Why every year?

Annual exams are recommended for all pets.  Evaluating the pet's overall health, discussing the pets environment, and generally getting to know an animal as well as possible all contribute to making their life as long, comfortable and happy as possible.

We believe that an annual physical exam, including a thorough history, is our best tool to protect your pet.  It helps us to detect and treat problems early, hopefully preventing more serious problems from developing. Many animals show no signs of illness, even when they have a serious disease.  For geriatric patients, who often have more health concerns, we recommend semiannual visits and annual bloodwork. 

It is essential that we perform an examination before vaccinating your pet so that we can tailor your pet's vaccination protocol, and use the safest and most appropriate vaccines.  When faced with an animal with a stable, long-term disease, such as heart disease or diabetes, we will usually advise that vaccinations should be continued.  There is no evidence that such animals fail to respond or are at greater risk of problems associated with vaccination.  These patients are, however, at increased risk of acquiring contagious diseases that are preventable through vaccination.

Routine bloodwork may be recommended, based on age and lifestyle, to detect issues that can not be found on physical examination, including:

• heartworm disease
• thyroid disease
• Lyme disease exposure
• diabetes mellitus
• kidney disease
• liver disease

Why Vaccinate? 

Vaccinations are important for the health of your pet, other animals, and yourself, as they prevent
communicable diseases from spreading to themselves and other community members. Vaccines are recommended for all pets.

The currently low incidence of these diseases is mostly due to animal owners having their pets routinely vaccinated. However these diseases have not been eradicated. In fact they are still seen in dogs and cats regularly. If contracted these are serious diseases.

We strive to create a vaccine protocol that suits the lifestyle of your animal, and follows the laws of the State of Maine. We discuss with you the benefits and risks of vaccines, and tailor our vaccine protocol to your individual pet's needs. We want to protect both you and your pet from these diseases, and also to protect your pet from potential side effects (such as vaccine-related sarcomas in cats).

• Learn More About Feline Vaccines
• Learn More About Canine Vaccines

Vaccinating Puppies & Kittens:

We recommend doing a series of vaccinations for kittens and puppies to make sure they are fully protected. Puppies and kittens acquire some temporary immunity through antibodies from their mother. As the animal ages, this immunity begins to drop off. This is where vaccinations come in to create the lasting immunity necessary for protection.

All animals are different so we do not know when mom's antibodies wear off. Also, mom's antibodies interfere with the ability of the vaccines to stimulate the immune system. It is not the number of vaccines that is important, so much as the timing. We know some animals' acquired immunity begins to wear off as early as 6 weeks, while some will last up to 16 weeks. Because of this, we must give a young animal multiple vaccines over its first 2-4 months of life to make sure it is adequately protected.

Rabies vaccines are made of a killed virus so the mother's antibodies do not block their effectiveness.  Only one initial vaccine is required, but it must be given after the puppy or kitten is 12 weeks old.

• Learn More About the Puppy Vaccination Series
• Learn More About the Kitten Vaccination Series

There are two broad categories of vaccinations in feline and canine medicine:

core and non-core vaccines.

Core vaccines are those that are either required by law for public health, or are necessary because of the ease of infection and the severity of the consequences of that infection to the animals. In cats and dogs, rabies and distemper are core vaccines.  The distemper vaccine protects against four viral infections in dogs, and three viral infections in cats, only one of which is called "distemper".

Non-core vaccines are those that should be considered based on the health, lifestyle, and potential for exposure of each individual animal. Examples of non-core vaccines would include feline leukemia and Lyme disease.

Vaccines are not based on the weight of an animal. When we give drugs such as antibiotics or dewormers, the effect depends on achieving a certain level of the active ingredient in the body. This is why the larger the body mass, the greater the total amount of medication needed to reach an effective level.

However, vaccines don't work like this. When we give a dose of vaccine, what we are doing is giving a sufficient dose to stimulate the body's immune system to generate a response. The immune system requires the same amount of stimulus regardless of the weight or breed; therefore we need to use exactly the same dose of vaccine for a Chihuahua as for a Great Dane.

It is relatively uncommon for pets to have a serious reaction to a vaccine.

Signs of acute vaccine reactions include: difficulty breathing, swelling of the face and neck, hives, and vomiting. These reactions happen very quickly, often while you are still at the veterinarian, and need to be treated immediately. Itching, pain, diarrhea, fever, lethargy, and swelling at the injection site can occur within a few hours.

It is safe to give diphenhydramine (Benadryl) at a rate of 1mg/1lb of body weight, and then call Veazie Veterinary Clinic immediately to see if whether more treatment is required. Pets should always be monitored after vaccination for these signs, and your veterinarian should be contacted whenever they happen. Rare, long-term reactions include hair loss at the injection site, and cancer development at the injection site.  We are happy to discuss any possible risks with you as we help you decide what is best for your pet.

Vaccines stimulate the immune system. This is why there is some belief that immune-mediated diseases in dogs may be related to vaccination. While there are no scientific studies that have fully confirmed this, we continue to strive towards minimizing vaccines while still having adequate protection for the future health of all our patients.

There are no breed-specific issues for any of the vaccines currently on the market. Some breeders occasionally suggest that a vaccine component affects their particular breed differently from other breeds.

When such reports are investigated the information appears to be purely anecdotal. This does not mean that individual animals will not occasionally have an adverse reaction. Pets should always be monitored after vaccination to make sure that they are doing fine.

A titer is a measurement of a pet's blood antibody level to a specific disease. However, titers do not actually indicate an animal's ability to protect itself from disease, as this is only one part of the immune response system.

There is a great deal of controversy regarding whether or not a certain level of antibody can be considered equal to protection. Each animal is different; a pet with a high titer may have less protection than a similar animal with a low titer. Some clients may choose to titer their animals to see where their immunity stands. However we cannot titer for all viruses at this time, and a rabies titer is not considered sufficient proof by the State of Maine for protection against the disease.

We are happy to discuss this as an option with all owners, and determine what the best option for your pet will be.