Vaccinations

Vaccinations are necessary to prevent severe sometimes life threatening diseases. Our practice follows the vaccination guidelines of the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), and American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP). These guidelines use the age of the pet, environmental risks of each pet, previous vaccinations, and other factors to define which vaccines are necessary. Theses guidelines were developed to help veterinarians tailor vaccine protocols for each individual pet and to avoid over vaccinating. For our feline patients we are administering non-adjuvanted (recombinant) rabies vaccines to lessen the risk of vaccine associated sarcomas.

At each wellness exam when vaccines are due, we will discuss with you which vaccines we recommend administering to your pet. Based on your pets age, exposure risk, and previous vaccination history, we will tailor a vaccination program for your pets need.

For puppies we recommend the following:

8 weeks of age- DHPP vaccine

12 weeks of age- DHPP booster, 1 year rabies vaccine, bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine, and leptospirosis vaccine if indicated.

16 weeks of age- DHPP booster, bordetella booster, and leptospirosis booster if indicated.

1 year of age- DHPP booster, 3 year rabies vaccine, and bordetella booster

Adult dogs- DHPP boosters are recommended every other year, rabies boosters every 1-3 years depending on local requirements, bordetella boosters annually or semi-annually if indicated, and leptospirosis boosters annually if indicated.

Additional non-core vaccines such as lyme disease are recommended on a individual pets risk for those diseases.

For kittens we recommend the following:

8 weeks of age- FVRCP vaccine

12 weeks of age- FVRCP booster, 1 year recombinant rabies vaccine, and feline leukemia vaccine if indicated.

16 weeks of age- FVRCP booster and feline leukemia booster if indicated.

1 year of age- FVRCP booster, 1 year recombinant rabies vaccine, and feline leukemia vaccine if indicated.

Adult cats- FVRCP boosters are recommended every other year until the age of 7 and then every 3 years, recombinant rabies vaccine annually, and feline leukemia vaccine annually if indicated.

Additional non-core vaccines may be recommended on an individual pets risk for those diseases.