Pet News
Three Year Vaccination Program
For well over a decade (probably closer to two decades - it's hard to keep track), a debate has flourished about the vaccination of our canine and feline family members.
Before the debate began, it was customary to vaccinate our dogs and cats every year for everything. That was the conventional wisdom at the time. Many pet owners would visit their veterinarian annually to get their pets' "shots".
Some began to ask:
"How long does the protection from these vaccines last?"
"Are we causing harm to our pets by vaccinating them too often?"
"Are these shots just a money grab by veterinarians?"
Answers began to emerge. Even though the pharmaceutical companies manufacturing the vaccines could demonstrate "protective immunity" beyond one year, they could not change the vaccine labels without spending a lot of money getting government approval.
Eventually, some "multi-year" vaccines began to emerge. The first of these was a "three year" rabies vaccine. But the concern about the other commonly used vaccines remained. For cats, this included Distemper (Panleukopenia), Calicivirus and Feline Viral Rhinotracheitis. This combination has been known as FVRCP. For dogs this included Distemper, Hepatitis, Parvovirus and Parainfluenza known as the DHPP combo.
In the last year, some of these have been broken up into sub unit vaccines. For example, the feline FVRCP combination is now available in FVRC and P. The canine DHPP combination is available in DHParainfluenza and Parvo.
At Westmount Neighbourhood Pet Clinic, we have decided to recommend a three year rotating vaccine schedule for mature dogs and cats. The schedules for puppies and kittens will remain unchanged.
The three year schedule for dogs will work as follows:
If your puppy received his initial series of vaccines in May, June and July of 2010, then he will be due for follow up vaccines in July 2011. At that time he will receive a three year rabies vaccine as well as the DHPP booster. In July 2012, he will receive a Parvovirus vaccine only and in July 2013, a DHP vaccine only. July 2014 brings the expiration of his rabies vaccine and he will receive another 3 year rabies vaccine.
For cats, the schedule will work similarly, except that the rotation will include three-year rabies, Panleukopenia and FVRC combination.
We believe that this will provide excellent immunity to the common disease threats faced by our furry family members.
It is important to understand that some of the vaccines we will be using have still written on the label the recommendation for annual readministration. However, the package inserts that accompany these vaccines demonstrate that pets vaccinated with these products still have immunity three years after their administration. The difference is that the pharmaceutical company has not sought for approval of this label claim with the government regulators. Hence these vaccine schedules constitute "extra-label' use of some of these vaccines.
Other vaccines such as Feline Leukemia for cats and Bordetella, Lyme and Leptospirosis for dogs still require annual revaccination because the protection from these vaccines has not been demonstrated to last beyond one year.
If you have any questions about our recommended vaccination schedule, please don't hesitate to ask members of our team.
