Types of tick vaccinations for dogs and vaccination rules

Should dogs be vaccinated against ticks?

Many breeders are distrustful of vaccination, believing that it is not able to protect the animal from infection. In fact, vaccination does not guarantee that after a tick bite your pet will not have encephalitis or another disease, but he will be able to tolerate it in a mild form and avoid complications.

Experts call the following arguments against vaccination:

• Possibility for the dog to develop immunity.
• Reduce the risks of severe health consequences.

Among the negative points are:

1. The likelihood of an asymptomatic disease developing after a tick bite, which will not allow the breeder to show the dog to the veterinarian in a timely manner.
2. The possibility of exacerbating diseases, especially if the animal owner was not previously aware of them.
3. The need to expose the dog to unnecessary stress associated with the trip to the clinic and the administration of the drug.

Important: breeders independently determine the need to vaccinate their dog, based on an analysis of all contraindications, as well as negative and positive aspects in general.

Caring for your dog after vaccination

Sometimes, during vaccination, pets experience swelling at the injection site, general weakness, apathy and decreased appetite. Such symptoms are not a reason to panic, because in the vast majority of cases they go away on their own, without requiring additional correction. If the animal was infected before vaccination, then it is necessary to begin therapy as quickly as possible and only after the pet has fully recovered, vaccinate it, and no earlier than 2 weeks later.

During the post-vaccination period, it is necessary to follow the general rules of quarantine, since at this time the dog’s body becomes weakened. You should not transport your pet on public transport, expose it to drafts and long walks in hot weather, and also experiment with nutrition. In addition, it is strongly recommended to avoid contact of your ward with other animals. Typically, these precautions are recommended for one week after receiving the vaccine.

Features of grafting

During the vaccination process, a small amount of virus enters the dog’s bloodstream, activating antibodies in the animal’s body.

In the future, when bitten by ticks, the pet fights infections faster and more easily tolerates the diseases that arise from this background. The injection is given to pets twice with a time interval of 30 days.

Features of vaccination include:

1. The probability of protecting your pet from adverse consequences is 75% - 80%.
2. Painless injections.
3. Lack of rehabilitation period after the injection.

Advice: before vaccination, you need to talk to your veterinarian and ask questions regarding the possibility and necessity of such injections for your pet.

The vaccination protects the dog for six months, after which a repeat injection is required.

When to vaccinate

The first vaccination is carried out 2 months before the appearance of ticks. In the southern regions of the country it is the end of winter, in the central and northern regions it is April and May. Within 60 days, an immune response to the pathogen will be formed, and the animal’s body will be ready to meet it.

After a month or a month and a half, re-vaccination is carried out. After this, the animal is protected from the consequences of tick bites for six months.

When should you vaccinate your dog against ticks?

It is impossible to vaccinate dogs at the request of breeders; veterinarians must take into account many factors:

• The animal must be at least 5 months old.

Vaccinations given to puppies earlier may be difficult to tolerate or provoke various diseases, especially of the nervous system.

• After any last vaccination, 30 days or more must pass.

If an animal had a hard time with past vaccinations, you need to inform specialists about it.

• At least 2 months have passed since the encephalitis.
• During the period when there are 1.5 months left until the active phase of ticks.

Note: on average, ticks begin to attack in early to mid-May, so your dog needs to be vaccinated in March for immunity to begin to develop.

Are there protective vaccinations?

At the end of winter, veterinarians recommend vaccination with complex drugs that will protect dogs from encephalitis and other pathologies. The vaccine will not protect against ticks, but it will prevent the consequences that may occur if the insect is infected.

It is known that these parasites are carriers of diseases dangerous to the life and health of animals, including spotted fever, relapsing fever, and tick-borne encephalitis.

Most often, a dog becomes infected with them during the period of the first spring greenery, when the bloodsucking insects are especially active.

Conditions for animal vaccination

In order to be vaccinated against ticks, a number of conditions must be met. These include:

• The dog must be completely healthy.

At least 60 days must have passed since the last illness.

• For 3 days before vaccination, take allergy medications.

