Tail Talk with Dr. O’Hara

Prevention Over Heartbreak: Essential Vaccines For Dogs And Cats

• Dr. O’Hara • Episode 11

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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

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Tale Talk with Dr. O'Hara, where eastern Tennessee and Southwest Virginia's favorite pets get the spotlight they deserve. The heart behind Abington Animal Medical Center, combining small town's garden with state-of-the-art veterinary care. Whether your furry friend purrs, barks, or just steals your stock, this is the place for tips, tails, and a whole lot of tail wagging.

SPEAKER_01:

Protecting your pets starts with prevention. Find out which vaccines are non-negotiable for lifelong health. Welcome back everybody. Skip Monty here in the studio with Dr. O'Hara of Abington Animal Medical Center, once again on TEL Talk. Dr. O'Hara, how's it going?

SPEAKER_02:

It's doing great. How are you doing, Skip?

SPEAKER_01:

Doing fine, doing fine. And this is something that's you know big in the news for humans right now, uh, but uh it's also a big deal for for for animals as well. So let's get right into it. What vaccines are essential for dogs and cats?

SPEAKER_02:

All right. Well, the first one people probably think of, and it's true, is rabies, right? Every everybody needs every cat and dog needs a rabies vaccine. In Virginia, the number one carrier of rabies would be raccoons. And then also skunks and foxes, too. And then some other small things you see probably every once in a while, it's like bats or something, bats, right? Squirrels, things like that. But, you know, your pets, you know, are gonna be interacting with those things, whether you like 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 cats who got a fight with raccoons and stuff like that. So it's critical that they're vaccinated for rabies. Rabbi's is like the only vaccine too. It's your is a state law, right? Your state has a law that you need it, you know, your your county's gonna have a law, your city's gonna have a law that you need it because it's crucial because rabies is what is is zoonotic, right? If your dog or cat got rabies, they could pass it on to you. They're saliva, right? So and it's it's a terrible disease. Obviously, it's not widespread, but the reason it's not widespread is because we vaccinate for it.

SPEAKER_01:

So do vaccination schedules between dogs and cats, is there a difference there?

SPEAKER_02:

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'll give them, you know, three boosters basically. You know, we'll you know, we like go six weeks, we'll go nine weeks, and then we'll go 12 weeks. And occasionally, depending on when they started, what week they really started, we'll go to the 15th week one. Um for dogs, for puppies, the the crucial one is is parvo, right? The parvo vaccine and distemper vaccine. Um because parvo is terrible GI um virus that will, you know, can lead lead to bad things, you know, just really bad vomiting and diarrhea is that virus sits in the intestine and destroys the intestine. And then if they do get it, I've treated many parvo cases in my career. We know they're in with me for probably about a week, you know, on IVs and we're just trying to keep supportive care, you know, because the virus takes hold, you know. Flu IV fluids are crucial in those situations. So it's better to vaccinate because it it's it's a pain. Dogs, um, but dogs can we have pretty good success, good success with it now treating it, right? But dogs can succumb with it. I you know, I think Parvo has you know an 80 to 90 percent chance, you know, you'll get out with aggressive treatment, but you know, that means 10 to 15 percent don't make it.

SPEAKER_01:

So yeah, I um had a had a a puppy that we got at a a shelter uh in California and uh uh found out after we brought the dog home something was wrong, took the puppy to the vet and it had parvo, and unfortunately he didn't make it. I don't know if it's because if if they're uh if they're younger, does that make it more dangerous?

SPEAKER_02:

Well, it just depends on their immune system, I would say, Skip, more than anything. You know how more virals will be different with different people instead of dogs. I found that actually purebred dogs some purebred dogs have a worser time with it um than some mutts do or mixes, but yeah, so it's just that's bad. Vaccinate for it, you vaccinate them at six weeks, you know, give them the boosters, they'll never get it, you know, booster them once a year, they'll be okay.

SPEAKER_01:

So what role does lifestyle and environment play in vaccine decisions or does it?

