6 Reasons Why Dog Vaccinations in Pasadena, CA are Important for Your Pet’s Health
As a dog owner, it’s important for you to understand the benefits of having your pet vaccinated. Keeping up with your pet’s vaccinations is a great way to provide excellent health care for her throughout her life, but did you know there are other benefits as well?
In this article, we’ll walk you through six of the most important benefits you should keep in mind when it comes to having your dog vaccinated in Pasadena, CA. Read through this list and see which ones may mean the most to you and your pet.
Reasons for Vaccinations
There are many reasons why veterinarians recommend dog vaccinations in Pasadena, CA.
1. Keep Your Dog Safe
Having your dog vaccinated makes it less likely that she will get sick with some of the most common dog illnesses. Some of these are serious, such as rabies, and others are less so, such as kennel cough. Regardless of the severity of the illness, it’s important to protect your dog and help her stay healthy so she can live a long, full, happy life.
Your vet will give you more information about which vaccinations are recommended for your dog based on her health and lifestyle.
2. Keep Other Dogs Safe
Aside from protecting your own dog, you can help protect the dogs of others by keeping your pet vaccinated and up to date on her shots. If you live in an apartment building, take your dog to the dog park, visit friends with other dogs, or have other dogs yourself, these are all situations in which you should focus on protecting other dogs too.
Additionally, if you plan to take your pet to a boarding facility, kennel, or dog daycare, you will need to keep up with your dog’s vaccinations. Most of these facilities will not allow dogs to stay on-site without an up to date shot record in order to protect other dogs.
3. Prevent Fatal Illnesses
A variety of dog vaccinations are provided to reduce the risk of or completely prevent fatal illnesses. These diseases include rabies, parvovirus, canine influenza, distemper, leptospirosis, and more. Not every dog vaccination is given for a fatal illness, but since many are, it’s important to keep up with your dog’s shots to provide a healthy environment for your pet.
Although not every dog will die from most of these illnesses (apart from rabies, which is always fatal), it’s still important to give your dog the best possible chance at avoiding these diseases altogether. This way, you won’t have to worry about the risk of losing your pet to a serious disease that is entirely preventable through the use of vaccines.
4. Prevent Disease Outbreaks
In some parts of the United States and around the world, dog disease outbreaks are surprisingly common. If you have your dog vaccinated, you can do your part to help prevent these outbreaks and keep all the dogs in your area, including your own, safer from the spread of these serious illnesses.
Canine influenza is one of the most common diseases in dogs that can be seen as an outbreak. This illness can become very severe when it reaches a community, but if dogs are vaccinated against it, the problem is quickly lessened.
5. Keep Your Dog Legal
Depending on where you live, it may be required by law for you to have your dog vaccinated. The rabies vaccination, for example, is required by law in most of the United States and in many other countries as well. Other vaccinations may be required legally depending on where you live.
If you rent or live in an HOA, you may also be required by your landlord or by the HOA to have your dog vaccinated as well. Rabies is the most commonly required vaccination in these situations, but once again, you may encounter others too.
6. Protect Puppies and Senior Dogs
Puppies and senior dogs need their vaccinations even more than healthy adult dogs do (but every dog needs to be vaccinated). If you have a young puppy, you should absolutely keep up with her vaccinations, as they can protect her from contracting a variety of fatal puppy illnesses.
A senior dog should also be given the right vaccinations at the right time. Senior dogs have weaker immune systems as they get older and may be more prone to developing illnesses, so vaccinations can help.
Call Altadena Pet Hospital
With so many positives associated with having your dog vaccinated, it’s easy to see why these vaccinations are so strongly recommended. However, it’s also understandable to be concerned about having your pet vaccinated in some situations. If you feel concerned or unsure, you should speak to your veterinarian for more information.
Your vet will be able to tell you everything you need to know about your dog’s vaccinations and can help you determine which ones are best for your pet. Your vet can also help you choose whether or not vaccinations may be unsafe for your dog for any reason.
To book a dog vaccination appointment at Altadena Pet Hospital call (626) 798-0738 or use the online form!