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Vaccinations

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What is a Vaccine?

Ensure your furry friend is fully protected against specific diseases by getting them vaccinated.

Vaccines work by boosting your pet’s immune system with small amounts of microorganisms, providing immunity shortly after the first dose and complete protection after the second. Remember to avoid socialising your pet before the second dose and to schedule yearly booster shots to maintain optimal immunity. Missing the recommended booster timeframe will result in your pet needing a restart course of two injections to guarantee long-lasting protection.

Benefits Include:

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Protection

Protect your furry companion with essential vaccinations , shielding them from a variety of potentially fatal diseases.

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Health

Maintaining annual vaccinations will contribute to keeping your pets healthy.

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Savings

Vaccinating your pet will help you avoid costly treatments in the future.

Dog Vaccinations Protect Against:

Canine Hepatitis

(Adenovirus) – Infectious hepatitis is a virus that attacks the liver, blood vessels, immune system, kidneys, eyes, lungs, and heart.

Symptoms

Low energy (lethargy)
Eating less/off food completely
Drinking less
Coughing
Vomiting
Diarrhoea.

Treatment

The disease can develop very quickly and sadly there is no specific treatment; however, vets will try and alleviate the signs and dogs can sometimes survive with intensive supportive treatment.

Canine Distemper Virus

Distemper is a nasty virus that attacks several different organs in the body including the guts, heart, immune system, lungs, brain and nerves. Distemper causes a variety of symptoms ranging from mild cold-like signs to seizures and death.

Symptoms

High temperature (fever)
Runny eyes and nose (first watery then pussy)
Low energy (lethargy)
Loss of appetite
Diarrhoea
Thickened paw pads and nose (hard pad)
Coughing
Tremors
Paralysis
Fits and seizures.

Treatment

There is no specific medicine that we can use to treat distemper (antibiotics don’t work because it’s a virus, not a bacteria) so instead, treatment involves supporting your dog’s body while they try to fight the infection.

Even if a dog survives distemper there are often long-term effects such as muscle spasms, epileptic fits and even limb paralysis.

Canine Parvovirus

Parvovirus is a virus that causes severe illness and death in dogs. It damages the lining of the intestines, causing severe vomiting and diarrhoea. It also attacks infection-fighting cells inside the bone marrow, which weakens the immune system making it very difficult for dogs to recover..

Symptoms

Symptoms of parvovirus usually take three to seven days to appear and include:

Severe diarrhoea (foul smelling, watery and bloody)
Vomiting
Severely low energy (lethargy)
A very high, or very low temperature
Pale gums
Abdominal (tummy) pain
Reduced appetite

Treatment

Dogs with parvo will require hospitalisation, often for many days, and will be put on a drip to correct dehydration. Antibiotics will be given to prevent any secondary infections as well as antiviral medication if available. Unfortunately a lot of dogs with parvo won’t survive, even with intensive supportive treatment, which is why it is so important to prevent the disease with vaccination in the first place.

Kennel Cough

Tracheobronchitis (Kennel Cough) – Kennel cough is an airway infection that causes a dry hacking cough in dogs. Similar to human colds, kennel cough can be caused by several different germs (viruses and bacteria).

Symptoms

Symptoms of kennel cough usually take 3-14 days to develop and then last for 1-3 weeks.

Most dogs develop a hacking cough and stay otherwise quite well, but puppies, older dogs, and poorly dogs can develop more serious symptoms such as:

A reduced appetite
Low energy (lethargy)
A high temperature (fever).

Treatment

Kennel cough may go away on its own if your dog’s immune system is able to fight off the condition, but many puppies need prescription medication to help them recover. It is best to get your dog checked out by your vet at the first signs of coughing as not only will they be posing an infection risk to other puppies, but the longer the condition persists, the higher the chance of more serious complications, such as pneumonia.

Canine Leptospirosis

Leptospirosis (often shortened to lepto), is a bacterial disease that causes serious illness by damaging vital organs such as the liver and kidneys. Leptospirosis bacteria can spread in urine and can enter the body through the mouth, nose or wounds.

Symptoms

Fever (high temperature)
Jaundice (yellow gums and eyes)
Muscle pain and limping
Weakness and collapse
A reduced appetite
Drinking more
Vomiting
Bloody diarrhoea
Bleeding from the mouth and eyes
Mouth ulcers
Difficulty breathing.

Treatment

Treatment will usually consist of antibiotics, fluid replacement, controlling the vomiting and other supportive liver treatments. Less severely affected dogs will recover but still carry the bacteria in their urine for months, posing an infection risk to other animals and humans.

Rabies

Essential if travelling with your dog. Rabies is a deadly virus that attacks the central nervous system (brain and nerves), causing severe symptoms and eventually death. It travels in saliva, so dogs tend to catch it if an infected animal bites them, or if they have an open wound that’s licked by an infected animal (but this is much rarer).

Symptoms

Sudden changes in behaviour such as:

Becoming over-friendly and attention seeking
Becoming fearful and aggressive
Paralysis and weakness such as:
Droopy face
Excessive drooling
Muscle weakness
Difficulty walking
Seizures
Coma and death
Noise and light sensitivity.

