Prevention Over Heartbreak: Essential Vaccines For Dogs And Cats

What Vaccines Are Essential for Dogs and Cats?

Start with a simple truth: prevention lets our pets live bigger, safer lives. We sat down with Dr. O’Hara of Abingdon Animal Medical Center to map out a clear vaccine plan for dogs and cats—what’s essential, what’s lifestyle-based, and how local risks shape smart choices. From the legal and public health reasons behind rabies to the day-to-day realities of parvo, kennel cough, and leptospirosis, we connect the headlines to the habits that matter at home, on the trail, and at the boarding desk.

You’ll hear why puppy and kitten booster series are timed the way they are, how parvo can put a young dog in the hospital for a week, and why that “goose honk” cough points to highly contagious Bordetella. We dig into lepto risks in wet climates, how urine-contaminated water and soil can infect dogs and people, and which multi-strain vaccines cover the most common threats. Even low-social pets face exposure through brief escapes, vet visits, neighbors’ dogs, or pathogens that hitch a ride on clothing—so we talk through realistic protection for couch potatoes and trailblazers alike.

We also clarify adult booster timing, when a twice-yearly Bordetella makes sense, and what normal post-vaccine reactions look like versus red flags that need a call to the clinic. Cat parents get a focused segment on upper respiratory viruses, why indoor cats still need core coverage, and how to keep multi-cat homes healthier. If you want a practical, region-aware vaccine roadmap without scare tactics or jargon, this conversation brings it all down to earth.

If this helped you plan your pet’s next checkup, tap follow, share with a fellow pet parent, and leave a quick review to help others find the show. Ready to book care? Text or call 276-628-9655 or visit MyAbingdonVet.com.

To learn more about Abingdon Animal Medical Center visit:
https://www.MyAbingdonVet.com
Abingdon Animal Medical Center
19586 Dennison Drive
Abingdon, VA 24211
276-628-9655

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:04):
Welcome to Tale Talk with Dr.
O'Hara, where eastern Tennesseeand Southwest Virginia's
favorite pets get the spotlightthey deserve.
The heart behind Abington AnimalMedical Center, combining small
town's garden withstate-of-the-art veterinary
care.
Whether your furry friend purrs,barks, or just steals your
stock, this is the place fortips, tails, and a whole lot of

(00:28):
tail wagging.

SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
Protecting your pets starts with prevention.
Find out which vaccines arenon-negotiable for lifelong
health.
Welcome back everybody.
Skip Monty here in the studiowith Dr.
O'Hara of Abington AnimalMedical Center, once again on
TEL Talk.
Dr.
O'Hara, how's it going?

SPEAKER_02 (00:48):
It's doing great.
How are you doing, Skip?

SPEAKER_01 (00:50):
Doing fine, doing fine.
And this is something that's youknow big in the news for humans
right now, uh, but uh it's alsoa big deal for for for animals
as well.
So let's get right into it.
What vaccines are essential fordogs and cats?

SPEAKER_02 (01:05):
All right.
Well, the first one peopleprobably think of, and it's
true, is rabies, right?
Every everybody needs every catand dog needs a rabies vaccine.
In Virginia, the number onecarrier of rabies would be
raccoons.
And then also skunks and foxes,too.
And then some other small thingsyou see probably every once in a

(01:25):
while, it's like bats orsomething, bats, right?
Squirrels, things like that.
But, you know, your pets, youknow, are gonna be interacting
with those things, whether youlike it or not, from time to
time, you know, right?
You know, dog gets off leash,your dog's walk hiking on the
trail.
It can be an incident, you know,something like that.
I have dogs in here or even catswho got a fight with raccoons

(01:47):
and stuff like that.
So it's critical that they'revaccinated for rabies.
Rabbi's is like the only vaccinetoo.
It's your is a state law, right?
Your state has a law that youneed it, you know, your your
county's gonna have a law, yourcity's gonna have a law that you
need it because it's crucialbecause rabies is what is is
zoonotic, right?
If your dog or cat got rabies,they could pass it on to you.

