We believe that vaccinations are a safe medical procedure that protects our pets from potentially life threatening diseases. Just as in human medicine, adverse events occasionally occur. Common reactions include local swelling, lethargy and fever. Rarely, an allergic reaction occurs. Before you decide to change your pet’s vaccine schedule, please discuss your concerns with a veterinarian.

The initial vaccine series for puppies and kittens involves vaccinating every 3-4 weeks from age 6-8 weeks old until age 12-15 weeks old. These vaccines are boostered one year later. This vaccine schedule also applies to all cats and dogs with no previous vaccinations, or an unknown vaccine history (i.e. strays).

This initial series of vaccines is critical to establishing basic immunity.

We recommend that your pet’s vaccine schedule be designed according to your pet’s individual life style and risk level. For example, a dog that is never boarded, groomed or shown should not need the bordetella vaccine. Likewise, a cat who never goes outside, and is never boarded or groomed, may forego the FIV and FELV vaccines. Please see the reverse side for an explanation of the risk factors for various vaccine-protected diseases.

If you opt to forego the recommended vaccinations you will be required to sign a waiver which acknowledges that you have been warned of the possibility that your pet may not be fully protected if not vaccinated, and that you release the clinic from any liability should your pet become sick with any of the diseases which we suggest you vaccinate against.

An antibody titer is a test designed to evaluate a pet’s immunity to disease. In a perfect world, we would run a titer for vaccinated animals every year, and then determine whether or not the pet has sufficient immunity to forego vaccinations for another year.

Unfortunately, titers are notoriously unreliable in predicting a pet’s level of immunity. What’s more, titers only tell us what a pet’s immunity is TODAY. Tomorrow the pet’s antibody level may fall below the accepted range for protective immunity, leaving the pet vulnerable to deadly diseases. If the accuracy of titer tests improves in the future, we may re-visit this issue.

It is possible for a small, painless swelling to develop at the site where a vaccine was injected. The lump almost always disappears after a few weeks. If not, any remaining swelling should be evaluated.

In cats, these lumps may very rarely develop into a fibrosarcoma. A fibrosarcoma is an aggressive form of cancer, which is extremely difficult to treat.

The incidence of fibrosarcomas is extremely rare; studies suggest that perhaps as few as 1 in 10,000 cats will develop a sarcoma. Other studies indicate that the number could be as low as 1 in 30,000. Many sarcomas are not associated with vaccines, and there is now some speculation that sarcomas may be associated with any injection, even saline solution.

We do not recommend that cat owners forego vaccines out of fear of sarcomas; the risk of a cat developing a fatal disease is far greater than that of a cat developing a sarcoma. If fibrosarcomas are a concern to you, please talk to a veterinarian for more information.

We may advise you to postpone or forego vaccinations altogether if your pet is sick or geriatric.

No matter what vaccination schedule you decide on, it is critical that your pet has an annual physical examination. In fact, as the aging process accelerates (after age 7), we like to examine all pets every six months.

Adult Canine: Vaccine Risk Factors and Schedule

			Frequency
Disease	Risk Factor (Who gets vaccinated?)	3 years	1 year	6 months
Distemper	Highly infectious and dangerous; all dogs should be vaccinated.	*
Adenovirus	Also known as hepatitis; very dangerous. All dogs should be vacccinated.	*
Parainfluenza	May cause severe coughing, vomiting and diarrehea. All dogs should be vaccinated.	*
Parvovirus	Highly infectious and dangerous; all dogs should be vaccinated.	*
Leptospirosis	Recommended for dogs who swim in ponds, streams or creeks, hike, camp or play in wooded areas.		*
Coronavirus	May worsen other diseases, such as parvo. We vaccinate only puppies for coronavirus; no boosters for adults dogs.	n/a	n/a	n/a
Lyme’s Disease	Recommended for dogs who freqeunt wooded areas or brushy, tall grassy areas or travel to endemic areas (PA, MI) or anyplace where ticks are prevalent, if not on Frontline Plus.		*
Rabies	Required by law for all dogs.	*
Bordetella	Popularly known as kennel cough; recommended for dogs who are boarded or groomed or socialize with other dogs.			*

*Vaccination schedule for dogs after their 1 year boosters.

Adult Feline: Vaccine Risk Factors and Schedule

			Frequency
Disease	Risk Factor (Who gets vaccinated?)	3 years	1 year	6 months
Panleukopenia	Highly infectious and dangerous; similar to the parvovirus in dogs. All cats should be vaccinated. (After the 1st year annual booster, we give a 3 year vaccine.)	*
Rhinotracheitis	Also known as herpes virus; the most severe of the upper respiratory viruses. All cats are vacccinated annually; those who board frequently may want to consider vaccination every six months.		*	*
Calicivirus	Another highly contagious upper respiratory virus; may lead to pneumonia and ulceration of the tongue. All cats are vacccinated annually; those who board frequently may want to consider vaccination every six months.		*	*
Feline leukemia virus	A leading cause of disease and death in cats; strongly recommended for all cats who go outdoors or cats with exposure to outdoor cats, as well as for those owners who rescue cats.		*
Feline immunodeficiency virus	Commonly known as feline AIDS, FIV is spread primarily through bite wounds. There is no cure for FIV. Strongly recommended for outdoor cats.		*
Feline infectious peritonitis	One of many corona viruses, cats who go outdoors are most at risk. We do not recommend this vaccine for any felines except those in catteries, or cats in high populations.		*
Rabies	Required by law for all cats; in order to minimize adverse reactions we use a one year recombinant vaccine.		*