June 17, 2025
By Paige Adams, DVM
There are so many vaccines out there for pets these days, what are they all about and which ones does your pet truly need? Vaccines are a cornerstone of preventive veterinary care, protecting pets from serious and potentially life-threatening diseases. The American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) provides trusted, evidence-based guidelines to ensure your dog or cat receives the most effective and appropriate vaccinations. This article will help you understand these guidelines and why vaccinations are vital for your pet’s health.
What Are the AAHA Vaccination Guidelines?
The AAHA guidelines recommend tailored vaccination protocols for dogs and cats based on their age, lifestyle, environment, and health status. Vaccines are divided into two main categories:
- Core Vaccines: Essential for all pets, regardless of lifestyle or location. These vaccines are either required by law or protect pets from extremely dangerous and potentially fatal diseases.
- Non-Core Vaccines: Recommended based on a pet’s individual risk factors, such as exposure to certain environments or other animals. These can also be called lifestyle vaccines.
Dog Vaccines
Core Vaccines for Dogs
- Rabies (1yr and 3yr options): This vaccine protects against rabies, a fatal zoonotic disease that affects the nervous system. This is required by law.
- A zoonotic disease is one that can spread from animals to humans. Rabies is a public health risk due to this and it’s why this vaccine is required by law.
- Canine Distemper: A highly contagious viral disease that affects the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and nervous systems.
- Adenovirus (CAV-2): Prevents infectious canine hepatitis and contributes to kennel cough protection.
- Parvovirus (CPV-2): A severe viral infection causing gastrointestinal illness, particularly in puppies.
- Rabies (1yr and 3yr options): This vaccine protects against rabies, a fatal zoonotic disease that affects the nervous system. This is required by law.
Combined as the DA2PP (distemper, adenovirus, parvovirus, and parainfluenza) vaccine in most protocols. This is also available as a 1yr and 3yr version. This is the vaccine puppies get boosters of starting at 6-8 weeks of age until 16 weeks of age to ensure we catch them during the window of susceptibility and guarantee a proper and protective immune response.
- Leptospirosis: Protects against bacteria found in water or soil, which can also infect humans. Leptospira bacteria live in soil and water contaminated by the urine of livestock, rodents, wild animals, and other dogs. If the bacteria comes in contact with a dog and the dog becomes infected they can develop kidney and/or liver failure as well as lung disease and potential bleeding disorders. This is a potentially life threatening disease so vaccination is highly recommended.This used to be considered a non-core vaccine, but as of October 2024 this is now considered a core vaccine per AAHA guidelines. Below is a link to an article about this new change to the vaccine guidelines.
Non-Core Vaccines for Dogs
- Bordetella: Helps prevent kennel cough, common in dogs exposed to other pets in kennels or grooming facilities. As with all vaccines, there is never a 100% guarantee the dog will be fully protected from an upper respiratory infection, but with this vaccine in their system if they do become sick it will be a shorter duration with less severe symptoms.
- Canine Influenza: Recommended for dogs in areas with known outbreaks or those frequently in contact with other dogs. We had an outbreak of canine influenza a few years ago, but haven’t seen much of it recently. Many dog daycares and boarding facilities require this vaccine.
- Lyme Disease: Lyme disease is transmitted to dogs through the bite of a tick. The specific species of tick that carries this bacterium is the black-legged tick, also known as a Deer Tick. These ticks are most commonly located in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. Lyme disease is not very prevalent here in the Southeast so we don’t vaccinate our dogs for this as commonly as people do in other areas of the country. If you plan to travel with your dog to an area that has more Lyme disease please let us know and we are happy to vaccinate your dog for this. Keeping our dogs on routine flea and tick prevention is usually enough in our area to protect from most ticks. Here at Etowah Veterinary Hospital we do not keep this vaccine in stock at all times, so if your dog is at risk for this and you would like to vaccinate for it please let us know ahead of time so we can have it for your appointment.
Cat Vaccines
Core Vaccines for Cats
- Rabies (1yr and 3yr options): This vaccine is required by law. Rabies is a fatal disease that is not only dangerous to animals, but humans too!
- Feline Herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1): Causes feline viral rhinotracheitis, a major contributor to respiratory infections.
- Feline Calicivirus (FCV): Another common cause of upper respiratory infections and oral diseases.
- Feline Panleukopenia Virus (FPV): Protects against feline distemper, a highly contagious and deadly viral disease.
