Vaccinations
Vaccinations are a vital component of your pet's health and wellbeing. They enable your pet to make antibodies so that they can fight off infectious diseases, such as 'Parvo', 'Canine Cough', 'Cat Flu' and 'Feline AIDS'.
Vaccinations commence early in your pets life, with both puppies and kittens requiring their first vaccine at 8 weeks of age. The full puppy and kitten initial course requires three vaccinations in total. The age they are due for their second and third vaccination depends on the type of vaccine that they are given. This will be discussed with you when you bring in your pet. Adult dogs and cats need booster vaccinations every year to ensure their immunity remains active.
DOGS
The components of an annual Canine 'C5' Vaccination include:
- Canine Distemper virus (a neurological disease)
- Canine Parvovirus ( a gastroeneteritis)
- Canine Infectious Hepatitis (a liver disease)
- Parainfluenza virus (a component of canine cough)
- Bordatella bronchiseptica ( a component of canine cough).
Most people have heard of 'Parvo'', a very debilitating virus that causes vomiting and diarrhoea in dogs and is life-threatening. Even with veterinary medication and intensive care, this disease can be so severe in nature that it can result in death despite our best efforts to treat it. Vaccinating against it is very effective and alleviates the risk to your pet's health, as well as the strain on your emotions and finances.
CATS
The vaccinations that we offer for kittens and cats at St Vincents Vets are the F3 and the FIV vaccines.
The F3 Vaccination protects against:
- Feline Herpesvirus ( a flu virus)
- Calicivirus ( another flu virus that causes mouth sores)
- Feline Parvovirus (a gastroenteritis)
The FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) vaccine protects against 'Feline AIDS', which is a disease that is contracted by your cat being bitten by an FIV-infected cat. We recommend this vaccine for cats that will be spending time outdoors. Vaccinating an adult cat for FIV requires a blood test first, which our staff are happy to talk to you about.
There are other vaccines that are available to protect your pet against more uncommon diseases, so please ask if there is a vaccination you are seeking that is not mentioned above.
HEALTH CHECK
At St Vincents Vets, we really put an emphasis on doing a comprehensive health check for your animal at each vaccination. This is a good time to physically examine your pet from nose to tail and pick up any health issues that may be present. We can also discuss with you what options are available in terms of worming, flea and tick control, heartworm, microchipping, nutrition, socialisation, desexing and any other questions that you may have.