Health Issues   Vaccinations   Hazards   The Basics   Foxcotte Policy   Alternatives   Your Choice  Vaccinations Vaccination is about stimulating a pet's immune system to protect it against infectious organisms. Typically we vaccinate against infections that cause death in many cases (parvovirus) or are highly infectious, causing widespread disease when outbreaks occur (cat flu). A vaccine consists of either a severely weakened version of a virus or bacteria, or bits of a virus broken up into tiny fragments. These units, called antigens, are injected into the body and provoke a protective response from the immune system. Subsequent boosters help ensure that the protection is maintained. Vaccination, if performed frequently enough, provides life long protection. In this manner all kinds of killer diseases have been consigned to the history books, most notably, in humans, small pox and polio. The immediate and obvious reasons for vaccinating your pet are: Lifespan increases - your pet won't die young from parvo, leukaemia or myxomatosis Veterinary costs decrease - because trying to treat these diseases once present can run into hundreds if not thousands of pounds So why is it that less than half of our pets are vaccinated?  Hazards to Control Vaccinations can cause adverse reactions, after all an "alien" substance is being injected into your pet's body. But the degree of problem and likelihood of it occurring is often blown out of all proportion by the scare mongering tactics of newspaper reports and TV documentaries. The recognised potential problems are: Allergic chest reactions Occasional sickness and diarrhoea Blood clotting disorders Anaemias Injection site reactions No one would deny that some of these problems are very serious indeed and can result in tragedy if it is your pet affected, but for the pet population as a whole the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks. Simply put your pet is far more likely to contract a fatal disease because it is not vaccinated, than have an adverse reaction if it is.  The Basics As a pet owner at Foxcotte Veterinary Group you should always be in full possession of the basic facts in order to make the best decisions for your pet. To this end we suggest two courses of action.... Puppies are vaccinated from 8 weeks Kittens are vaccinated from 9 weeks Rabbits are vaccinated from 6 weeks Thereafter the following boosters should be performed: Dogs - Annually: Parainfluenza, leptospirosis, Kennel Cough (from April 2004) Dogs - Every 2 Years: Distemper, parvo, hepatitis Cats - Annually: Feline leukamia, cat flu Rabbits - Annually: Viral Haemorrhagic Disease if a known risk exists Rabbits - Annually: Myxomatosis - but biannually if in a high risk area  The Alternatives While we strongly advise annual health checks with appropriate vaccination we do respect the fact that some owners can make informed choices over the best way to protect their pet, provided they understand the risk / benefit consequences of their choices. Some owners may be concerned because a pet has experienced a significant adverse reaction on a previous occasion. In this instance we would suggest that, provided the pet has had its primary vaccination course, an annual health check should be done to monitor the pet but without vaccination. However if there is a significant outbreak of one of the diseases in the area then revaccination against the problem may be appropriate. Some owners prefer to have their pet's blood tested to assess antibody levels against the serious diseases. This does mean blood sampling the pet on an annual basis and is significantly more expensive than having just a vaccination done. There are also some concerns that a high antibody level may not truly reflect the ability of the pet to protect itself against exposure to a virulent infectious organism.  Its Your Choice In short, vaccinations have been one of the greatest advances in veterinary medicine, they protect against a variety of diseases for which little effective treatments exist. Vaccinations can, on rare occasions, cause side effects (some of them very serious) but these risks are tiny compared to the risks of contracting serious infection with the real thing. If concerned please don't simply avoid the issue, rather seek to discuss the matter with your vet, options are available. Back to Top

©   2003 - 2007       Foxcotte Veterinary Group      All Rights Reserved     Website design, creation and innovation by RedBaron Web