In the past there have been many different vaccination recommendations for dogs and cats from veterinarians across the United States based on the best available information. In light of new information, the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital is offering its clients the following vaccination program. This program is designed as the routine immunization program for Colorado State University's clients' dogs and cats living in Larimer County, Colorado, USA in conjunction with a complete physical examination and health evaluation. This program is modified for any patient with specific risk factors.

Not all available small animal vaccines may be suitable for our program. Infectious disease risk may vary and our routine vaccination program may not be suitable for all localities. Anyone using our routine vaccination program is encouraged to follow the guidelines that are its basis and use the program at their own risk.

For pet owners, your local veterinarian is your best resource to develop a vaccination program tailored for your pet. The health status and infectious disease risks of your pet should be considered in the selection of a vaccination program.

Our adoption of this routine vaccination program is based on the lack of scientific evidence to support the current practice of annual vaccination and increasing documentation showing that overvaccinating has been associated with harmful side effects. Of particular note in this regard has been the association of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with vaccination in dogs and vaccine-associated sarcomas in cats -- both of which are often fatal. With boosters (except for rabies vaccine), the annual revaccination recommendation on the vaccine label is just that -- a recommendation without the backing of long term duration of immunity studies, and is not a legal requirement. Rabies vaccine is the only commonly used vaccine that requires that duration of immunity studies be carried out before licensure in the United States. Even with rabies vaccines, the label may be misleading in that a three year duration of immunity product may also be labeled and sold as a one year duration of immunity product.

Based on the concern that annual vaccination of small animals for many, but not all, infectious agents is probably no longer scientifcally justified, and our desire to avoid vaccine-associated adverse events, we are recommending the described routine immunization program to our small animal clients.

This Program recommends the standard three shot series for puppies (parvovirus, adenovirus 2, parainfluenza, distemper) and kittens (panleukopenia, rhinotracheitis, calicivirus) to include rabies after 8 weeks of age for cats (Canary Pox Rabies only) and 16 weeks of age for dogs. Following the initial puppy and kitten immunization series, cats and dogs will be boostered one year later and then every three years thereafter for all the above diseases except for rabies in cats which receive the new safer canary pox rabies vaccine that requires annual boosters. Similar small animal vaccination programs have been recently adopted by other university teaching hospitals and the American Association of Feline Practitioners.

Other available small animal vaccines, which may need more frequent administration, i.e., intranasal parainfluenza, Bordetella, feline leukemia, Lyme, etc., may be recommended for CSU client animals on an "at risk" basis but are not a part of the routine Colorado State University protocol for small animals. Recent studies clearly indicate that not all vaccines perform equally and some vaccine products may not be suitable for such a program.

Progard ®-5 (Intervet)

Progard ® KC (Intervet)

Protex ® -3 (Intervet, Inc.)

Trivalent (Heska)

Fel-O-Vax Lv-K ® (Fort Dodge)

Imrab® 3 (Rhone Merieux) (Dog)

• Intranasal Bordetella/Parainfluenza

• Feline Leukemia Vaccine

For those interested in reading more about small animal immunization issues, the following is a suggested reading list.

