August is National Immunization Awareness Month

Vaccines help teach your pet's immune system how to recognize and fight off certain disease-causing agents. Vaccines work primarily by stimulating the immune system's production of antibodies that identify and destroy these agents—before they can cause disease. This helps prevent or lessen the severity of future disease.

Why is it important to have my pet vaccinated?

Vaccination protects your pet from highly contagious and/or deadly diseases and improves your pet's overall quality of life. Experts agree that widespread use of vaccines within the last century has prevented death and disease in millions of animals.

How effective is vaccination?

For most pets, vaccination is highly effective in preventing or decreasing the severity of future disease—especially when vaccines are given as recommended, at the appropriate time points. After a pet has been fully vaccinated, only rarely will their immune system fail to fight off the disease. It's important to follow the vaccination schedule recommended by your veterinarian to reduce the possibility of a gap in protection.

Why do puppies and kittens require a series of vaccinations?

Very young animals are highly susceptible to infectious diseases because their immune systems are not yet mature. If their mother has been vaccinated, they receive some protection through antibodies in their mother's milk, but that protection is not long-lasting.

In many instances, the first dose of a vaccine prepares your pet's immune system to recognize the virus or bacteria. Later doses help further stimulate the immune system to produce the important antibodies needed to protect your pet from disease.

Are there risks to vaccinating my pet?

Before any vaccine is approved for use, it must go through rigorous testing to make sure it's safe and works as intended. Still, like other types of medical treatment, vaccination carries some risk of side effects. These side effects typically are minor, and they're far outweighed by the benefits of protecting your pet, your family, and your community from potentially fatal diseases.

Serious side effects are rare but can occur. One type is an allergic reaction, which may happen soon after vaccination and can involve part or all of the body.

In cats, another rare, serious problem can be development of a certain type of tumor, referred to as feline injection-site sarcoma. These tumors can develop several months or even years after an injection—most commonly a vaccine injection. The reason this happens is not yet fully understood. Fortunately, improvements in vaccines and vaccination techniques have greatly reduced the risk of injection-site sarcomas and vaccine reactions.

Diseases reduced by vaccination

Vaccination helps protect your pet against these and other highly contagious or deadly diseases.

• Canine distemper
• Canine influenza
• Canine parvovirus
• Feline panleukopenia
• Leptospirosis
• Lyme disease
• Rabies

For more information, please visit: https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/pet-owners/petcare/vaccinations