Vaccination Guidelines

Vaccines are one component of an overall preventive health care plan based on age, breed, heath status, environment and lifestyle of the animal. Vaccines are divided into two groups, Core Vaccines ( recommended ) and Non-Core Vaccines ( optional, based on lifestyle and geological exposure ).

The issue of vaccinations used to be fairly simple. Vaccinations prevent diseases, therefore it was standard practice to vaccinate on an annual basis. Today, veterinarians and pet owners are recognizing that annual vaccinations are not necessary and in fact, can be harmful.

Scientific evidence shows, in some dogs, vaccinations cause the to overreact, creating autoimmune diseases, in which the body sees it own tissue as foreign and attacks it.

Poodles are among the breeds identified as being particularly prone to problems caused by vaccinations. As a result, poodle owners should take care that their poodles are not over-vaccinated. Your poodles vaccination schedule should be determined with your veterinarian. Decisions must be made on an individual basis, based on risk and lifestyle factors.

Vaccination Guidelines and Recommendations

The Rabies vaccine is the only vaccination required by law. The Rabies vaccine is licensed as a 1-year vaccine or 3-year vaccine, although state or local statutes may dictate otherwise.

Research has shown that most core vaccines last up to 7 years. Most core vaccines are licensed as 1-year vaccines, which means the vaccine manufacture only guarantees the vaccine effective for one year.

Vaccination Guidelines set by the American Animal Hospital Association
Vaccine	Initial Vaccination	Re-vaccination
Core Vaccines: Parvovirus Distemper Adenovirus (Hepatitis)	Puppy minimum of 3 doses between the ages of 6 and 16 weeks administered at 3-4 week intervals. Final dose should be given at 14 – 16 weeks of age. Adult Two doses, 3 – 4 weeks apart.	All puppies should receive a 1-year booster vaccination 1 year after the initial puppy series. Following this vaccination, re-vaccination is recommended every 3 years or longer.
Core Vaccine: Rabies 1-year Rabies 3-year	Puppy One dose as early as 3 months of age. Adult A single dose. Where authorized by local/state statues, a 3-year Rabies vaccine may be substituted for a 1-year Rabies vaccine.	The second rabies vaccination should be given 1 year following administration of the first dose, regardless of the animals age. Booster vaccines can then be given at 1 year intervals or 3 year intervals.
Noncore Vaccine: Bordetella	Initial dosages for puppies and adults are two doses given 2 – 4 weeks apart.	Annually May be given every 6 months for high-risk environments or high-risk animals not protected by annual booster.
Non-core Vaccine: Parainfluenza Virus	Puppy Administer at 6-8 weeks of age, then every 3-4 weeks until 12-14 weeks of age. Adult One dose is adequate	After a booster at 1 year, re-vaccination once every 3 years is considered protective. There is no evidence that parainfluenza vaccine produces any cross immunity to the recently reported canine influenza virus
Noncore Vaccine: Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme borreliosis)	Puppy Initial dose given at 9-12 weeks of age with a second dose 2-4 weeks later. Adult Two doses 2-4 weeks apart	Annually just prior to tick season. Recommended only for use in dogs with a known high risk of exposure to vector ticks.
Noncore Vaccine: Leptospira	Puppy one dose at 12 weeks of age and one dose at 14-16 weeks of age. Adult Two doses, 2-4 weeks apart	Annual boosters are not routinely recommended for all dogs. Vaccination should be restricted to use in areas where a reasonable risk of exposure has been established.

Preventive Health Care

One response to “Vaccination Guidelines”

lyme disease pictures
February 2, 2010 at 9:09 pm | Permalink

Lyme disease is a condition that is created by a specific bacterium that is referred to as Borrelia Burgdorferi.
lyme disease pictures