While most owners understand the importance of ongoing vaccinations for their pet who is out and about in the world, we do sometimes field enquiries regarding other scenarios, such as how often pets should be vaccinated, what types of vaccinations they require, and whether they need ongoing vaccinations throughout their life.

Here are our team’s answers to a few probing vaccination questions.

What vaccinations does my pet need?

We would strongly recommend that all dogs receive the core vaccines, which in Australia, is the C3 (protecting against parvovirus, canine distemper virus and infectious hepatitis). Depending on your pet’s individual risk factors, they may also be recommended to receive vaccinations against kennel cough too.  In Albany we see regular outbreaks of kennel cough, so if your dog is in contact with others, we advise this extra coverage.

Cats are recommended to receive the feline core vaccines, made up of the F3 (protecting against panleucopaenia, and two common causes of cat flu; calicivirus and herpesvirus). Depending on your cat’s risk factors, we may also recommend they receive other non-core vaccinations, such as FIV or FeLV.  In Albany we tend to see some FIV (spread by fighting) but much less FeLV, so we recommend FIV vaccination in those cats who may be outdoors and potentially in contact with or fighting other cats.

Does my purely indoors cat/antisocial dog need ongoing vaccinations?

After their initial kitten vaccination series is completed (including a vaccination at around one year old), indoor-only cats may only need an F3 booster every 3 years (although this is ‘off label’ for the vaccine that we use at Mira Mar Vets, which still advises a yearly booster). However, if your cat is to attend boarding or will ever be let outside (even just sporadically), they should have yearly cat flu boosters and consider annual FIV coverage too.

Dogs who don’t come into close contact with other dogs are still recommended to stay up to date with their tri-annual C3 vaccinations, as diseases such as parvovirus can be picked up from viruses/bacteria shed into the environment from other infected animals.

But what about health checks?

Even if we don’t need to vaccinate your pet annually, we still recommend yearly health checks (or a check every 6 months for older pets). This is the best way of spotting subtle developing health issues earlier.

For personalised advice on the safest and most effective vaccination routines, please don’t hesitate to have a chat with our needle-sharp vets.