>Vaccination
Severe, even fatal infectious conditions of dogs, cats and rabbits still exist in the UK but vaccinated animals are far less likely to succumb to illness if exposed to these germs.
Recent concerns over the safety of vaccination have been addressed by the POOCH study, conducted by the Animal Health Trust, which found that in a sample population of 3966 dogs there was no association between recent vaccination and ill health and no association between the number of vaccinations received over a lifetime and ill health.
In dogs we currently recommend vaccination with 'Durammune' (Fort Dodge Laboratories), which protects against distemper (hardpad), parvovirus, infectious canine hepatitis (adenovirus), leptospirosis, parainfluenza and coronavirus.
In cats we recommend vaccination with 'Pentofel' (Fort Dodge Laboratories), which protects against feline herpes and calici virus, feline panleukopaenia, feline leukaemia virus and chlamydia.
In rabbits we recommend vaccination with 'Cylap' (Fort Dodge Laboratories) which protects against viral haemorrhagic disease, and 'nobivac' myxomatosis vaccine (Intervet UK).
