It is important to start a healthy track record for your new addition to the family upon arriving at the permanent home of residence. Upon adopting your canine, please remember to get certification of all vaccination records from your breeder or attendant at your adoption location. Depending on the age of the canine, some puppies may have already been given a “round” of puppy vaccinations. Although doubling the vaccinations may not harm the canine, it may produce reactions to the medication that can be overlooked just by getting the proper paperwork while adopting.
Newborn puppies are not born with immunity to viruses and diseases however do possess some antibodies (disease fighting proteins) to protect the newborn puppy given by the mother’s blood through the placenta in birth. During the first two days, the newborn puppy is also given immunity from disease and viruses through the milk of the mother. This is only done during the first two days though. In addition, a puppy that was born through a mother that was vaccinated is treated with the same medication naturally by its mother until around the fifth to sixth week of being alive. If a mother was not vaccinated, the puppy will not be given the same protection as a mother that was vaccinated and is at greater harm. Therefore, vaccinations are required at this time when the mothers’ protection has been reduced.
There is a “window of susceptibility” that is a concern for all puppies. This is the time when a puppy’s immunity given by the mother is too low to protect against diseases and viruses however too high for vaccines to be trustworthy. During the fifth week, the immunity given by the birth mother will start to be insufficient and vaccinations are started to be required for safety. At this fifth week anniversary, it is important to give a vaccination against parvovirus. Parvovirus is a highly contagious disease and can be transferred to the puppy from objects such as floors, cages, insects, rodents and et cetera. The symptoms for this disease are usually seen in the feces (poop) containing blood or mucus, diarrhea, or vomiting and fever occurs. Treatments are available however puppies should be taken away from environments that parvovirus has occurred to prevent the infection of this serious virus. Usually a breeder will vaccinate the puppy before adopting out to a family.
During the sixth to ninth anniversary of birth, the puppy should start a start a set of three vaccinations. Therefore a puppy will need to have three visits to a veterinary clinic to receive this core vaccination for safety. The vaccination that is needed the next three visits is a combination vaccination of distemper, adenovirus and canine parvovirus.
1. Distemper is a “paramyxo-virus” which once infected looks much like a human case of the measles. It will cause a reaction in the skin, brain, eyes, intestinal and respiratory tracts. This virus is transferred to a puppy through the air and contact to urine from an infected canine. Some common symptoms are coughing, nasal and eye discharge, vomiting and seizures. This disease should not be categorized as kennel cough though which contains some of the same symptoms. There are no specific treatments for this virus. If a puppy does live through this infection, most likely it will have major brain damage or other neurological disorders that will need constant medication daily.
2. Adenovirus is otherwise known as hepatitis and respiratory disease. Hepatitis is a disease that attacks internal organs such as the liver. It can be transferred through direct contact with an already infected canine or a recovered canine within nine months of recovery. It is generally transferred through urine of an infected canine; therefore it is important keep a puppy away from anything that was touched by an infected canine. Some common signs to watch out for are a sore throat, coughing, and occasionally pneumonia signs. It is important to watch for these signs in an unvaccinated canine since death can occur as minimal as two hours after infection. Again there is no specific treatment for this disease however can be prevented from proper vaccination.
3. Parvovirus was explained above in full detail, please see that explanation.
4. Some minor non core vaccinations that may be required in the residential environment are leptospirosis, corona virus, canine Para influenza, Bordetella bronchiseptica (aka kennel cough) and Lyme disease. Please see specific detailed articles about these viruses for more information.
Finally, the puppy is one year old (twelve weeks) and the final puppy three round combination vaccination is required and the local required rabies vaccination is required. A rabies vaccination is demanded by local law usually around this time. Check with local laws for requirements in the area of residence. Rabies is the most common virus that is caused by an infected animal (not just a canine) biting the puppy. The virus is also available in carcasses of other animals (very short amount of time) and has also been known to be air-borne however is very uncommon. There are three stages to rabies that are common in canines. The first stage (the most important to recognize) is when a canine has a fever, prefers to be solitary or becomes shy and irritable. There are no treatments for this disease. In addition, it is the most important because it can be passed on to humans which have no treatment either.
Taking precautions in finding out what the adopted puppy has been vaccinated against will assist in future vaccination appointments and will help assure that each puppy gets properly protected against all enemies. With the proper protection, a puppy will be taken care of and will live a long, healthy life as a companion to the family.
