VACCINATIONS Many common diseases, including distemper, are deadly to your puppy. During the initial day of nursing, puppies receive antibodies against certain diseases from their mother’s milk. These protecting antibodies are gradually lost between 6 and 16 weeks of age. A series of vaccinations are given during this period to stimulate your puppie's immune system to produce its own antibodies. Even if your puppy never goes outside, many viruses are quite hardy, and can be carried to your dog on your hands, shoes or clothing. Make sure your pet is protected! Talk to your veterinarian about a vaccine protocOL. HEARTWORM Heartworm is an internal parasite that lives in the heart and pulmonary arteries of an infected dog. These worms are transmitted to dogs through mosquito bites; however they are easily prevented through proper screening and treatment. Puppies should immediately begin receiving a heartworm medication monthly and should be screened for heartworms at their annual physical. LYME DISEASE & ERLICHIA Lyme disease and Erlichia are both tick borne diseases that pose a threat to your animal's health. Lyme disease is contracted from the deer tick, and can cause symptoms such as fatigue, lethargy, arthritis, and eventually kidney damage. Erlichia is a disease that infects the white blood cells of the host and can cause lethargy, swollen lymph nodes, loss of appetite and fever. We HIGHLY recommend regular screening for these diseases and they are now a part of a comprehensive snap test that we use in our lab to test for Heartworm, Lyme and Erlichia at the same time. Puppies should be tested once they are a year old and once a year thereafter. Vaccination against Lyme Disease is also available and is recommended for dogs that travel in areas with Lyme Disease. KENNEL COUGH Kennel cough is basically an upper respiratory infection or bronchitis caused by one of several infectious agents. There is both an intranasal (given in the nasal canal) and and intramuscular vaccination against kennel cough that will help to safeguard your pet against these infectious agents. We HIGHLY recommend that any animals that are going to be in grouped housing, or in community situations (i.e. boarding, obedience classes, puppy school) be vaccinated against kennel cough, because it is quite contagious. FECAL SCREENING As a part of your puppy's general health assessment we require that a fecal float screen be completed upon their first visit to our hospital. This test screens your puppy for intestinal parasites that may be living in their intestine. It is common for puppies to be infected with these parasites, as they are commonly passed through a mother's milk to her puppies or through placental transfer during embryonic development. Puppies can also ingest these parasites through normal grooming because the eggs of these parasites can exist in contaminated soil. Puppies or dogs that hunt or eat prey are also at high risk of developing intestinal parasites because their prey may be the host of developing parasites. It is important that a puppy's stool in screened for intestinal parasites and that an annual fecal screening becomes a part of their general health regiment. VACCINE PROTOCOLS Vaccine protocols have changed due to recent developments in research and as new diseases have appeared and spread. Chances are good that our vaccine recommendations will change again over the next ten years. As your dog comes in for annual physical exams we will inform you of new vaccines and vaccination schedules. We now see many, many dogs who live to be 14 or more years old. Regular veterinary care is the reason why!
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