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The Valley Veterinary Hospital

Vaccinations

Vaccinations are extremely important for the overall health and well-being of your dog or cat. Vaccinations can protect your pet from life-threatening diseases like distemper, parvovirus, rabies, and bordetella. Preventing these diseases will assure your pet a better quality of life and in the long run will be the least expensive way of caring for your pet.

Overview

We believe that preventative care is one of the most important aspects of maintaining your pet’s health. There are a variety of diseases that affect animals, so proper vaccination of your pet is vital in protecting them from the many types of illnesses to which they are susceptible to.

Why are vaccinations important?

Vaccinations are vital to the health and protection of your pet and serve as a preventive measure in combating viral diseases like Parvovirus, Parainfluenza virus, Distemper, Lyme, Panleukopenia, Feline Leukemia Virus, and Rabies.

We will advise you as to which vaccinations your individual cat or dog needs. Depending on your pet's age, lifestyle, breed, and other factors, our veterinarians will recommend the best vaccine schedule for him or her. It is important to note that side effects from vaccines are rare.

Why do kittens and puppies need so many vaccines?

Puppies and kittens are more susceptible to various diseases than older pets. After they're born, a nursing puppy or kitten receives antibodies from his mother through her milk. Eventually, this protection fades and your puppy or kitten needs immunization to prevent it from getting sick. However, the mother's protection can interfere with the vaccines, and therefore, it's difficult to determine when vaccines will be able to provide immunization. That is why puppies and kittens need so many vaccines. If maternal protection interferes with earlier vaccines, your pet will still be protected by the later vaccines.

Below are typically recommended vaccine schedules:

Cats

  • 6-8 Weeks

  • 9-11 Weeks

  • 12-14 Weeks

  • FVRCP

  • FVRCP, Leukemia

  • FVRCP, Leukemia, Rabies

Once you complete the kitten schedule, we recommend:

  • Yearly

  • Every 3 years

  • Annual examinations, Feline Leukemia Vaccine, Routine blood work, Deworming

  • FVRCP, Rabies

Dogs

  • 6-8 Weeks

  • 9-11 Weeks

  • 12-14 Weeks

  • DA2PPv, Deworming

  • DA2PPv, Bord, 2nd Deworming

  • DA2PPv, Bord, Rabies, 3rd Deworming

Once you complete the puppy schedule, we recommend:

  • Yearly

  • Every 3 years

  • Annual examinations, Heartworm testing, Routine blood work, Deworming

  • DA2PPv,  Rabies