Puppy Packet

Vaccines for Puppies

There are several vaccines available for puppies, and it can be confusing to understand them all. The following explains the most important vaccines and why they are crucial for protecting your puppy.

DHPP (Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus) or DHLPP (includes Leptospirosis)

Distemper

What is it?
A virus that enters through the respiratory system but then attacks the entire body. It causes coughing, difficulty breathing, and runny eyes and nose. The disease can progress to severe coughing, diarrhea, and vomiting, eventually affecting the nervous system, leading to seizures, twitching, weak limbs, and often death.

How is it spread?
Mostly through respiratory secretions.

Hepatitis (Adenovirus 2)

What is it?
A viral disease that causes severe injury to the liver, kidneys, and eyes. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Severe liver injury can lead to death or chronic illness if the animal survives.

How is it spread?
By contact with the urine, feces, or saliva of infected animals.

Parainfluenza

What is it?
A highly contagious virus that causes upper respiratory disease (one of the agents causing “kennel cough”).

How is it spread?
Mostly through respiratory secretions.

Parvovirus

What is it?
A virus that attacks the cells in the intestines. Symptoms include vomiting and diarrhea, often bloody. Infected dogs become dehydrated, depressed, lethargic, and may die. Puppies are more severely affected than adults, but all unvaccinated dogs are at risk. The virus can survive in the environment for up to a year.

How is it spread?
Through infected dogs’ feces. Since the virus is hardy in the environment, be cautious about taking your puppy to public places like dog parks until they are fully vaccinated.

Leptospirosis

What is it?
A bacterial organism that affects the liver and kidneys, causing them to fail. Symptoms include depression, lack of interest in food, dehydration, high fever, vomiting, and jaundice (yellow coloring).

How is it spread?
Through the urine of infected animals, usually wildlife. It can be contracted from contaminated ponds or standing water, including kiddie pools. Leptospirosis can also affect people.

Rabies

What is it?
A fatal, progressive neurological disease in mammals.

How is it spread?
Primarily through wild animals like skunks, raccoons, coyotes, and foxes, as well as unvaccinated pets. The virus is spread through saliva. Due to the fatal risk to humans and animals, the rabies vaccine is required by law.

Bordetella (Bordetella Bronchiseptica) aka “Kennel Cough”

What is it?
A bacterial infection that affects the upper respiratory tract. It is one of the agents that causes kennel cough (the other is parainfluenza). It is typically a mild, self-limiting disease that clears in 5-14 days. Symptoms include a dry, harsh cough, nasal discharge, and possibly conjunctivitis. Severe pneumonia can develop in some cases, potentially leading to death.

How is it spread?
It is highly contagious and spread through respiratory secretions of infected dogs. Dogs are most likely to contract it when boarded, at the groomer, or in contact with infected dogs. Vaccination every six months is recommended if your dog is boarded or visits the groomer. Vaccinate 10 days before potential exposure.

Canine Influenza Virus (H3N8 and H3N2)

What is it?
Influenza viruses cause fever, joint pain, and respiratory symptoms. Although death is rare, it can occur due to respiratory complications, especially in the very old or young.

In 2004, a canine influenza virus (H3N8) was discovered in Florida racing greyhounds, and by 2005, cases spread to pet dogs. A newer strain (H3N2) appeared in Atlanta in 2015, originating from birds in Asia. Most unvaccinated dogs are susceptible to these emerging diseases.

How is it spread?
Dogs shed the virus in their body secretions, whether symptomatic or not. Transmission occurs through direct contact with an infected dog or its secretions. The virus can persist on toys, bowls, collars, and leashes for several days. Infected animals can be contagious for up to 14 days for H3N8 and up to 60 days for H3N2.

Lyme Disease (Borrelia Burgdorferi)

What is it?
Lyme disease is caused by a spirochete bacterium carried by deer ticks. Symptoms include fever, shifting leg lameness, anorexia, heart abnormalities, general malaise, polyarthritis, enlarged lymph nodes, and kidney disease.

How is it spread?
It is spread by deer ticks (Ixodes genus), which are very small, about the size of a period (.). The tick must remain attached to the dog for at least 48 hours. These ticks are prevalent in the northeastern US, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Texas, and California. Dogs that travel or reside in these regions should be vaccinated. Dogs staying in Georgia typically do not need this vaccine.