1. Apple MJ. Forty years of Canine vaccination. Adv Vet Med 1999;41:309-324
2. Charmichael LE. Canine viral vaccines at a turning point--a personal perspective. Adv Vet Med 1999;41:289-307
3. Chalmers WSK, Baxendale W. A comparison of canine distemper vaccine and measles vaccine for the prevention of canine distemper in young puppies. Vet Rec 1994;135:349-353
4. Dodds WJ. Vaccination protocols for dogs predisposed to vaccine reactions. J Am Anim Hosp Assoc 2001;37:211-214
5. Dubielzig RR, Everitt J, Shadduck JA, et al: Clinical and morphologic features of posttraumatic ocular sarcomas in cats. Vet Pathol 27:62-65, 1990.
6. Dubielzig RR, Hawkins KL, Miller PE: Myofibroblastic sarcoma originating at the site of rabies vaccination in a cat. J Vet Diagn Invest 5:637-638, 1993.
7. Duval D, Giger URS: Vaccine associated immune-mediated hemolytic anemia in the dog. J Vet Int Med 10:290-295, 1996.
8. Ellis JA, Haines DM, West KH, et al. Effect of vaccination on experimental infection with Bordetella bronchiseptica in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2001;218:367-375.
9. Esplin DG, McGill L, Meininger A, et al: Postvaccination sarcomas in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc 202:1245-1247, 1993.
10. Fawcett HA, Smith HP: Injection-site granuloma due to aluminum. Arch Dermatol 120:1318-1322, 1984.
11. Greene CE: Vaccine induced complications verses overvaccination. Proceedings of the 65th annual AAHA meeting, Chicago, 1998, pp 368-369.
12. Green CE, Schultz RD, Ford RB. Canine vacination. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 2001;31:473-492.
13. Greene CE. Environmental factors in infectious disease. In, Greene CE (ed). Infectious Diseases of the Dog and Cat. Second edition, WB Sunnders Co., Philadelphia, 1998, pp 673-683.
14. Hendrick MJ, Brooks JJ: Postvaccinal sarcomas in the cat: Histology and immunohistochemistry. Vet Pathol 31:126-129, 1994.
15. Hendrick MJ, Dunagan C: Focal necrotizing granulomatous panniculitis associated with subcutaneous injection of rabies vaccine in cats and dogs: 10 cases (1988-1989) J Am Vet Med Assoc 198:304-305, 1991.
16. Hendrick MJ, Goldschmidt MH: Do injection site reactions induce fibrosarcomas in cats? J Am Vet Med Assoc 199:968, 1991.
17. Hendrick MJ, Goldschmidt MH, Shofer F, et al: Postvaccinal sarcomas in the cat: Epidemiology and electron probe microanalytical identification of aluminum. Cancer Res 52:5391-5394, 1992.
18. Hendrick MJ, Kass PH, McGill LD, et al: Commentary: Postvaccinal sarcomas in cats. J Natl Cancer Inst 96:5, 1994.
19. Hendrick MJ, Shofer FS, Goldschmidt MH, et al: Comparison of fibrosarcomas that developed at vaccination sites and at nonvaccination sites in cats: 239 cases (1991-1992). J Am Vet Med Assoc 205:1425-1429, 1994.
20. Kass PH, Barnes WG, Spangler WL, et al: Epidemiologic evidence for a causal relation between vaccination and fibrosarcoma tumorigenesis in cats. J Am Vet Med Assoc 203:396-405, 1993.
21. Keil DJ, Fenwick B. Evaluation of canine Bordetella bronchiseptica isolates using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA finger printing and ribotyping. Vet Microbiol 1999;66:41-51
22. Larson LV, Schultz RD: Comparison of selected canine vaccines for the inability to induce protective immunity against canine parvovirus infections. AJVR 1997 58:4, 360-363, 1997.
23. Larson RL, Bradley JS: Immunologic principles and immunization strategy. Comp Cont Ed Pract Vet 1996;18:963-970.
24. McCaw Dl, Thompson M, Tate D, ey al. Serum distemper virus and parvovirus antibody titers among dogs brought to a veterinary hospital for revaccination. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1998;213:72-75
25. Macy DW. The potential role and mechanisms of FeLV vaccine-induced neoplasms. Sem Vet Med Surg 1995;10:234-238.
26. Macy DW, et al. Vaccine associated sarcomas in cats. Fel Pract 1995;23:24-27.
27. Macy DW, et al. Postvaccinal reactions associated with three rabies and three leukemia virus vaccines in cats. Proc. 14th Annual Vet Cancer Soc Cof., Veterinary Cancer Society, Townsend, Tenn., 1994:90-91.
28. Macy DW, Hendrick MJ: The potential role of inflammation in the development of postvaccinal sarcomas in cats. Seminars in Vet Med and Surg 26:103-109, 1996.
29. Macy DW, Vaccination against feline retroviruses. In, August JR (ed), Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine. Second edition, WB Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1994. pp33-39.
30. Macy DW. Are we vaccinating too much? J Am Vet Med Assoc 1995;207:421-425
31. Olson P, et al. Duration of immunity eliceited by canine distemper virus vaccinatons in dogs. Vet Rec 1997;141:654-655.
32. Pedersen NC: Perspectives on small animal vaccination: A critical look at current vaccines and vaccine strategies in the United States. Proceedings AAHA 145-156, 1997.
33. Phillips TR, Schultz RD: Canine and feline vaccines. Kirk R and Bonagura JD (eds). Current Veterinary Therapy XI, WB Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1992, pp 202-206.
34. Roth JA. The principles of vaccination: the factors behind vaccine efficacy and failure. Vet Med 1991;86:406-414
35. Roth JA. Characterization of protective antigens and the protective immune response. Vet Microbiol 1993;37:193-199
36. Schultz RD: Current and future canine and feline vaccination programs. Veterinary Medicine 233-254, March 1998.
37. Schultz RD: Veterinary Vaccines and Diagnostics in Advances in Veterinary Medicine, 41, 1999 pp. 1-853.
38. Scott FW: Duration of immunity in cats vaccinated with an inactivated feline panleukopenia, herpesvirus, and calicivirus vaccine. Fel Pract 1997;25:12-22.
39. Smith CA: Current concepts: Are we vaccinating too much? J Am Vet Med Assoc 207:421-425,1995.
40. Tizard I: Risks associated with the use of live vaccines. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1990;196:1851-1858.
41. Twark L, Dodds WJ. Coinical use of serum parvovirus and distemper virus antibody titers for determining revaccination strategies in healthy dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 200;217:1021-1024
42. Van Kampen KR. recombinant vaccine technology in veterinary medicine. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 2001;31:353-538

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