Vaccination

Numerous major diseases have been responsible for high mortality of dogs and pups. Not only the death of canines but such diseases can also be hazardous for human health in case the virus transfers through biting. Many of such diseases which include canine distemper, canine hepatitis, leptospirosis, canine parvo virus, canine corona virus and rabies, can be easily prevented by vaccination. In addition to vaccines, booster injections should be given every year to top up against immunity to a safe level. Contradictory to the common assumption, boosters are mandatory since vaccine works only for a certain period of time.

Common fatal diseases in Nepal

Rabies

The rabies virus, which is a major killer of livestock all around the world, directly affects the brain. It is transmitted by animals. In Asia, dogs remain the principal host of the infection. This fatal disease is untreatable merely within days if the infection reaches the central nervous. Death usually occurs due to respiratory insufficiency. About 31,000 people die annually in Asia alone due to rabies transmitted by dog bites. The main source of prevention adopted worldwide is immunizing the dog with Anti-Rabies vaccine.

Canine distemper

Similar to measles, canine distemper is s serious viral disease. In fact, 15% of canine inflammatory central nervous system diseases are result of canine distemper virus. Puppies of three to six weeks of age are susceptible to this disease. The virus spreads through contact with infected bodily fluid like nasal secretion, feces, urine and also through food, water and contaminated fluid. One the most effective prevention is giving dogs distemper vaccine which is included in DHPPiL vaccine.

Para influenza

Parainfluenza virus causes kennel cough which is a highly contagious canine illness. It causes inflammation of upper respiratory system. If not prevented through vaccine or treated in time, kennel cough may progress to pneumonia.

Hepatitis

Hepatitis is an acute liver infection which also damages kidneys. The virus spreads through feces, urine, blood, saliva and nasal discharge of the infected dog. If the virus has severely cultivated itself in the canine body then death may also occur. This can be prevented by immunizing your dog.

Leptospirosis

Transmitted through the urine of infected animal, leptospirosis virus damages liver and kidney. However, it is only contagious as long as infected urine is moist.

Corona virus

Like most of canine viruses, this too spreads through infected bodily fluids. This affects the respiratory system and may cause death. Vaccine is an effective prevention method.

Vaccination trend in Nepal

Though there are many vaccines worldwide, there are some common ones in Nepal. The vaccination schedule for your dog is as follows:

*After giving the first vaccine at their respective time, only the booster vaccines need to be repeated every year.

Quality vaccine

Vaccines should not be given for the sake of doing so. Rather than sweating about how much is going out of your pocket, you should be concerned of what is going into your dogs’ body. Hence, it is very important for the dog-owner to check whether the vaccine being given to your dog is actually of good quality. But how can this be done?

It is essential that the dog owner see if the institution, from where the vaccines for their dogs come, maintains cold chain or not. Cold chain simply means always keeping the vaccines refrigerated in the temperature between +2˚ to +8 ˚C before using the vaccine. If not, then the vaccines will not be effective. And if the vaccines do not work then it can be dangerous for you too. For example, if you are bitten by your dog that has been given an ineffective Anti-Rabies vaccine, then whose life is at risk? Therefore it is important for the dog to be immunized with quality vaccine.

Since power-cuts are a major problem in Nepal, the Nepali government has imposed the rule of vaccine service providers possessing an alternative power sources. Sadly, this rule is not being followed in many institutions, accounting to various unavoidable reasons such as high operational cost. Most of these institutions are unable to do so for a variety of practical and technical difficulties. This has degraded the quality of vaccines in the nation.

Keeping in mind the countless hours of load-shedding, Mount Everest Kennel Club has a refrigerator with 24 hour generator back up in order to maintain the cold chain. In order to preserve the quality of the vaccines, we carry the vaccine the thermos filled with dry ice while taking them door to door. Dry ice has a preserving capacity of 72 hours which will ensure that the quality of the vaccine is intact even when the vaccines are carried along all day. However, we would like to remind the you whether you are using vaccines from other service providers or even us, please make sure you check if the temperature of the vaccine is form +2˚C to +8˚C using a thermometer. Only let your dogs be immunized after have received confirmation yourself that the vaccine is of good quality. You can also go and check the institutions form where you are taking service from to ensure that they have a good back up.

Vaccination is a very sensitive matter. Dogs need and should be immunized with “quality” vaccines for the prevention form harmful diseases.