious disease causing coughing, high temperatures, sneezing, conjunctitivitis, sickness, diarrhoea, skin problems, fits, or any combination of these. The disease has a fifty per cent death rate.

Viral Hepatitis: an infectious disease that causes severe and generally irreversible liver damage, with sickness, diarrhoea and death.

Leptospirosis: both of the two forms of this disease are preventable by vaccination. Weil’s disease is the more common and causes severe, irreversible liver damage, with death often occurring within forty-eight hours. This disease is highly dangerous to people as well as to dogs.

The second type of leptospirosis is a form of kidney disease that is also frequently fatal. This form is also infectious to people.

Parvovirus: a severe viral gastro-enteritis that can have a high mortality rate.

Infectious bronchitis: although often called “the kennel cough” vaccine, this vaccination protects against bacteria (Bordetella bronchiseptica) that cause approximately four out of five infectious coughs in dogs, and it is by no means restricted to dogs in kennels. Although not usually life-threatening, it is a disease that can cause coughing for several weeks.

The newer vaccine now protects for one year instead of the previous six to ten months protection from the “original” vaccine. There is now clear evidence that the bacterium is infectious to cats and can cause primary disease in that species.

Rabies: dogs that are travelling abroad will require a rabies vaccination prior to being allowed into the country or countries of destination. If the dog is due to return, then he or she will require identichipping before being vaccinated, and will require a blood test in order that a pet passport can be issued.