Why Vaccinate your pets
U.P.V.Sai Kalyan
Abstract
This article provides the necessary information regarding the importance of vaccination in pets. As there is no perfect drug to cure viral diseases completely unlike bacterial diseases; and even though there are drugs to cure the viral diseases every one may not be willing to afford the high prices of so called antiviral drugs. A possible side effect of usage of these drugs could affect the life of the animal leading to reduced immunity Hence, in view of the high prices and the compromised immunity it is therefore better to protect our pets from the attack of viral diseases by taking advance precautionary measures through “Vaccination”. As we consider pets to be human companions it is also necessary to protect both ourselves and our pets from the dreadful zoonotic diseases and also for the well being of the pet animals.
Introduction
Vaccine is a substance used to stimulate the production of antibodies and provide immunity against one or several diseases, prepared from the causative agent of a disease, its products, or a synthetic substitute, treated to act as an antigen without inducing the disease. They help in enhancing the immune responses against the etiological agents.
Concept of vaccine and its origin
Edward Jenner, in late 1760’s, pioneered the concept of vaccines including creating the small pox vaccine, the world’s first vaccine. It became a marvellous discovery in the field of medicine. The second generation of vaccines was introduced in 1880s by Louis Pasteur who developed vaccines for chicken cholera and Anthrax. From then scientists have discovered many vaccines even for the dreadful diseases like measles, polio, small pox etc. which had threatened the human race leading to massive deaths. Not only in human medicine but also in field of veterinary medicine, a large number of vaccines have been discovered for both large as well small ruminants, pets, poultry etc. Some of the diseases in pets for which vaccination should be done as a mandate are given below.
Common viral and bacterial diseases for which vaccination should be done:
| Pet animal | Viral Diseases |
| Dog | Canine distemper
Canine adeno Canine parvo Canine parainfluenza Leptospira Rabies |
| Cat | Feline calci
Feline panleukopenia Feline rhinotracheitis Rabies |
Zoonotic significance of vaccination
According to World Health organization (WHO), it is any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans is defined as zoonotic disease. There are over 200 known types of zoonoses identified so far. Zoonoses comprises a large percentage of new and existing diseases in humans. Some zoonotic diseases, such as rabies, are 100% preventable through vaccination. These diseases may be of viral, bacterial or parasitic origin; and can spread through direct contact or through food, water and environment. There are a large number of diseases that affect humans from dogs, like leptospirosis, ringworm, rabies, lyme’s disease, brucella etc. Among all these, leptospira is one of the most dreadful diseases that affect the renal system in dogs. The mode of transmission of the organism is mainly through urine. If humans accidentally come in contact with the affected dog urine, the chances of getting the infection are very high.
Vaccination schedule:
The below mentioned schedule is the schedule of vaccination to be followed in pet animals. It is of mandate to be followed by pet owners to prevent the diseases which are fatal to the pets. Primary vaccine should always be followed by the booster vaccination with in stipulated time based on the type of vaccine inoculated. The different routes of administration of vaccines are subcutaneous, intramuscular, oral, intradermal, scarification and intra nasal route. Below is the table depicting the vaccination schedules in both dogs and cats.
Vaccination schedule in dogs
| Name of the Vaccine | 1st Dose | 2nd Dose | 3rd Dose |
| Puppy DHPPi | 30 days | NA | NA |
| DHPPi + L | 6-8 weeks | 9-11 weeks | Annual |
| Bordetella | 6-8 weeks | 9-11 weeks | Annual |
| Rabies | 12-15 weeks | 15-18 weeks | Annual |
| DHPPi + RL | 12-15 weeks | 15-18 weeks | Annual |
| Corona | 12-16 weeks | After 3 weeks of 1st dose | Annual |
Vaccination schedule in cats
| Name of the Vaccine | 1st Dose | 2nd Dose | 3rd Dose |
| CRP | 6-8 weeks | 9-11 weeks | Annual |
| Rabies | 12-15 weeks | 15-18 weeks | Annual |
Vaccine types
It is equally important to know about the classification of vaccines for general understanding of concept of vaccines. There are mainly 7 types of vaccines, each having a specific significane in activating the immune responses.They are
Live, attenuated vaccine: This contains a version of the living microbe that has been weakened in the lab so it can’t cause the disease. These are considered as good “teachers” of the immune system.
Inactivated vaccine: They are produced by killing the disease causing microbe with chemicals, heat or radiation. They are considered to be more stable and safer than the live vaccines.
Subunit vaccine: This type of vaccine includes only the antigens instead of entire microbe and they are said to be best in stimulation of the immune system.
Toxoid vaccine: For bacteria that secrete toxins, or harmful chemicals, a toxoid vaccine might be the answer. These type of vaccines are used when a bacterial toxin is the main cause of illness.
Conjugate vaccine: If the bacterium possesses an outer coating of sugar molecules called polysaccharides, these coatings disguise a bacterium’s antigen, so that immune system recognizes and respond to that.
DNA Vaccine: These vaccines dispense with both the whole organism and it’s parts and get right down to the essentials, the genetic material of the microbe.
Recombinant vector vaccine: They are similar to DNA vaccines but the only difference is they use attenuated organisms for the vaccine production.
Conclusion:
We can conclude that prevention is better than cure is the take home statement which stresses upon the significance of vaccination in pets both for the well being of pets and their owners.
