What Are The Mandatory Vaccines For Dogs?

To prevent animals from contracting some infectious diseases, they need to receive some mandatory vaccines. There are also some optional ones that change according to the geographical location or the state of health of the animal. In this article we talk about these treatments that act on the health of the dog.  

Mandatory vaccines and dog health

The puppies begin to be vaccinated from 12 weeks of age  (approximately). Before this period, maternal antibodies can counteract its effects. Therefore, when the puppy stops taking his mother’s milk, he must be vaccinated as soon as possible.

When buying a dog, he is usually given his medical record and the doses of some mandatory vaccines. If the animal has not been immunized, it cannot be in contact with others, as it is more prone to contracting diseases and infections.  

With the vaccine, the dog receives a preparation of antigens for a specific virus. In this way, the organism must react and act on these microorganisms so that they do not continue to reproduce.

After being vaccinated, the dog may have lower cellular immunity and get sick (as happens with people when they get the flu vaccine, for example). Once the transient stage of immunosuppression has passed, it will be protected from viruses and bacteria. Therefore, if in the future he comes into contact with the organisms causing the diseases for which he was immunized, the dog will not be infected.

A vaccinated dog is less likely to suffer from serious and even fatal diseases. Furthermore, it avoids the contagion to people.  In any case, mandatory vaccines (and even optional ones) must be made when the animal is healthy and in good health. The side effects of vaccines are completely normal and even predictable.

For example, he may have a high fever during the hours following the vaccine, bruises, pimples or itching may appear, especially in the area where the sting was made, and cysts. The latter occur because the animal did not sit still during the puncture or because the injection fluid did not flow through the blood. If after a few days the symptoms persist, the dog should be taken to the vet.

What are the mandatory vaccines for my dog?

Mandatory vaccines protect dogs from distemper, parvovirus and infectious hepatitis. As for the optional ones, they are intended to counteract leptospirosis, rabies, canine cough and leishmaniasis, among other pathologies.

The schedule of mandatory vaccines for dogs is as follows:

• Distemper and parvovirus  – are done around 2 months of life.
• After 21 days  from this first vaccine, one should be performed which includes infectious hepatitis, parvo, distemper, leptospirosis and parainfluenza, repeated after another three weeks.
• Around  4 months  , the rabies vaccine can be done if necessary.

• Afterwards,  every year  the recall of the pentavalent must be performed, and every 3 that for the parvovirus, the distemper, the parainfluenza and the hepatitis.

The pentavalent vaccine, therefore, protects against the main diseases (and this is why it is so important to have a booster once a year): distemper, parvovirus, parainfluenza, infectious hepatitis and leptospirosis

• Distemper
• Canine infectious hepatitis (adenovirus 1)
• Leptospirosis
• Parvo
• Parainfluenza