at the time of adopt or foster a cat or a dogone of the first things to keep in mind is that any domestic animal is like a person, and needs vaccinations to protect against viruses and bacteria.
The vaccination in pets aims to prevent some of the most serious infectious diseases or more contagious that animals can suffer, which in some cases can be fatal or severely debilitating.
only alternative
In addition, on numerous occasions, for the type of diseases for which animals are vaccinated there is no alternative treatment or it is very difficult, long or inaccessible, so vaccination is a very important prevention tool. So much so that sometimes it becomes the only way to control and ensure the well-being of domestic animals.
Vaccines are nothing but pharmacological compounds made with at least part of the infectious particlelive modified or inactivated, which is the one that generates reaction in the pet’s body to produce immunity. That is stimulates the animal’s immune system and help you make antibodies to fight that infection. Thus, when one of the virus in the dog’s bodyyour body will be prepared to fight it.
healthy animal
It is vital that, before administering any vaccine to an animal, it is completely ruled out that it has some disease and know that he is healthy.
In fact, it is very likely that the veterinarian in charge of administering the vaccinations to the dog will first recommend your worming and check upto make sure that its immune system is not working on another disease and thus make sure that the pet can properly assimilate the vaccine.
Prevention
Today, vaccines have become the cornerstone of preventive veterinary medicine: there are endless diseases that can be prevented with them. The efficiency and, as it happens with the coronavirus vaccine In humans, the low incidence of side effects -above all, when compared to the benefits they bring- provided by vaccines have made them a fundamental system to strengthen the health of dog populations worldwide.
It must also be taken into account that when a certain percentage of the population is immunized -either due to having suffered from the disease or thanks to preventive vaccination- diseases lose much of their virulence. But do not fall into a false sense of security, since outbreaks of the disease appear from time to time and can pose a risk to a poorly or unvaccinated dog.
actual infection
After administering the vaccine, the animal’s body reacts as if it were a real infection (although the viruses and bacteria contained in the vaccine have been previously modified so that they cannot cause the disease) and, in a approximately two or three weeksthe dog develops a specific immunity against that microorganism.
After that time, a second or even a third vaccination is usually necessary, especially if it is a inactivated vaccine (or killed vaccine)which is one that contains virus particles, bacteria or other pathogenic agents that have developed in culture and subsequently lose the capacity to produce diseases.
This is the vaccination schedule for a dog according to its age, taking into account the mandatory vaccinations, which explains Gaspar García, veterinary doctor at Mundo Animal:
six week old puppies
With only a month and a half of life, it is mandatory to administer the parvovirus and distemper vaccine to the dog, especially for six-week-old puppies.
At two months or two months and a week, you should get the polyvalent vaccine, which protects against the distemper virus, parvovirus, leptospira, kennel cough and viral hepatitis. Dr. García administers a booster dose at three months, that is, three or four weeks after the first dose.
Dogs are required to receive the rabies vaccine in almost all autonomous communities, although not in Catalonia, Galicia and Euskadi. “In theory, it should be administered at three months, but we do it at four so that it does not coincide with the polyvalent recall,” explains Dr. García. “Coinciding with this vaccination, it is usually used to put the identification microchip“, Add.
“Although it is not routinely given, a dog that lives in a group or that presents a problem can be vaccinated against the so-called kennel cough,” explains the Mundo Animal veterinarian. Also at that age, but not necessarily – “only dogs that live outdoors, in gardens,” he clarifies – are given the Leishmania vaccine.
booster dose
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Then you have to put a booster dose of the polyvalent vaccine and the vaccine against rabies –both compulsory in some autonomous communities- each year. “Currently, there are veterinarians who administer the polyvalent every three yearsbecause the drug that fights parvovirus and distemper is effective all that time, but the effect against leptospira and viral hepatitis only lasts a year, so I prefer to vaccinate annually,” explains Dr. García.
In some autonomous communities, they allow booster vaccination every two years, although it is normal for it to be every year. In Madrid or the Canary Islands, for example, it is required on an annual basis and in Valencia there is the option to do so every year or every three.