Poughkeepsie Animal Wellness

Happy 4th of July, to all of our pet parents who are celebrating today! 🎆🎇🥳

Today can be a difficult day for some pups, given the loud and potentially confusing fireworks outside! Here are some tips and tricks for keeping your family friend calm during the fesitivies.

Remember, nothing is wrong with offering your furry friend a “chill pill” if you know that a potentially frightening or stressful event is going to occur! We are more than willing to prescribe your pups with “as needed” anxiety medication, as long as they have received a recent examination with us and are deemed physically healthy enough for specific medications!

We wish a fun and peaceful evening for all of our patients and their parents! 🐾

This tiny little pocket pup stopped by suddenly for some puppy vaccines and a wellness exam. And while we can’t always accept walk-ins, we luckily happened to be available that day! Plus, this face was just too adorable to resist!

Puppy vaccine plans can be complicated, and often include several boosters, especially for distemper and parvovirus! When you bring your pup in for vaccines, we always set up a plan with you for when the next booster is, to ensure the safest protections for your pet!

Puppies need a series of distemper vaccines, typically 3 given a few weeks apart, for a few important reasons!

Maternal Antibodies: When puppies are born, they receive antibodies from their mother through the placenta and their mother's milk (colostrum). These maternal antibodies provide temporary protection against diseases, including distemper. However, these antibodies gradually decrease over time.

The presence of maternal antibodies can also interfere with a puppy's ability to develop its own immunity in response to a vaccine. If a puppy is vaccinated while maternal antibodies are still high, the antibodies can neutralize the vaccine, making it ineffective.

The rate at which maternal antibodies decline varies significantly between individual puppies. It's impossible to know precisely when a puppy's maternal antibodies will have decreased enough for a single vaccine dose to be fully effective.

By giving a series of vaccinations at 3-4 week intervals, veterinarians aim to provide protection as soon as the maternal antibodies have waned sufficiently in each individual puppy.

Please give us a call if you have any questions, or if you wish to schedule a new puppy appointment! 🐾