Treatment

Sadly, there is no treatment for rabies and it’s always fatal. It’s only possible to confirm rabies at post-mortem (after death). Anyone (animal or human) in contact with an infected animal is at risk of getting the disease if they are bitten.

Vaccination Timeline

Cat Vaccinations Protect Against:

Feline Calicvirus

Feline calicivirus (FCV) is a highly contagious virus that is one of the major causes of upper respiratory infections (URIs) or cat flu in cats.

Symptoms

Different strains of FCV cause different symptoms, the most common of which include:

Fever
Mild conjunctivitis
Ulcers on the mouth and tongue
Loss of appetite
Sneezing
Lethargy
Depression

Treatment

FCV infections are frequently complicated by secondary bacterial infections, so supportive treatment with antibiotics is usually required. Good nursing care is critical and cats may need to be hospitalised for intravenous fluid therapy and nutritional support in severe cases.

Rhinotracheitis Virus

Feline viral rhinotracheitis (FVR) is an upper respiratory infection of the nose and throat in cats.

Symptoms

Sneezing
Nasal and eye discharge
Cat pink eye
Fever
Lack of appetite
Lethargy
Nasal Inflammation
Inflammation of the eye

Treatment

Treatment usually includes IV fluids to replace those lost, eye drops for any conjunctivitis and warm water will be used to wipe away any ocular and nasal discharge. A broad spectrum of antibiotics is usually a part of the treatment plan in order to prevent or treat a resultant secondary infection.

Panleukopenia

Also known as FPV, feline parvovirus and feline infectious enteritis, is a nasty virus that attacks the guts, immune system and sometimes, the heart. Sadly, FPV often causes severe illness and sometimes death

Symptoms

Lethargy
Depression
Vomiting
Diarrhea
Painful abdomen (when touched or may appear tense and distended without touching)
Dehydration
Weight loss
Rough or unkempt hair coat
Fever
Decreased to absent appetite
Collapse (in severe cases)
Bruising of the skin or gums (in severe cases)

Treatment

Since this type of feline infection affects the body on many levels, a multifold treatment approach is needed for optimal results. One of the major results of panleukopenia is dehydration from diarrhea. To treat this, electrolytes are administered to help replace lost water and salt. These are usually given intravenously.

To combat white blood cell loss, blood transfusions may be administered and antibiotics prescribed. This will raise the body’s defence lines against secondary infection. A few days into the infection period, the cat’s own antibodies usually develop. The extra antibiotics will help bring a quick recovery.

Leukaemia Virus

Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV) is a virus that attacks the immune system and causes cancers such as lymphoma and leukaemia. Cats with FeLV have an increased risk of developing other infections and diseases.

Symptoms

Low energy (lethargy)
Weight loss
Diarrhoea
Vomiting
Poor coat condition
Off food / eating less
Pale gums and eyes (anaemia)
Growths and lumps
Abortion
Fading kitten syndrome (kittens born with FeLV often die shortly after birth).

Treatment

here is no cure for FeLV infection, and management is largely aimed at symptomatic and supportive therapy.

Rabies

Essential if travelling with your cat. Rabies is a viral disease that specifically affects a cat’s central nervous system (CNS).

Symptoms

Symptoms of rabies can take several weeks after infection to develop, but once they appear, they tend to become severe very quickly. Symptoms often include:

Sudden changes in behaviour such as:

Becoming over-friendly and attention-seeking
Becoming fearful and aggressive
Paralysis and weakness such as:
Droopy face
Excessive drooling
Muscle weakness
Difficulty walking
Seizures
Coma and death
Noise and light sensitivity.

Treatment

here is no cure for FeLV infection, and management is largely aimed at symptomatic and supportive therapy.

Vaccination Timeline

Rabbit Vaccinations Protect Against:

Myxomatosis

Myxomatosis is a severe disease (caused by a virus) that affects rabbits. It damages multiple areas of the body such as the skin, eyes, lungs, liver, and genitals, and puts infected rabbits at a high risk of catching other nasty infections.

Symptoms

Swelling around the eyes, face, ears and genitals
Weepy eyes (milky)
A runny nose
Skin lumps, ulcers and scabs on the face and body
Low energy (lethargy)
Difficulty eating or drinking
Breathing problems.
Hot to touch (high temperature/fever)

Treatment

There is no cure for myxomatosis. Only supportive care can be given, so prevention is key.

Haemorrhagic Disease 1 & Disease 2

RHD is a virus that targets rabbits, attacks their internal organs (such as the liver), and causes internal bleeding. Sadly, RHD is fatal in most cases.

There are two types of RHD virus, RHD1 & 2. RHD1 causes very sudden illness and is nearly always fatal within two days of catching it.

Symptoms

Blood around the nose, mouth or bottom
Low energy (lethargy)
Eating less – which can cause serious problems and even be fatal in rabbits
High temperature
Sudden death – RHD often develops so quickly that infected rabbits die before their owner notices any symptoms.