Such drugs are used 3–4 days after vaccination.

• In the last 2 weeks, the animal should be on a special diet, in which:
• products from the master's table are excluded;
• the necessary vitamins have been added;
• food selected by specialists is provided.

The dog needs to be given more to drink, so there must always be a bowl of clean water.

• Avoid hypothermia and swimming for at least a day before vaccination.
• On the day of the injection, the animal is examined by a veterinarian and assessed for its general health.

Note: it is required to measure the dog’s body temperature 1 – 2 hours before the injection.

Vaccination procedure

2 months before the first greenery appears on city lawns, the dog is given a comprehensive vaccine against tick-borne encephalitis and other diseases.

The serum is re-administered a month or 6 weeks after the first.

To protect your dog from fatal diseases, it is recommended to vaccinate it every 6 months.

Vaccination scheme

1. 
   The veterinarian uses a syringe to draw up a solvent for the drug.

2. Injects it into a vial of vaccine.
3. Leave the bottle for 5 minutes for the powder to completely dissolve (do not shake).
4. The prepared solution is drawn up with a syringe and injected subcutaneously into the dog.

Vaccination is carried out with only one drug. Serums from other manufacturers and diseases are used after 2 weeks.

Where can I get vaccinated and at what cost?

Vaccination against ticks takes place in veterinary clinics and is done by an experienced specialist.

Prices for such vaccinations vary, it all depends on the vaccine itself. On average, the cost starts from 300 rubles.

Contraindications for dog vaccinations

You should know that such injections are not possible if:

• the dog is pregnant;
• feeds puppies;
• has some diseases, in particular the nervous system;
• 30 days have not passed since the last vaccination;
• suffered poisoning over the past 1.5 - 2 months;
• there is an increase in body temperature, chills, colds;
• The dog is experiencing general malaise.

Advice: if the breeder is concerned about the pet’s behavior the day before, for example, there is lethargy or worsening appetite, then it is not worth vaccinating.

Why does a dog need vaccinations?

Even schoolchildren know about rabies vaccines. And the vaccine against babesiosis is a less well-known drug. But this vaccine should be included in the list of drugs created to protect your pet.

“Why is a tick so scary? Does he really have poisonous saliva? - an inexperienced person will think. No, the parasite's saliva is not poisonous in itself. But ticks often transmit diseases from a sick animal to a healthy pet.

If an individual insect is a carrier of the infection, the dog will get sick. Let us remind you what diseases a tick can “reward” a four-legged pet:

• Encephalitis. This disease affects the animal's nervous system.
• Piroplasmosis. The second name for this disease is babesiosis. The disease is terrible because it can quickly take the life of a puppy. The symptoms won't even have time to appear.

A sane owner understands that he is unlikely to be able to protect his ward from contact with ticks. Even pampered city dogs often become victims of an “attack” of parasites. In order to prevent the lightning death of his pet, a person will find out where he can get a piroplasmosis vaccine for his dog.

It is also important to prevent your cute dog from getting encephalitis. In order not to worry about his four-legged charge, the owner asks the veterinarian to vaccinate him.

Preparatory activities

Inspired by the idea of ​​protecting his ward from piroplasmosis, the owner may not understand the mandatory conditions for vaccination. A person takes a puppy to a veterinary center, and then hears from a specialist the phrase: “The animal is not ready for vaccination.”

To avoid such problems, we remind you what preparatory measures need to be taken:

• Antihelminthic therapy. In order not to worry about how the dog will survive its “acquaintance” with the virus, free it from parasites. This should be done three to four weeks before vaccination.
• Elimination of inflammatory processes and chronic ailments in animals.
• Examination by a specialist.
• You should avoid breeding the bitch if you plan to vaccinate her. Any stress is contraindicated for the body of a pregnant dog.

If the veterinarian confirms that your four-legged pet has no health problems, he will be given a piroplasmosis vaccine. Three days before this event, you should give your dog allergy medications. It is impossible to predict how a pet’s body will manifest itself in a particular case. Therefore, “safety net” is mandatory.