(02:11):
They're saliva, right?
So and it's it's a terribledisease.
Obviously, it's not widespread,but the reason it's not
widespread is because wevaccinate for it.

SPEAKER_01 (02:21):
So do vaccination schedules between dogs and cats,
is there a difference there?

SPEAKER_02 (02:27):
No, that's a good question.
No, they're they're not.
When when they're puppies,right, we'll we'll give them
hunt bees and kittens, we'llgive them, you know, three
boosters basically.
You know, we'll you know, welike go six weeks, we'll go nine
weeks, and then we'll go 12weeks.
And occasionally, depending onwhen they started, what week
they really started, we'll go tothe 15th week one.

(02:47):
Um for dogs, for puppies, thethe crucial one is is parvo,
right?
The parvo vaccine and distempervaccine.
Um because parvo is terrible GIum virus that will, you know,
can lead lead to bad things, youknow, just really bad vomiting
and diarrhea is that virus sitsin the intestine and destroys

(03:09):
the intestine.
And then if they do get it, I'vetreated many parvo cases in my
career.
We know they're in with me forprobably about a week, you know,
on IVs and we're just trying tokeep supportive care, you know,
because the virus takes hold,you know.
Flu IV fluids are crucial inthose situations.
So it's better to vaccinatebecause it it's it's a pain.

(03:31):
Dogs, um, but dogs can we havepretty good success, good
success with it now treating it,right?
But dogs can succumb with it.
I you know, I think Parvo hasyou know an 80 to 90 percent
chance, you know, you'll get outwith aggressive treatment, but
you know, that means 10 to 15percent don't make it.

SPEAKER_01 (03:50):
So yeah, I um had a had a a puppy that we got at a a
shelter uh in California and uhuh found out after we brought
the dog home something waswrong, took the puppy to the vet
and it had parvo, andunfortunately he didn't make it.
I don't know if it's because ifif they're uh if they're
younger, does that make it moredangerous?

SPEAKER_02 (04:13):
Well, it just depends on their immune system,
I would say, Skip, more thananything.
You know how more virals will bedifferent with different people
instead of dogs.
I found that actually purebreddogs some purebred dogs have a
worser time with it um than somemutts do or mixes, but yeah, so
it's just that's bad.

(04:34):
Vaccinate for it, you vaccinatethem at six weeks, you know,
give them the boosters, they'llnever get it, you know, booster
them once a year, they'll beokay.

SPEAKER_01 (04:43):
So what role does lifestyle and environment play
in vaccine decisions or does it?

SPEAKER_02 (04:49):
Uh that that that's a that's a good question.
If you're gonna interact rightwith other dogs, um I'll give an
example of a vaccine I wouldrecommend with if you if you
bored, if you if you're gonnainteract with dogs, dog parking
stuff, I I recommend what'scalled the Bordotella vaccine,
which helps prevent or lessenthe symptoms of kennel cough,

(05:11):
which is most people know itabout because it's an upper
respiratory virus that kind oflodges in the the windpipe or
the trachea and they get areally nasty cough.
It sounds like a goose basicallyhonking.
And but it's highly, I mean, itit spreads like wildfire if we
get it, you know, it's highlycontagious.

(05:31):
So that that's something if yourdog's interacting with other
ones, you definitely recommendthat.
Dogs that are out I recommend itfor any dog, but you know, if
you give a specific example,like dogs that are out in nature
a lot of times, though theyreally need the lepto vaccine
because that's in the soil andthe water sources, and if they

(05:52):
drink that water or they theytread through it and you know
they lick their paws, they canget lepto.
And leptos really nasty.
Leptospirosis is the true nameof it.
Because it can cause liver andkidney issues, and again, it's
spread through urine mainly,right?
Urine.
And it's zoo and what we callzoonotic, meaning that people

(06:16):
get that too.
So I recommend you vaccinatingyour dog for it so you don't
ever have risk exposure for aperson to get it to.

SPEAKER_01 (06:24):
And and you get that, but but an animal gets
that by drinking contaminatedwater?