These are often combined in the FVRCP (feline viral rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia) vaccine. We have this in 1yr and 3yr options as well. (The 1yr option has the added Chlamydia Psittaci protection as well)
Non-Core Vaccines for Cats
- Feline Leukemia Virus (FeLV): This vaccine is to protect cats against Feline Leukemia Virus. Cats get this virus from other cats through saliva, nasal secretions, urine, feces, and milk of infected cats. There can be virus transfer from bite wounds and mutual grooming as well as very rarely though the use of shared litter boxes and feeding dishes. If you have an indoor only cat that’s not around other cats or is only around housemates that have tested negative this vaccine may not be necessary. We do recommend kittens (indoor and/or outdoor) receive their booster series of the FeLV vaccine so they have some protection if they were to ever accidentally get out of the home throughout their life.
- Chlamydia felis: Helps prevent bacterial eye and respiratory infections. This is in the 1yr FVRCP vaccine, but not the 3yr version as it’s not a core vaccine
- Bordetella: Protects against respiratory infections in high-risk environments like shelters or catteries. This is not commonly given to cats and we do not keep this vaccine in stock on a regular basis.
Special note about PureVax Vaccines
Purevax is a line of vaccines developed specifically for cats. These vaccines are unique because they are adjuvant-free, which reduces the risk of vaccine-related reactions, such as swelling or granuloma formation, and makes them a safer choice for cats, especially those prone to sensitivities. We recommend using PurVax Vaccines for cats whenever possible.
Puppy and Kitten Vaccination Schedules
Young animals require a series of vaccines to build immunity. We have a specific protocol for these vaccines with the goal of creating a long lasting and protective immune response. The timing of vaccines are given due to the window of susceptibility. The window of susceptibility refers to a period in a young animal’s life when maternal antibodies received from their mother through colostrum (the first milk) begin to wane, but the animal’s own immune system is not yet fully capable of responding to stimuli. We administer vaccines every 3-4 weeks between the ages of 6 weeks to 16 weeks to ensure that as maternal antibodies decrease, the vaccines are given at the right time to stimulate the pet’s own immune response effectively.
Puppies and Kittens: Vaccinations typically begin at 6–8 weeks of age and are repeated every 3–4 weeks until they are 16 weeks old.
- Booster Shots: The booster shot at 1 year of age then every 1-3 years thereafter ensures long-term immunity after the initial vaccination series.
Adult Pet Vaccination Schedules
- Core Vaccines: Boosters are generally recommended every 1–3 years, depending on the specific vaccine and manufacturer.
- Non-Core Vaccines: Administered as needed, based on lifestyle and risk factors.
Your veterinarian will assess your pet’s health and exposure risk to determine an appropriate vaccination schedule.
Vaccine Titer Testing Options
Titer testing is a diagnostic tool used to measure the levels of antibodies in a pet’s blood, which indicates their immunity to specific diseases. This can be used in place of vaccination for certain things. The most common diseases we use this test for are Distemper and Parvovirus. It can be used for Rabies, but it is not recognized by the law so that is only really used for export testing purposes.
If you are interested in Titer testing instead of vaccinating your pet or you just want to learn more about this please let us know.
Key Considerations for Vaccinating Your Pet
- Indoor Pets Still Need Vaccines: Even pets that don’t go outside can be exposed to diseases through other animals, humans, or contaminated objects.
- Side Effects Are Rare: Most pets tolerate vaccines well, but mild side effects like soreness or lethargy may occur. Serious reactions are uncommon but should be reported to your veterinarian. If your pet does have a reaction then we tailor future vaccine protocols to minimize that as best we can.
- Customized Care: Every pet is unique. Vaccination plans should reflect individual needs, which your veterinarian can help determine.
The Importance of Staying Up to Date
Keeping your dog or cat’s vaccinations current is critical for:
- Preventing Serious Illness: Protect your pet from debilitating and life-threatening diseases by keeping their immunity up.
- Community Health: Vaccinations like Rabies also protect human health and other animals in society.
- Legal Compliance: Rabies vaccination is legally required in many jurisdictions.
Partnering with Your Veterinarian
Your veterinarian is your best resource for understanding which vaccines are necessary for your pet. By following AAHA guidelines, you can feel confident that your dog or cat is receiving the most effective protection against disease with the most up to date recommended protocols.