Vaccine Protocol

Age in Weeks

• 6-7 Weeks
  • Recommended core vaccine: DHPP
• 9-10 Weeks
  • Core vaccine: DHPP
  • Non-core vaccines: Bordetella (Kennel Cough)
• 12-13 Weeks
  • Core vaccine: DHPP
  • Non-core vaccines: Bordetella, Influenza, Leptospirosis, Lyme
• 15-16 Weeks
  • Core vaccine: DHPP, Rabies
  • Non-core vaccines: Influenza, Leptospirosis, Lyme

Additional Notes

Please be aware that your puppy is not fully protected until about 2 weeks after the last vaccine. Therefore, you should be careful about taking your puppy to dog parks and public areas.

This chart is also an estimate based on the vaccines your puppy received prior to coming to our hospital. Puppies need vaccines every 2-4 weeks until 16 weeks of age, as their mother’s immunity can wear off anywhere from 8-16 weeks. Every dog is different, and of course, we can’t tell when that immunity will wear off.

Vaccine Reactions

With any vaccine, there is a small percentage of animals that have a reaction. These reactions can happen immediately after vaccination or up to 24 hours later.

Signs to Look For:

• Facial swelling
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Difficulty breathing

If you should see any of those signs, please contact your veterinarian immediately. Some lethargy following vaccines is normal.

Heartworm Disease in Dogs

Heartworms are one of the most dangerous parasites for dogs. They are carried by mosquitoes, and the worms get into the lungs and heart.

Signs of Heartworm Disease:

• Coughing
• Vomiting
• Breathing difficulties
• Sluggishness
• Sudden death

Diagnosis:

A simple blood test can be done once a year to determine whether your dog has been infected.

Prevention:

Prevention is easy. There are a number of possible chewable tablets and topical medicines that can be given or applied once a month. Most of the heartworm preventions also are preventatives for intestinal parasites, and some work on fleas. Talk to your vet to see which products they carry and the benefits of each one.

Important Considerations for Georgia Residents:

Because you live in Georgia and the weather stays relatively warm all year long, it is necessary to use the preventative all year round. Because no preventative is 100% effective, we test each year to make sure that no infection has occurred.

Missed Doses and Testing:

If your pet has missed a dose, we will need to test 6 months from the previous test, as the life cycle of a heartworm is 6 months (i.e. if your pet was bitten 1 month prior to the test and he/she was off prevention, it would not show up positive on the test that day).

Manufacturer Guarantee:

If your pet does become positive while on preventative, the company will pay for your treatment, as long as you received the prevention directly from us.

Food

There are many puppy foods out on the market, and it can be confusing to find what is best for your pet.

Recommended Feeding Guidelines:

We recommend feeding a grain-inclusive puppy food until 1 year of age. We can recommend more specifics based on size, breed, etc.

Recommended Brands:

If you need specific recommendations, the 5 brands of food recommended by WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) are:

• Purina Pro Plan
• Iams
• Royal Canin
• Hill’s/Science Diet
• Eukanuba

Pets, Parasites, and People

Introduction

Dogs and cats are not just pets. They are treated like members of the family. And like any member of your family, it’s important to keep your companion animal healthy and free of parasites. It is fairly common for a dog or cat to become infected with an internal or external parasite at some point in its lifetime. Parasites can affect your pet in a variety of ways, ranging from simple irritation to causing life-threatening conditions if left untreated. Some parasites can even infect and transmit diseases to you and your family.

Veterinary Assistance

Your veterinarian can help prevent, accurately diagnose, and safely treat parasites and other health problems that not only affect your dog or cat, but also the safety of you and your family. For more information on how parasites affect your dog or cat, the health risks to people, and prevention tips, please visit us at www.petsandparasites.org.

What is a Zoonotic Disease?

Zoonoses, or zoonotic diseases, are those diseases that can be transmitted directly or indirectly from animals to humans. For example, some worms can be transmitted in the environment.

What is a Vector-Borne Disease?

