Vaccinations are extremely important aspect of pet care. This should be taken very seriously. In simple words vaccination is in fact exposing the animal to weak or dead germs which can not cause disease but body responds to it in such a way that it generates antibodies against the disease. When body is attacked by disease causing germs antibodies fights them away.

 Vaccinations should begin generally at age of 6 weeks of age but it can vary in certain vaccines as recommended by the manufacturer. Vaccination schedule can vary from doctor to doctor depending upon his personal experience with vaccinations, disease prevalence of area, quality of vaccine used etc. For vaccinations to be effective following conditions are important.

1)                 1)Animal should be in healthy state as a weak animal does not fully respond to vaccinations.

2)          2)Animal should be preferably regularly dewormed, not necessarily immediately prior to vaccinations.

3)         3)Vaccines should be of a proven brand. Not all reputed companies make good vaccines.

4)                4)Vaccinations shots should be administered by recommended methods at recommended sites.

5)        5)Cold chain of vaccinations must be maintained to be effective i.e. vaccinations must be kept at temperature of 2-8 degree constantly prior to administration.

6)         6)Vaccinations must be given by a qualified vet only as only he can handle emergencies sometimes caused by vaccination reactions (discussed later) and only he can administer vaccinations at recommended sites by recommended technique.

7)         7)Vaccination schedule should be strictly followed as recommended by a vet.

8)         8)Pets should be given good food for immune response of vaccines to be effective.

9)         9)Pet should not had been administered some drugs which cause immune suppression in near past or during vaccinations

      In spite of all precautions in an occasional case vaccination may fail to produce desired effect but it is rare.

      Vaccines are foreign proteins due to this body may respond to them in a manner different than desired way which can be classified in two categories.

1)      Allergic reaction: It is quite common in this there may be swelling and erythema around eyes, on lips, and on ears etc. There may be urticarial lesions on skin. Severe Itching on affected parts is prominent feature of this reaction. It is not life threatening. A vet should be contacted for its remedy. This reaction has nothing to do with quality of the vaccine as is sometimes presumed by pet owners.

2)      Anaphylactic shock: It is extremely rare. It can be quite dramatic and frequently life threatening .In this puppy has difficulty with breathing, or seems week, staggers, has pale gums or seems at all unresponsive. Veterinarian should be immediately contacted but effort to save pup may fail.