Vaccinations for animals: the name of the vaccinations, the list of necessary ones, the composition of the vaccine, the timing of vaccination, recommendations and advice from veter

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

All pet owners know about the need to vaccinate their animals on time, but not everyone manages to deal with a lot of related issues. What vaccinations, when and why are they needed? How to properly prepare a pet, which vaccine to choose and what do veterinarians recommend doing in case of complications? It is worth considering in detail the process of vaccinating animals.

Vaccinations for pets: why you need them

Each animal has an innate immunity that prevents the development of serious diseases. In addition, from the first days of life, a kitten or puppy is protected by feeding on mother's milk. But with age, protection weakens, and infections are not dormant - poor ecology, mutating viruses do not allow the animal's immunity to maintain resistance to particularly complex and dangerous infectious diseases, such as canine distemper or paravirus enteritis. Of course, you can count on the fact that, having been illsuch an infection, the pet will acquire lifelong immunity, but the consequences for the body from such diseases are fatal, and often modern dogs or cats simply do not survive.

There is a myth that if a cat is kept in an apartment, and a dog is kept on private territory, and they do not contact anyone, then they simply have nowhere to catch the virus, therefore, vaccinations are not required. In fact, the virus is easily spread through the air or can even be brought on the soles of the owner's shoes. According to veterinarians, the most frequent clients of clinics are domestic cats, whose careless owners do not vaccinate them.

In addition, one of the main reasons for the mandatory vaccination of animals is that diseases such as rabies, for example, can endanger the life and he alth of people around.

What diseases should a dog be vaccinated against

The standard set of vaccinations for any dog is as follows: against canine distemper, viral hepatitis, enteritis and leptospirosis. All animals are also required to be vaccinated against rabies. Often in the autumn-spring dank season, veterinarians recommend vaccinating a dog also against parainfluenza.

What vaccinations are given to cats

It is not customary to vaccinate cats in Russia, it is customary to think that if an animal does not represent any breed value, then sores do not stick to ordinary Murkas and Vaskas. In fact, infectiondo not doze, and it will not be superfluous to vaccinate the cat against panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis, chlamydia and calicivirus infection.

Types of vaccines

First of all, vaccines are divided by the number of viruses they contain:

• Monovalent.
• Bivalent.
• Complex.

From the name it becomes clear that monovalent or bivalent vaccines contain only weakened bacteria of certain diseases, such as rabies, leptospirosis or parainfluenza, and complex ones provide protection against several types of diseases at once, and there is no need to torment the animal with injections several times. More recently, small puppies and kittens were vaccinated only with monovalent drugs, since live bacteria can all at once overcome the fragile immunity of a baby, but according to the observations of veterinarians, high-quality modern polyvalent drugs are absolutely harmless, and such vaccinations are perfectly tolerated by animals at a young age.

What bacteria are in the vaccine

Also, when vaccinating cats and dogs, you should understand the difference between modified preparations (they contain live viruses, only as weakened as possible, harmless to the immune system of a he althy animal) and inactivated ones (with dead viruses or their particles, which are absolutely harmless to any organism). It is believed that if the immune system did not fight the live virus, then the protection would not be complete. Therefore, inactivated vaccines are given either to small puppies and kittens, or weakened ones,elderly, often ill animals.

Dog vaccination schedule

Sometimes it is difficult for people who have just purchased a puppy to understand when it is necessary to put all the necessary vaccinations for animals and why go to the vet again if the passport indicates that the puppy has already been vaccinated in the kennel. In fact, the scheme is not so complicated:

• The first vaccination is given to puppies most often by the breeder at the age of 2 months. It is during this period that the puppy’s body is not as vulnerable as in infancy, and at the same time it is dangerous to delay, because, firstly, when the change of teeth begins, the immune system will become vulnerable again, and secondly, at the age of 7-9 weeks, a so-called immune gap is formed in the animal's body - the puppy actively eats ordinary food and is not as protected by mother's milk as before.
• Sometimes it is allowed to vaccinate even 4-week-old babies, but only in case of emergency, when there is a real risk of contracting dangerous diseases (for example, an outbreak of a terrible virus was recorded among other animals in the house).
• Exactly 4 weeks after the first vaccine, the puppy must be revaccinated with a completely identical vaccine (booster).
• After a week, dogs are allowed to be vaccinated against rabies. Some veterinarians advise to wait with this vaccine until the full change of teeth. This is also allowed.
• You should wait up to a year for the next vaccination, and then vaccinate after each dog's birthday.

Dogs older than 7 years (especially large or frequently ill) veterinarians do not recommend vaccinating every year, if an elderly dog does not have chronic diseases and good blood tests, then it can be vaccinated every 3 years, and if the dog boasts strong immunity cannot, then the complex vaccination should be neglected, limiting itself to rabies vaccination with the same frequency - once every 3 years. Only it is worth choosing drugs that have been tested, recommended by a veterinarian, and are ready to provide protection against a dangerous disease for several years.

Cat vaccination schedule

Cats, like dogs, begin to be vaccinated at 8 weeks of age. The standard set of vaccines protects against the following diseases: panleukopenia (popularly known as "cat distemper"), calcivirosis and rhinotracheitis. In recent years, veterinarians have also been advised to protect kittens from such a dangerous disease as chlamydia, and for thoroughbred animals participating in exhibitions, vaccination against leukemia is mandatory. Exactly one month later - at 12 weeks - the kitten must be revaccinated with similar drugs. Additionally, at three months, kittens who will have access to the street are vaccinated against ringworm. And all cats at 12 weeks of age should be vaccinated against rabies.

In the future, vaccination should be repeated once a year.

Free rabies vaccination in Moscow

Rabies is a terrible disease that is deadly for both humans and animals. Atdiagnosing this disease, the animal is almost impossible to save, and in 90% of cases it dies in terrible agony. Since pets are the main carriers of infection in urban areas, the state allocates funds for their vaccination against rabies. In Moscow, animals can be vaccinated against rabies free of charge at the nearest vaccination center. Addresses and opening hours can be found on the website of the Mayor of Moscow in the "Vaccination" section on the page of the "City Veterinary Committee".

What you need to know before you vaccinate an animal

The main rule that ensures safe and effective vaccination: the animal must be completely he althy so that nothing prevents the immune system from working at full strength. Thus, it is forbidden to vaccinate pets that are just recovering from any disease or in whose bodies parasites live. Therefore, two weeks before the expected date of vaccination of dogs and cats, it is necessary to deworm (give an anthelmintic) and, in case of severe worming of the body, repeat the procedure and postpone the vaccination. If the animal has fleas, they must also be disposed of at least 2 weeks prior to vaccination.

After vaccination, puppies and kittens may be lethargic and sleepy for some time, refuse to eat. In the next two weeks, babies should not be bathed and supercooled, and also, while immunity is being developed, they must be protected from communication.with other animals. It is more difficult to protect puppies from the impact of the outside world, but you need to try: do not let them communicate with dogs, take them outside in their arms and only for their natural needs.

Things to remember when vaccinating animals

No vaccine will give a 100% guarantee that an animal will not get sick, but you can be sure that a vaccinated animal will suffer the disease much more easily and without serious consequences for the body, and the risk of infection with the vaccine is the least likely.