Vaccinations

What are Vaccinations?

Vaccinations are used to help your pets fight off infectious diseases. They stimulate the body to produce antibodies to tackle the specific disease in which we are vaccinating against.

What type of Vaccinations are there?

For dogs, cats, and rabbits we have CORE vaccinations. These are the vaccinations that we consider to be essential to the health and well-being of your pets. The core vaccines help prevent diseases most commonly seen within the UK for that specific species. Other vaccinations we consider to be non-core vaccines are vaccines such as the rabies vaccine in dogs, something we don’t consider necessary for every pet to have but may be required for travel and transport purposes. For specific information regarding non-core vaccines and their uses please contact us directly.

We often talk about primary vaccines and booster vaccines, so what’s the difference?

Our primary vaccinations are the vaccines we give to our pets when they are able to receive the vaccine from a young age. Typically in dogs its from 8 weeks, cats from 9 weeks and rabbits from 6 weeks of age – one vaccination is given and then a few weeks later we revaccinate against the same diseases to ensure they have built up the correct level of antibodies in their system. This sets up our pets to fight against diseases from a young age and to prevent them from becoming ill with the diseases. Your pet may have come from the breeder having already completed their primary course of vaccinations, in which case we would not need to vaccinate them until the following year, however some breeders choose to do the first vaccination in which case you would bring them in for their next vaccination. If you are not sure as to whether you pet needs more vaccinations, please let us know and we will be happy to help.

After we complete the primary course, in the following years we annually boost the vaccinations to ensure that your pets continue to have the antibodies they need to fight off the diseases. We call these their Booster Vaccinations. Booster vaccinations are also an opportunity for our vets to examine your pet and ensure they are in tip top shape year on year.

What to expect when coming in for a vaccination appointment?

Vaccination appointments usually take around 15 minutes, when you arrive to the practice you will check in with our reception team and be seated in either our dog waiting area or our cat waiting area – you will then be called into a consult room by one of our vets or nurses where they will conduct a health check on your pet and then confirm which vaccinations are required. After that the vaccination will be administered into the scruff (the loose bit of skin at the back of their neck) or into the nose (kennel cough vaccination only), then your pet will be given plenty of treats and fuss, and that’s it!!