Puppy Basics – Vaccination

Puppy Basics – Vaccination

The vaccination of puppies (puppy shots) is one of the crucial steps in assuring the puppy will have a healthy and happy puppy hood.

The who, what, why, when, where, and how of vaccinations are complicated, and may vary from puppy to puppy. Always consult with your veterinarian to determine which vaccines are appropriate for your puppy.

To better understand vaccines, it is important to understand how the puppy is protected from disease the first few weeks of its life.

Protection from the mother (maternal antibodies)
A newborn puppy is not naturally immune to diseases. However, it does have some antibody protection which is derived from its mother's blood via the placenta. The next level of immunity is from antibodies derived from the first milk. This is the milk produced from the time of birth and continuing for 36-48 hours. This antibody-rich milk is called colostrum. The puppy does not continue to receive antibodies through its mother's milk. It only receives antibodies until it is two days of age. All antibodies derived from the mother, either via her blood or colostrum are called maternal antibodies. It must be noted that the puppy will only receive antibodies against diseases for which the mother had been recently vaccinated against or exposed to. As an example, a mother that had NOT been vaccinated against or exposed to parvovirus, would not have any antibodies against parvovirus to pass along to her puppies. The puppies then would be susceptible to developing a parvovirus infection.

Susceptibility Window
The age at which puppies can effectively be immunized is proportional to the amount of antibody protection the puppy received from its mother. High levels of maternal antibodies present in the puppies' bloodstream will block the effectiveness of a vaccine. When the maternal antibodies drop to a low enough level in the puppy, immunization by a commercial vaccine will work.

The antibodies from the mother generally circulate in the newborn's blood for a number of weeks. There is a period of time from several days to several weeks in which the maternal antibodies are too low to provide protection against the disease, but too high to allow a vaccine to work. This period is called the Susceptibility Window.

Vaccination Schedule
Distemper, Hepatitis, Leptospirosis, Rarainfluenze - at 6, 9 , 12 weeks of age
Parvovirus - at 6, 9, 15 weeks of age
Rabies - at 3 months of age then annually
Intestinal worm checks - at 6 and 15 weeks, then twice yearly
Neutering or Hysterectomy - at 5-6 months of age
Heartworm preventative - begun between 8-15 weeks of age and continues for life

Annual booster vaccinations given along with an intestinal worm check twice yearly and annual heartworm blood tests


Canine Distemper
Canine distemper is a disease that attacks the nervous system of a dog. It usually causes death and can affect dogs of all ages. Since puppies are the most common victims of this dreadful disease, the vaccination program every three weeks is designed to help prevent distemper. Distemper is a virus that can develop pneumonia as secondary bacterial infection takes over the body. The distemper virus attacks the brain within a few weeks and death or euthanasia is generally the outcome. Vaccinations are very effective in preventing this disease.

Canine Hepatitis
Canine Hepatitis is a viral disease which affects the liver. Fortunately, Hepatitis is rarely seen to day due to the effectiveness of vaccinations. Most all distemper vaccines are combined with hepatitis vaccine to control most diseases.

Parvovirus
Parvovirus is an intestinal virus in dogs. The virus can remain in the area for months and can be transmitted on your shoes or other articles. Your dog does not have to be around a sick puppy to get parvo virus. The symptoms include depression, bloody diarrhea and vomiting. The treatment is aggressive supportive care with I.V. fluids and medicines for vomiting. Without proper veterinary care this disease is most often fatal. Vaccinations are generally very effective in preventing the disease. dogs over one year of age rarely will contract the disease, but vaccinations are recommended as an insurance that the disease will not strike your dog.

Leptospirosis
Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that usually affects the kidneys and other organs of the body. If the kidneys are affected the puppy usually dies. Leptospirosis like hepatitis is not seen often. The bacteria is most often carried in the urine of rats. The disease was seen more often in farm dogs that could be exposed to rat urine. Distemper vaccine does not always have leptospirosis vaccine included.

Rabies
Rabies is a scary disease that is spread mainly through the wild animal population in an area. The signs are foaming at the mouth and behavior uncommon to the animal. However, Rabies can be difficult to diagnose and any abnormal behavior in a dog should be viewed with suspicion. Vaccination for Rabies is a state law in Georgia.

Parasites
Intestinal worm checks are tests done on a dog's bowel movement to see if there are any worm eggs present in the dogs' body. In South Georgia we see hookworms, roundworms, whipworms, coccidia, tapeworms, and Giardia. Only two of the six worms common to Georgia can be seen without the aid of a microscope. Hookworms can be spread through a dog's feces or can penetrate the dog's skin, or travel through the milk to nursing puppies. They attach to a dog's intestines to feed on the blood. Hookworms can cause major blood loss which is sometimes fatal to puppies. The baby stage of hookworms are called sandworms. These baby worms can penetrate the skin of people and migrate under the skin causing a human health hazard.
Roundworms can be spread for mother to puppies or through soil that has eggs in it. They can cause bloated bellies and diarrhea and vomiting. Roundworms can be transmitted to people also and can cause some serious health problems relating to loss of sight. Whipworms can cause diarrhea, weight loss and dehydration. They are very hard to detect and also to eliminate. Whipworms do not lays eggs very often so they can be overlooked during the worm checks performed by a veterinarian.

Heartworm Prevention
Prevention of heartworm disease is very simple. Heartworm preventative for dogs is usually started between 2-3 months of age and the preventative is given once each month for life. (a daily heartworm preventative is also available) Since heartworms are spread by mosquitoes which are prevalent here in South Georgia all year long, the preventative must be given all year long unlike some other areas of the United States where the pills can be given only 6-9 months of each year. Heartworms are the most life threatening parasite dogs can have. The microfilia (baby heartworms) are deposited in the dog's body by a mosquito bite. These baby worms grow and move to the heart where the damage to your pet's health is done. Symptoms of heartworms do not show up sometimes for years but early tests performed by your veterinarian will diagnose the disease before much damage is done.