Dog and Cat Vaccinations

Cat and dog vaccines are broken down into core and optional. Core vaccines are essential for your pet (and may be required by law).

What optional vaccines to use depends on a number of factors, including:

• The health, age, and breed of your pet
• How common the disease is in your area
• Whether your cat is indoor or goes outside
• Potential exposure to an animal that has a disease, like in dog parks, boarding kennels and grooming parlors

For the dog, core vaccines include:

• Rabies
• Distemper

Optional vaccines include:

• Kennel cough (Bordetella)
• Lyme (a disease transmitted by ticks)
• Leptosporosis (a bacterial disease spread in the urine of wildlife)

I'll discuss what is appropriate for your dog.

For cats, the suggested core vaccines are:

• Rabies
• Distemper (feline panleukopenia), which includes the upper respiratory viruses rhinotrachetis and calici

Optional vaccines include:

• Feline leukemia (FeLV)
• Bordetella

I will discuss with you what is appropriate for your cat.