The importance of keeping your dog’s or cat’s immunizations up to date cannot be emphasized enough. The National Public Health Information Coalition has even declared August to be Immunization Awareness Month! Knowing which vaccines your pet should get and which they are due for can be very confusing and can get even more confusing if you go to more than one Veterinarian or vaccine clinic. One of our jobs, as a full service Veterinarian Office here in Poughkeepsie & Dutchess County, is to help guide you and keep your pet as healthy as possible. As always, we want what’s best for your pet and that can be a fine line between vaccinations and not over-vaccinating. We send out reminders a few weeks before vaccines are due and to let you know if any exams or tests are about to become due. These reminders come in the form of a magazine regarding pet health or a postcard and the notification is listed on the back.

As already mentioned, vaccination schedules can be very confusing. Let’s try to clear it up a little bit!

As stated on the ASPCA website regarding canines:

“In 2006, the American Animal Hospital Association’s Canine Task Force published a revised version of guidelines regarding canine vaccinations. The guidelines divide vaccines into three categories—core, non-core and not recommended.
– Core vaccines are considered vital to all dogs based on risk of exposure, severity of disease or transmissibility to humans. Canine parvovirus, distemper, canine hepatitis and rabies are considered core vaccines by the Task Force.
– Non-core vaccines are given depending on the dog’s exposure risk. These include vaccines against Bordetella bronchiseptica (kennel cough), Borrelia burgdorferi (Lyme) and Leptospira bacteria.

Your veterinarian can determine what vaccines are best for your dog.”

Dutchess County Animal Hospital here in Poughkeepsie & Dutchess Countydoes not over-vaccinate but we do recommend and require vaccinations based off of these guidelines. For more information on the most recent AAHA Guidelines, visit https://www.aaha.org. If you clicked thru the link and looked at the guidelines, you will understand why vaccination schedules can be so confusing. Call us for more information and to discuss vaccine schedules for both dogs and cats. They need to be as specific and individualized as your pet’s own personality.

Do we have your contact information correct? Do we have your email address on file? Have you recently moved or changed addresses? Please call the Dutchess County Animal Hospital at (845) 452-1316 and speak to one of our friendly team members to assure we are getting reminders to you!

– Post by Michelle W.