SPEAKER_02:

Uh that that that's a that's a good question. If you're gonna interact right with other dogs, um I'll give an example of a vaccine I would recommend with if you if you bored, if you if you're gonna interact with dogs, dog parking stuff, I I recommend what's called the Bordotella vaccine, which helps prevent or lessen the symptoms of kennel cough, which is most people know it about because it's an upper respiratory virus that kind of lodges in the the windpipe or the trachea and they get a really nasty cough. It sounds like a goose basically honking. And but it's highly, I mean, it it spreads like wildfire if we get it, you know, it's highly contagious. So that that's something if your dog's interacting with other ones, you definitely recommend that. Dogs that are out I recommend it for any dog, but you know, if you give a specific example, like dogs that are out in nature a lot of times, though they really need the lepto vaccine because that's in the soil and the water sources, and if they drink that water or they they tread through it and you know they lick their paws, they can get lepto. And leptos really nasty. Leptospirosis is the true name of it. Because it can cause liver and kidney issues, and again, it's spread through urine mainly, right? Urine. And it's zoo and what we call zoonotic, meaning that people get that too. So I recommend you vaccinating your dog for it so you don't ever have risk exposure for a person to get it to.

SPEAKER_01:

And and you get that, but but an animal gets that by drinking contaminated water?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, you know, some rodents and things like that, that they're they'll be carriers of it, they'll have it, and they they have these little urine spots, and then they'll sit in the soil. And lepto can sit in the soil for weeks to months. And so, you know, then your dogs are out there playing, having a good time, and drinking some of the water or trotting through it, then licking themselves, and then they can get exposed to exposed to it. There's many different strains or cerebars of it, but we vaccinate for four of them. Um, to you know, to keep your dog completely protected. And thank goodness, I I mean, even this area, this area has got a lot of moisture, a lot of rain, a lot of water, and stuff like that. But we it might here at the clinic, I mean, I I've never come across a case, and I I attribute that to the the vaccinations.

SPEAKER_01:

We do some of the well, you mentioned earlier uh you know, puppies and kittens get a lot of booster shots. What about adult dogs? Do they get boosters as well?

SPEAKER_02:

Or once a year, you know, once a year. Um but I do their yearly vaccines once a year. Um, some people they think with dogs with like really high exposure, maybe they should get Bordatella twice every six months. I don't require that. I mean, if you probably had like a show dog that's going on traveling to all these shows and doing it stuff, yeah, I mean you might want to do it every six months. But with the here, I just recommend vaccines once a year. And Bordatella, if your dog is a lone soldier, isn't around other dogs unless he just goes to the vet, is that something that you can you can say, nah, probably won't do that this time or I I recommend it from for everybody because I've had cases where dogs like that, they have had their owner says they've had no exposure to to other dogs. But then they've gotten it. And the the way I figure that's happened is that the owner had exposure with another person or dogs who had it, and then it got on their clothes, and then they went home, and the dog spread from the clothing to, you know what I mean, the contaminants spread to the dog that way. So I recommend everybody get that one.

SPEAKER_01:

Very good to know. Did not know that. Didn't know you could it could transfer that way. I I'm sure sometimes dogs like people can have reactions to vaccines. What should a pet owner watch for after a vaccination visit?

SPEAKER_02:

That's a good question. Um there they're I would say they're rare. I want to lead in with that, but every once in a while there is a vaccine reactor where they get kind of sore, they get a little trembly or lethargic or something like that. Usually that's treated easily with an anti-inflammatory, right? We give them an anti-inflammatory, they're back the next day. Every once in a while, if they're having more of a reaction, then you know, we might give them some i you know, injectable benadryl or something like that. It's maybe a steroid shot, but um, you know, it it's really rare. I did want to say one more thing. With cats, the big vaccines for them is when they're kittens, is is to protect them from upper respiratory virals. Cats are really known, you know, to get upper respiratory sneezing and and things like that. So with cats, that's that's kind of the main there's other ones we give, but uh that would be the main message I would get out with cats is that to prevent those upper respiratory infections they're really prone to.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, wonderful to know. I learned a lot today that I didn't know, and I'm sure a lot of our uh listeners and viewers are as well. Um, because this this is you know pretty important stuff, uh must-have for every pet parent, I would think. Um so all right. Well, Doc, thanks so much for sharing your knowledge with us, and uh we'll look forward to seeing you again on uh on uh the the next episode of the podcast. Thank you, Steph.

SPEAKER_00:

Thanks for joining us on Tale Talk with Dr. O'Hara. If your four-legged family member needs a checkup, a stylish groom, or just a cozy place to stay, give us the call or text at 276-628-9655, or visit myAbingdonvet.com to book your appointment. Abingdon Animal Medical Center, a small town field with state of the art care and plenty of belly rubs.