Canine Vaccination Guidelines

            In accordance with the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Animal Hospital Association, we are confident to provide you with  the most current guidelines in vaccination protocols to best meet your family's and your dog's needs.

For dogs, we recommend a puppy vaccine series from 6 weeks of age through 16 weeks. These initial vaccines are then boostered at one year of age.  Following these, your dog will receive a "distemper" and rabies vaccine every three years.  However, some vaccines will remain as one year vaccines.  These include Lepto, Lyme disease, and kennel cough.

Other things you should know as a dog owner

Other vaccinations: 

"Coronavirus": This vaccine is no longer recommended.

"Kennel Cough vaccine": This vaccine can be boostered safely every 6-12

             months depending on your pet's exposure.  Check with your veterinarian

             to make sure your pet is fully protected to meet his/her needs.

...Lumps: Some dogs can develop a lump under the skin at the site where we give a vaccine.  In dogs, this is usually just a local reaction and will go down within a month. 

(Dogs DO NOT develop tumors from vaccines which can happen in cats.)  If you notice a lump where we gave a vaccine, please call so we can identify and monitor it.

...Allergic reactions: Sometimes dogs can develop an allergic reaction to a vaccine.  Symptoms include prolonged vomiting over several hours and facial swelling or hives.  Allergic reactions can be serious so please call immediately if you suspect your dog may be having an allergic reaction.

Vaccine titers:  These are blood levels used to measure how much immunity a pet potentially has left from a vaccination.  Titers are easy, but expensive to run and the results can be difficult to interpret.  Therefore, current recommendations are to re-vaccinate on a regular basis until this technology becomes less expensive and more reliable.

...Heartworm testing: Today's heartworm tests are used to check for more than just heartworm disease.  We are also able to screen dogs for exposure to Lyme Disease and Ehrlichiosis.  Both of these are spread by ticks and regularly diagnosed in Pennsylvania.  Also, there has been an increase in heartworm disease because of "Katrina" dogs that have been adopted into our area.  (The southern states have huge problems with heartworms!)  For these reasons, we now recommend annual screening for heartworm disease, lyme disease, and erlichiosis in dogs.  Early detection is often the key to a quick recovery.

Sincerely,
The Doctors and Staff
Telford Veterinary Hospital