Ask the Vet: Calling the Shots For Your Pet

We vaccinate our pets for the same reason we vaccinate our children: to protect them against serious diseases that can potentially be fatal. Also, some of these diseases are transmissible to people (i.e., zoonotic). As with people, vaccination may not entirely prevent the disease, but it will reduce the severity of infection. In general, dog diseases do not affect cats, and cat diseases do not affect dogs.

Puppies and kittens should receive a series of vaccinations every three weeks from the time they are six to eight weeks old until they are between three and four months old. The first vaccine for a kitten is called either a “3 in 1” or a “4 in 1,” or FVRCP, and it gives protection from viruses that cause serious upper respiratory symptoms that can become much more severe than just a “kitty cold.” Read more