Vaccinations for Dogs:

Distemper-- Distemper vaccination is important for all puppies. This disease is still present in most areas and it is still hard to treat successfully.

Adenovirus Type 2-- This virus causes a form of kennel cough and also protects against hepatitis in dogs. This is fortunate because there were more vaccine reactions using the hepatitis virus itself , even in a weakened state. While viral hepatitis is not as common as it once was in dogs, it has not been eliminated as a threat.

Leptospirosis-- This is actually a bacterial disease, so the protective "vaccination" is actually a "bacterin". In many areas of the country, this disease is not common and the leptospirosis portion of the vaccine combinations is thought to be the most common cause of reactions. For this reason, many veterinarians no longer include it in their vaccination recommendations. Your vet can tell you whether or not it is necessary in your area.

Parainfluenza-- Parainfluenza is in almost all the combination vaccines even though it is probably only a minor contributor to the problem of tracheobronchitis (kennel cough) in dogs. Vaccine reactions to this virus seem rare.

Parvovirus-- Parvovirus is probably the most common viral illness of dogs at the present time. It is much more common in puppies than it is in adult dogs. It can be very hard to successfully vaccinate a puppy for this disease because the antibody protection the puppy acquires from its mother can interfere with vaccination. It is important to vaccinate puppies every three to four weeks for this virus starting at 6 weeks of age and continuing until they are at least 16 weeks of age.

Coronavirus-- Our hospital does not recommend the use of coronavirus vaccine.

Bordetella-- Bordetella is the most common cause of tracheobronchitis (kennel cough) in dogs. It is a bacterial illness that is most common among dogs that congregate at things like shows, kennels or other places frequented by large numbers of dogs at once. It does not appear that this bacterin gives a full year of immunity in many instances. For dogs that are often exposed to situations in which the infection is likely probably should be vaccinated twice a year. There are intranasal as well as subcutaneous bacterins available for this disease.

Lyme disease (Borrelia)-- Lyme disease is caused by a bacterial organism, Borrelia burgdorferi . It is carried by Ixodes species of ticks and may have other tick or insect carriers. It is more common in some areas of the United States than in others. Your vet can tell you whether it is necessary to protect against this disease in your area.