SPEAKER_02 (06:29):
Yeah, you know, some rodents and things like that,
that they're they'll be carriersof it, they'll have it, and they
they have these little urinespots, and then they'll sit in
the soil.
And lepto can sit in the soilfor weeks to months.
And so, you know, then your dogsare out there playing, having a
good time, and drinking some ofthe water or trotting through
it, then licking themselves, andthen they can get exposed to

(06:51):
exposed to it.
There's many different strainsor cerebars of it, but we
vaccinate for four of them.
Um, to you know, to keep yourdog completely protected.
And thank goodness, I I mean,even this area, this area has
got a lot of moisture, a lot ofrain, a lot of water, and stuff
like that.
But we it might here at theclinic, I mean, I I've never
come across a case, and I Iattribute that to the the

(07:12):
vaccinations.

SPEAKER_01 (07:13):
We do some of the well, you mentioned earlier uh
you know, puppies and kittensget a lot of booster shots.
What about adult dogs?
Do they get boosters as well?

SPEAKER_02 (07:21):
Or once a year, you know, once a year.
Um but I do their yearlyvaccines once a year.
Um, some people they think withdogs with like really high
exposure, maybe they should getBordatella twice every six
months.
I don't require that.
I mean, if you probably had likea show dog that's going on
traveling to all these shows anddoing it stuff, yeah, I mean you

(07:44):
might want to do it every sixmonths.
But with the here, I justrecommend vaccines once a year.
And Bordatella, if your dog is alone soldier, isn't around other
dogs unless he just goes to thevet, is that something that you
can you can say, nah, probablywon't do that this time or I I
recommend it from for everybodybecause I've had cases where

(08:06):
dogs like that, they have hadtheir owner says they've had no
exposure to to other dogs.
But then they've gotten it.
And the the way I figure that'shappened is that the owner had
exposure with another person ordogs who had it, and then it got
on their clothes, and then theywent home, and the dog spread

(08:28):
from the clothing to, you knowwhat I mean, the contaminants
spread to the dog that way.
So I recommend everybody getthat one.

SPEAKER_01 (08:36):
Very good to know.
Did not know that.
Didn't know you could it couldtransfer that way.
I I'm sure sometimes dogs likepeople can have reactions to
vaccines.
What should a pet owner watchfor after a vaccination visit?

SPEAKER_02 (08:49):
That's a good question.
Um there they're I would saythey're rare.
I want to lead in with that, butevery once in a while there is a
vaccine reactor where they getkind of sore, they get a little
trembly or lethargic orsomething like that.
Usually that's treated easilywith an anti-inflammatory,
right?
We give them ananti-inflammatory, they're back

(09:10):
the next day.
Every once in a while, ifthey're having more of a
reaction, then you know, wemight give them some i you know,
injectable benadryl or somethinglike that.
It's maybe a steroid shot, butum, you know, it it's really
rare.
I did want to say one morething.
With cats, the big vaccines forthem is when they're kittens, is

(09:31):
is to protect them from upperrespiratory virals.
Cats are really known, you know,to get upper respiratory
sneezing and and things likethat.
So with cats, that's that's kindof the main there's other ones
we give, but uh that would bethe main message I would get out
with cats is that to preventthose upper respiratory
infections they're really proneto.

SPEAKER_01 (09:50):
Oh, wonderful to know.
I learned a lot today that Ididn't know, and I'm sure a lot
of our uh listeners and viewersare as well.
Um, because this this is youknow pretty important stuff, uh
must-have for every pet parent,I would think.
Um so all right.
Well, Doc, thanks so much forsharing your knowledge with us,
and uh we'll look forward toseeing you again on uh on uh the

(10:12):
the next episode of the podcast.
Thank you, Steph.

SPEAKER_00 (10:19):
Thanks for joining us on Tale Talk with Dr.
O'Hara.
If your four-legged familymember needs a checkup, a
stylish groom, or just a cozyplace to stay, give us the call
or text at 276-628-9655, orvisit myAbingdonvet.com to book
your appointment.
Abingdon Animal Medical Center,a small town field with state of

(10:42):
the art care and plenty of bellyrubs.