Vector-borne diseases are those transmitted by fleas or ticks among other parasites that infest dogs and cats. They can affect pets and people. Ticks can transmit a large number of “vector-borne” diseases in North America, including:

• Ehrlichiosis
• Lyme disease
• Relapsing fever
• Rocky Mountain spotted fever
• Tularemia

Parasites That May Affect Your Pet

• Coccidia
• Giardia
• Mange Mites
• Ticks
• Ear Mites
• Heartworms
• Roundworms
• Toxoplasmosis
• Fleas
• Hookworms
• Tapeworms
• Whipworms

Common Questions About Pets and Parasites

Do fleas and ticks on my pet present a health risk to my family?

Yes. Fleas and ticks can carry and either directly or indirectly transmit several potential illnesses to humans. For example, rickettsiosis (infection with Rickettsia) can be transmitted directly by ticks. Bartonellosis (infection with Bartonella) is transmitted between cats by fleas and then may spread to people. Also, fleas serve as an intermediate host for tapeworms, which can infect both your pet and humans.

What kind of internal parasites or worms can infect my cat or dog?

There are a number of intestinal worms that can infect dogs and cats, and they vary according to species. In general, these include roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms, and they are very prolific. In fact, one worm can produce more than 100,000 eggs per day, which are then passed in the pet’s feces and spread throughout the area the pet roams. Once in the environment, some of these eggs can remain infective and present a health risk for your pet and humans for years.

If my dog or cat has intestinal worms, how can these parasites infect humans?

Roundworms are the most common intestinal parasite of pets and the most likely to be transmitted to humans. Humans can accidentally ingest infective worm eggs that have been passed through the pet’s feces and left in the environment. The eggs can then hatch in the human’s intestinal tract, and the immature worms can travel to various tissues in the body, including the eyes and brain, potentially causing serious infections. For more frequently asked questions and answers, please visit us at www.petsandparasites.org or consult with your veterinarian.

Reducing Risks for Your Family

You can reduce the risk of parasitic infection to your family by:

• Eliminating parasites from pets
• Restricting access to contaminated areas, such as sandboxes, pet “walk areas,” and other high-traffic areas
• Practicing good personal hygiene

Disposing of pet feces on a regular basis can help remove potentially infective worm eggs before they become distributed in the environment and are picked up or ingested by pets or humans.

Year-Round Prevention

Parasites can infect your pet any time of year. External parasites, such as fleas and ticks, may be less prevalent outside during certain times of the year; however, they often survive in the house during the winter months, creating an uninterrupted life cycle. Other internal parasites, such as worms, may affect your pet all year long. That’s why it’s important to consult with your veterinarian to implement a year-round parasite control program.

What Can I Do?

Responsible pet parasite control can reduce the risks associated with the transmission of parasitic diseases from pets to people. By following a few simple guidelines, pet owners can better protect their pets and their family:

• Practice good personal hygiene.
• Use a preventative flea and/or tick treatment year-round.
• Only feed pets cooked or prepared food (not raw meat).
• Minimize exposure to high-traffic pet areas.
• Clean up pet feces regularly.
• Visit your veterinarian for annual testing and physical examination.
• Administer worming medications as recommended by your veterinarian.
• Ask your veterinarian about parasite infection risks and effective year-round preventative control measures administered monthly.

For more important information about parasite control guidelines, ask your veterinarian or visit us at www.petsandparasites.org.

The Companion Animal Parasite Council

The Companion Animal Parasite Council (CAPC) is an independent council of veterinarians and other animal healthcare professionals established to create guidelines for the optimal control of internal and external parasites that threaten the health of pets and people. It brings together broad expertise in parasitology, internal medicine, public health, veterinary law, private practice, and association leadership.

Initially convened in 2002, CAPC was formed with the express purpose of changing the way veterinary professionals and pet owners approach parasite management. The CAPC advocates best practices for protecting pets from parasitic infections and reducing the risk of zoonotic parasite transmission. For more information about how parasites may affect your pet, please visit us at www.petsandparasites.org.

CAPC Sponsors

• Platinum Sponsors
• Gold Sponsors
• Silver Sponsors
  • Boehringer Ingelheim
  • Intervet/Schering-Plough
  • Vetmedica, Inc.
  • Animal Health
  • Merial Limited
  • Ceva Animal Health
  • StatSpin
  • VCA ANTECH
  • Virbac Animal Health

©2011 Companion Animal Parasite Council. All rights reserved. 3/11