Why is good health important? It can be answered with a simple yet true statement: It is important because health is our "everything" and it allows us to execute our day by day tasks in our lives properly.
It is vital for us to have a long and lasting life and if you don't take good care of your health, it may mean expenses, lost time, and suffering.
Overall, I would say, it is important because it is our greatest asset.
Health should always be the first consideration from humans to animals alike.
Maintaining good hygiene may be one of the few things you have to do to sustain good health and others would include having the right diet, exercise and sleeping properly.
What others fail to do, is to have regular appointments with their doctors, and vaccination.
Vaccination is the way of preventing progress of illness in our body and it also plays a great role in reducing or even eradicating the occurrence of cases of many known diseases.
Your dog, as part of keeping him healthy, should be properly vaccinated.
This will help him and other dogs he may come in contact with, to avoid acquiring different diseases.
To know more about vaccination, you can consult your vet and you can also continue reading as I have researched a few things and pointers about vaccination.
A dog's vaccine may come as monovalent or a combination shot that will protect your dogs from many common dog diseases.
Given below are the different kinds of vaccines: When, why and what your dog should be getting.
1.
At 5weeks old- At this age, your dog should be getting his Parvovirus vaccine.
Parvovirus is a highly contagious dog disease.
It is transmitted via indirect or direct contact with their feces.
It has two forms: intestinal and a cardiac form.
Common manifestations of this disease in intestinal form are severe vomiting and dysentery.
A result of this in cardiac form is cardiovascular or respiratory failure.
2.
At 6 and 9 weeks- Give your dog a combination vaccine(5-way vaccine).
It is composed of adenovirus cough and hepatitis, distemper, parainfluenza, and parvovirus vaccines.
A coronavirus vaccine may also be given if there is a high risk of having Coronavirus at this age.
Distemper is a disease that attacks the gastrointestinal, respiratory and nervous system.
Symptoms may include cough, lethargy, vomiting, discharges in nose and eyes.
Seizures and weakness can be seen in advanced stages.
Cases of this disease are usually fatal.
3.
At 12 weeks and above- At this age, Rabies vaccine may usually be given.
However, at some states, there are local laws given, advising pet owners to have their pets be vaccinated at a certain age.
Bordetella Bronchiseptica is also advised to be given especially if he will be around other dogs.
The disease is also called Kennel cough with the symptom of a dry cough.
It is most common in places where there are many dogs.
4.
At 12 and 15 weeks- Combination vaccine that includes leptospirosis, coronavirus aand Lyme vaccine.
5.
After 15 weeks of age- additional shots for parvovirus may be given.
6.
Booster shots: Distemper combination- never indicated in 12 weeks or older.
Bordetella Bronchiseptica- given on the 16th week then annually after that.
Rabies vaccine- should be annually given or depending on the state law.
Parvovirus- After completion of the puppy series, it should be given 1 year after.
Following shots should have 3-4 years interval.
With proper vaccination, you can prolong your dog's life, prevent him from suffering and save your money and time.
You must keep in mind that having these vaccines would not insure 100% of protection against the said diseases and should also always bring them to the veterinarian for regular check-ups.
In addition, good health requires the mixture of proper hygiene, right shelter, good food and lots of exercise.