At birth, many pets are taken to get various immunization shots. But after this, most owners do not follow up with vaccination any longer. Luckily, advanced veterinary medicine has rendered infectious diseases that could plague your pets less common.
Yet, still, vaccines remain critical to your pet’s lifelong health. By following the vaccination schedule your vet recommends, you reduce your pet’s chances of acquiring life-threatening diseases.
Vaccinations Are Important
Vaccinations are critical to the health of both humans and animals. They stimulate the body to produce the necessary protection against various diseases and infections. The immune system must be ready to attack viruses, bacteria, and parasites. Vaccinations help the body to become aware of the tools it needs to fight off each disease pathogen.
Unfortunately, the effects of vaccinations wear off with time. The shots administered to your puppies and kittens may not be useful for the dogs and cats as adults. After some time, your pets need to repeat vaccination. It helps to bolster their immune systems further for another period. Unless the vet says otherwise, the recommended interval between shots is a year.
The risks of forfeiting the vaccination are far-reaching. When it strikes, a disease may become too severe. Even worse, your pet could die. But even if the pet beats the disease, animals that are frequently unwell have shorter life spans. By allowing your pet to have regular shots, you elongate its life span.
Besides keeping your pet from dying, vaccination also reduces the amount and cost of care needed. For example, if your pet contracted rabies, treating it would be quite expensive. If an ailment caused your pet to develop some disability, it would be quite costly to treat that also. But, with vaccination, you can rest easy knowing that your pets are protected from many possible diseases or the severity of some.
What Vaccines Does Your Pet Need?
The vet should tell you the kind of vaccinations your pets need. But, fundamentally, there are core and non-core vaccinations. Core vaccines are the kind that is critical for all animals. They are “core” due to the severity of the disease, risk exposure, and the likelihood of passing them to human beings. Rabies can be passed to humans, for example. It’s a zoonotic disease. Vaccinating against these diseases protects both you and your pets.
Other core vaccines for cats include the kind designed to work against feline calicivirus, distemper, feline leukemia, and feline aids. Dogs also need core vaccination against distemper, parvovirus, Bordetella, influenza, and canine hepatitis.
The non-core vaccines are issued based on your pet’s health, lifestyle, and geographical location. The vet may suggest them to you when you take your pet for its regular checkups.
Get Your Pets Vaccinated at the Highland Veterinary Clinic
Pet owners are encouraged to keep up with the vaccination and booster schedules for their pets. It keeps pets healthy and makes taking care of the fun and easy.
For vaccination and other pet care needs, visit the Highland Veterinary Clinic in Evansville, Indiana. You can also reach us at (812) 710-4300 to request an appointment. We are committed to working with you to give your pet the best possible care.
