Judi Teilor kennel FCI Many owners are in no hurry to vaccinate their pets. There may be different reasons — lack of time, principled objections, lack of understanding of the meaning of the procedure.
Many people believe that there is no point in vaccinating cats and dogs that do not go outdoors. The result is the same: the animal risks catching the disease, while the owner runs the risk of incurring the financial cost of treatment and the moral at the sight of suffering of his beloved pet, or even his death.
Vaccination is a preventive measure aimed at creating an active immunity in animals, which resists all kinds of infections. Vaccines are weakened or inactive forms of viruses or bacteria that cannot harm the animal, but contribute to the development of specific immune responses. They create active immunity to the specific disease for which the vaccine is given.
There are several types of vaccines. First of all, depending on how many diseases the vaccine can protect against — single-ovalent (against one disease), bivalent (against two diseases) and polyvalent (several diseases).
Vaccines can be modified live and inactivated (killed) according to their composition. The main advantage of killed vaccines over live vaccines is considered to be their safety, but the effectiveness of these vaccines is much lower. Therefore, most animal vaccines contain live, weakened germs — these are the ones that form a lasting immunity, although they can cause clinical symptoms of disease in a mild form.
To vaccinate pets and birds use vaccines, both domestic and foreign production. Quality depends not only on the manufacturer, but also on the place and temperature of storage and method of transportation.
Annual vaccination is shown absolutely to all animals (even those who are never in the open air and all the time spent in isolated areas). Viruses, bacteria and parasites can settle on the owners’ clothes or shoes, and sooner or later they will end up in the house with you after a walk. And animals that permanently live in the house are very susceptible to pathogens, so in this situation the risk of infection increases many times over.
Your veterinarian should recommend which infections your pet should be vaccinated against. The indication for vaccination also depends on the spread of disease in your area. When selecting a vaccine, the type of animal, age, presence of previous vaccination and its timing, health and physiological condition of the animal, whether you plan to have offspring, products from this animal are taken into account.
There are a number of precautions to be taken when vaccinating in order to avoid side effects:
- It is important to remember that vaccination is acceptable only in relation to healthy pets. Immediately before administering the vaccine, the veterinarian must examine your pet and take its temperature;
- The pet must be given an antihelminthic drug at least one week in advance;
- It is not recommended to immunize your pet during heat, as well as immediately after any surgery or antibiotic treatment. During these periods the body is weakened and the immune response may be unpredictable. At least two weeks should pass after treatment or heat;
- Caution should be exercised for the elderly, pregnant, lactating animals and those with chronic diseases (it is better to use inactivated formulation).
Immunity after vaccination develops in one to two weeks. During this time, the animal should not be subjected to stress, refrigeration, avoid mass gatherings of animals. If your pet has a fever, bleeding from the eyes and nasal passages, vomiting, lack of appetite, lethargy and other deviations from the usual state, it is an urgent reason to contact the veterinarian.
Nevertheless, the above cases are not a reason to refuse vaccinations, since the vast majority of vaccinations do protect the animal from infection. And today, the main preventive measure to protect the health of pets and, among other things, to keep their owners safe, is vaccination.
