It’s a good time to double-check your pet’s vaccinations are up to date. Katie Cincotta discovers what we need to look out for.
Luckily for us, vaccinations have turned deadly diseases into mostly mild cases of coughs and spots. History tells us that as far back as 1796, Edward Jenner found that material from cowpox could provide protection against smallpox in humans. Louis Pasteur’s 1885 rabies vaccine was the next big breakthrough in treating infectious disease, followed by injectable vaccines against diphtheria, tetanus, anthrax, cholera, plague, typhoid and tuberculosis.
Like us, our pets aren’t immune to disease and require annual vaccinations to protect them from nasty viruses and bacteria. Vaccines work by administering a live, weak version of a virus. That imitates an infection and prompts the body to develop its own fighting power — immunity. You might get some minor symptoms, such as fever, but you don’t get the illness itself and your body remains protected against the disease. RSPCA NSW veterinarian Dr Laurie Milner says animal vaccination has helped decrease diseases that have the power to kill our pets.
Dogs
In Australia, the infectious diseases that can most harm dogs are canine parvovirus, canine distemper and canine infectious hepatitis (adenovirus) which all require vaccination every three years. Non-core vaccines for dogs are parainfluenza virus, bordetella bronchiseptica and leptospira interrogans, which need to be administered every year, especially if your dog goes to a boarding kennel. Those vaccines will prevent kennel cough, which can be a risk when your dog is mixing with dogs that may be infected.
Cats
As with dogs, the main cat vaccines are given every three years. Without that protection, your cat is at risk of life-threatening diseases such as feline parvovirus (feline panleukopaenia, feline infectious enteritis), and feline calicivirus and feline herpesvirus, commonly known as cat flu. Cats that roam freely outside, are not desexed or live in households with several cats need extra protection with annual vaccines for feline leukaemia virus, chlamydia felis and bordetella bronchiseptica. The last two can cause serious respiratory disease so they are very important. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) can also infect cats and is similar to the AIDS virus in humans that attacks the immune system. FIV is spread through bite wounds so outdoor cats are most at risk. According to VetWest Animal Hospitals, up to a third of cats in Australia test positive for FIV but it can’t be transferred to humans.
All animals great and small
- Rabbits require vaccination against calicivirus. This is a deadly disease released by the government to control the wild rabbit population.
- Ferrets require vaccination against canine distemper.
- There are vaccines available for chickens and some other commercial birds but these are rarely administered to pet birds.
- All farm animals (horses, cattle, sheep, goats, alpacas etc) should receive vaccinations against aggressive diseases such as malignant oedema, blackleg, pulpy kidney and tetanus.
This article was originally published in PETS Magazine issue 60. For more pawsome advice and care, subscribe to our magazine here.
Leave a Reply