Vaccination

Dog Vaccination

Vaccination of puppies and adult canines is one of the most important tasks to save your puppy and others puppies from devastating infectious diseases such as Parvovirus, Distemper and Hepatitis. We also have effective vaccines against kennel cough which is caused by the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica and canine influenza virus. Dogs with kennel cough can have a whooping or honking dry cough. Untreated cases can get complications of pneumonia and affected animal may even die. On the other hand Parvovirus remains the number one threat to puppies and young dogs. Parvovirus is well known to cause an acute onset of vomiting and bloody diarrhoea which usually results in death without appropriate veterinary intervention. Sporadic cases of canine parvovirus have been reported from suburbs like Gosnells, Seville Grove, Thornlie, Huntingdale, Armadale, Victoria Park, Maddington, Coolbellup and Willagee, which are at high risk because of low vaccination rates.

Puppy Vaccination Schedule

6-8 Weeks – C3 or C4 Vaccination

10 -12 weeks C5 Vaccination (C3 + Kennel Cough)

14 – 16 Weeks C4 or C5 Vaccination

Booster every year or every 3 years for C3. Kennel Cough vaccines are known to reduce the severity of the disease for an year. Few C3 Vaccines are registered in Australia to use every 3 years.

Adult Dog Vaccination Schedule

First Vaccination – C5 including oral or intranasal kennel cough vaccine

Booster: Annually

Cat Vaccination

Cats and young kittens are prone to contagious viral diseases. There are vaccines available for cat flu, feline leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus and Chlamydia (currently known as Chlamydophila).

Cat flu is a syndrome knownto be caused by feline parvovirus, feline calicivirus and feline herpes virus. Feline parvovirus infects the intestinal tract (causes diarrhoea), bone marrow (low white blood cell count and anaemia) and lymphoid system. Feline calicivirus targets the upper respiratory tract (sneezing, nasal discharges). Feline herpes virus has special affinity for ophthalmic cells (eyes), and causes keratoconjunctivitis, corneal ulcers along with upper respiratory tract infection.

Feline Leukaemia Virus gets transmitted through saliva from infected cat to healthy cats during fighting or playing. This virus has been linked with feline lymphoma, weakening of the immune system and anaemia.

Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) also spreads via saliva from infected cats to healthy cats, usually during cat fights. This virus is known to cause a severe immundodeficiency which is known as feline AIDS. These infected cats suffer from multiple and repeated bacterial and fungal infections.

Feline Vaccination

6-8 weeks – F3 (cat flu)+Leukaemia+Chlaymydia + FIV

10-12 weeks – F3 (cat flu)+Leukaemia+Chlaymydia + FIV

14-16 weeks – FIV

Annual Booster after last kitten vaccination.

If your cat is going to stay 100% indoors throughout its life and be free from contact with other cats then you can stick with F3 cat flu vaccination (F3 Vaccine). If your cat is going to catteries or going to be an outdoor cat then all of the above vaccinations are recommended.

Adult vaccination does not differ much from the kitten vaccination, except that adult cats needs to be tested for leukemia and FIV before commencing vaccination against these viruses.

Rabbit Vaccination

Rabbits are very prone to get infected mosquitoe-borne viral diseases like calicivirus and myxomatous virus. These virusescauses acute diseases in infected rabbits. In Australia we only have a vaccine available against calicivirus. WA Department of Agriculture releases Calicivirus in the environment every year to control wild rabbits, and this causes severe haemorrhagic disease in bunnies.

Rabbits of any age can be vaccinated after the age of 5 to 6 weeks. A booster after 4 to 6 weeks is recommended followed by annual vaccination.