Vaccinations play a critical role in your pet’s long-term health. Vaccine’s help to prepare the immune system to fight some potentially serious organisms that can make your pet ill, and without vaccines your pet is more vulnerable. At Blue Lake Animal Care Center, or team works with you and furry family to create a safe and individualize protocol for your pet’s immunizations. We understand that each animal is different and we assess various factors such as age, medical history, travel habits, outdoor exposure and activity level in mind when it comes to vaccine decisions.
Core Dog Vaccinations
- DA2PP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, and Parvovirus) helps to protect against some severe, potentially life-threatening diseases that dogs can be exposed to.
- The Rabies virus is fatal in all mammals, and can be transmitted to humans, making it a vital and often legally required vaccination for your pets.
- Bordetella (“Kennel Cough”) infections cause a sometimes severe upper respiratory infection and is not just limited to dogs that visit boarding or daycare facilities, or dog parks. It is an airborne pathogen that poses a threat to most dogs, regardless of lifestyle.
Non-Core Dog Vaccinations (Individual basis)
- Leptospirosis is a potentially serious bacterial infection that enters the body through openings in the skin or mouth from urine-contaminated water sources.
- Influenza (H2N2,H2N8) is the “flu” virus in dogs. It is extremely contagious among dogs. It can be transmitted dog to dog, through airborne transmission, or even through people’s hands/clothes. This is recommended more dogs that have regular contact with other dogs, especially via boarding, daycare, or dog parks.
- Lyme Disease is a spirochete bacterial infection transmitted through certain tick exposure. This vaccine may provide limited help with exposure, but appropriate tick preventative is typically a more effective means of disease prevention.
- Rattlesnake Vaccine is available for canine pets that may be at risk for the unfortunate run-in with a Rattlesnake.
Core Cat Vaccinations
- FVRCP (Feline Distemper/Rhinotracheitis Vaccine) protects against three diseases: feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus and panleukopenia.
- Feline Leukemia is a viral infection that is transmitted through close contact. We typically give this vaccine once to kittens, then only recommend this vaccine yearly for cats that go outdoors. We offer and recommend the “PureVax” line as the safest vaccine for Feline Leukemia.
- The Rabies virus is fatal in all mammals, including humans, and is highly recommended in cats. We offer and recommend the “PureVax” line as the safest vaccine for Feline Rabies.
If you have questions regarding which vaccines are right for your pet, please contact us, and we will be happy to help!
In addition, we offer vaccine titers as an alternative to many of the core vaccines for dogs and cats. While more expensive than vaccines, testing your pet’s titer levels allows you to avoid potentially giving him/her any vaccines that may not be necessary. These tests are acceptable replacements for legal vaccine requirements for most counties.