Whey Disadvantages

Let us remind you that the injection of the drug is given to the puppy twice. The interval between vaccinations is fourteen days.

For three days after each vaccination, bathing the dog is prohibited.

An injection against piroplasmosis cannot be called a “magic wand” that protects a dog from infection. The main purpose of the vaccine is to minimize the percentage of tragic outcomes during infection. It should be said about the main disadvantage of vaccination. The vaccine “muffles” the reaction of the dog’s body to the causative agents of piroplasmosis. It will be difficult for the owner to understand the symptoms of the disease.

When a tick infects a dog with piroplasmosis, the animal’s body can react to it in the most unpredictable way.

The owner cannot always understand and understand what caused the dog’s ailments. The dog may experience paw tremors, lethargy, and nausea. The owner may “sin” due to poisoning, sunstroke or other situations.

Where do ticks most often bite?

Ticks have their own “favorite” places for biting and suction. Moreover, they differ between children and adults - most likely due to the difference in height between the former and the latter. For example, in children, ticks are most often found on the head (and most likely behind the ears), and in adults, the most “popular” places for bites are the chest, arms and armpits. In addition to the head, ticks also attack children in the following areas of the body:

• Neck and chest;
• Hands;
• Axillary region (specifically, in children over 10 years old);
• Back.

As a rule, the tick does not completely penetrate the bite site - its head is under the skin and its body is outside. Gradually, as the tick becomes “saturated,” its abdomen swells and darkens. All the most dangerous substances (possible infectious agents and toxins) are located in the tick’s body. That is why there is always a possibility that even an infected animal will not harm the child’s health. But only on the condition that you, adults, clearly, quickly and extremely carefully “deal with” the tick.

Left: a tick biting a person - fortunately, it does not crawl entirely under the skin, but hits, as they say, headfirst into the feast. Right: a tick a couple of days after the bite and sucking - the body is full, swollen and dark, and the head is not visible at all.

How not to pull out a tick

In addition to the correct and correct ways to separate a tick from the bite site, there are, of course, several risky techniques, but very popular among the people. For example, it is generally accepted that if a tick is smeared with something “terribly unpleasant”, it will quickly leave the bite site.

The most popular “nasties” among the people: nail polish, or vice versa - nail polish remover, gasoline, animal and vegetable fat (which supposedly prevent the tick from breathing and thus “kick it out”), cleaning products, Vaseline and others “unpleasant” liquids and ointments. In fact, this strategy in itself is quite dangerous - the fact is that the tick, sensing a “threat” to life, will instinctively inject toxins into the victim’s blood (and along with them, pathogens of severe infections, too, if it contains them).

If you believe the statistics, then when you try to kill or “suffocate” a tick right at the site of the bite, the victim becomes infected many times more often than when the tick is removed in a correct and careful way. Also, the risk of infection increases sharply if you crush it while trying to remove a tick.

After you have torn the tick from the skin, there can be two developments:

• The insect was pulled out entirely;
• The abdomen of the tick came off, but the head remained in the skin;

Very few people manage to pull out the entire tick without tearing off its head. But since the body of an animal in terms of infection is much more dangerous than its “face,” there is nothing particularly terrible about the fact that the “face” will have to be picked out separately and later. The main thing is to disconnect the child’s body and the parasite’s abdomen (probably a reservoir for a deadly infection) from each other as quickly as possible.

Will it bite or not?

An inexperienced person may think that the piroplasmosis vaccine can solve all problems. Including repelling ticks. This opinion is wrong. There is no vaccine that would protect an animal from attacks by harmful insects. A tick can “attack” a vaccinated pet, bite and infect it with piroplasmosis. But the likelihood of a tragic outcome is significantly reduced when the dog is vaccinated. You should remember about additional ways to protect your pet.

To prevent a tick from biting your pet, use the following protective measures:

• drops;
• sprays;
• special collar.

By using the entire “bouquet” of means that protect your pet from babesiosis, you can be sure that your summer vacation will not be overshadowed by unpleasant situations.