What are Vaccines?

Vaccines are health products that trigger protective immune responses (defence cells in the body) in pets and prepare them to fight future infections from disease causing agents, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites and fungi. Vaccines can lower the severity of future diseases and certain vaccines can even prevent infection altogether. Nowadays, a variety of vaccines are available for use by veterinarians.

Importance of Vaccination

Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases, in particular viral infections which can lead to serious illness and even death. Thus vaccination against viral diseases provides the platform of basic animal and human health that must never be overlooked nor taken for granted. Vaccines have played a significant role in enabling people and animals to live longer and healthier lives in this world filled with microbial pathogens. Most experts agree that widespread use of vaccines has prevented death and diseases in millions of animals around the world. Therefore, as responsible pet owners it is our obligation to provide our pets with proper vaccinations, beginning with the all-important puppy and kitten vaccination series and all the way through to adulthood annual booster vaccinations. By vaccinating, we are not only protecting our pets’ health, but our family’s health as well. Today, no one should ever overlook the potential of zoonotic diseases (that is, those diseases that are transmissible from animals to humans) such as rabies.

Vaccines stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies against a number of diseases so that the dog or cat is protected from various organisms in the environment. If the vaccinated or immunized dog is later exposed to the infectious agent, the antibodies react quickly to attack and destroy the disease. Vaccinations challenge the immune system in a complex manner, so it is not advisable to vaccinate a sick dog or cat. Vaccines can fail if they are given to sick pets such as those with a fever, or animals receiving certain drugs, for example steroids, or if given too close together or too far apart. In such situations, the animal’s immune system may not be able to respond well to the vaccine. It is therefore important to administer vaccines only to healthy animals. For that reason, usually prior to vaccinating your pet, the veterinarian will ask you about your pet’s medical history, and then perform a complete clinical examination to find out whether your pet is sick or not.  Thus vaccinations are still a pet owner’s best line of defence against contagious diseases.

Age of vaccination : Puppies and kittens receive antibodies and important nutrients from their mothers’ milk when they are still nursing. They ingest the maternal antibodies contained in the mothers’ milk as early as during the first few hours of birth. The antibodies help protect them from infectious diseases until they are able to produce their own antibodies or their own immune system is more mature. This means that once they are weaned, this passive form of protection is lost. And it is at this point in their life that a vaccination program should be started.

Puppies and kittens require a series of vaccinations during their first four months of life. At approximately six (6) to eight (8) weeks of age, puppies and kittens need to receive their first vaccination. Approximately four weeks later, that is, at ten (10) weeks to three monthsold, a second vaccination should be given. These first two vaccinations will provide protection for a while (short term) from many life threatening diseases that your pet may come into contact with. They are therefore referred to as temporary vaccinations. A third and final vaccination, which lasts longer (a year), is given at fourteen (14) weeks to four months of age. Inmost cases a vaccination protocol of three inoculations will suffice, but a vaccination schedule of four inoculations, starting at 6 weeks and ending at 16 weeks, does work better. Vaccination for rabies is administered from three months when maternal immunity has disappeared completely. Your pet will now normally be protected against many infectious diseases for a period of one year. Annual re-vaccinations (boosters) are then recommended to keep your pet healthy.