HEALTHY PETS PROTECT YOUR PET BY VACCINATIONS
The animal body is an amazing thing. It has a built-in defense system designed to fight many types of pathogens that try to make it sick. When a cat or dog is born, he/she does not yet have a fully mature immune system. Therefore, puppies and kittens receive antibodies in special milk (colostrum) that is produced by the mother for the first couple of days after birth. These antibodies are absorbed by the puppy’s/kitten’s digestive system and help them fight pathogens while their immune system continues to develop. However, after 14-20 weeks, the mother’s antibodies are gone, and the puppy/ kitten is now reliant on its own immune system to protect it from disease.
At this point in time, the body is capable, but not very experienced at fighting pathogens. Throughout its life, an animal will be exposed to many pathogens which will make the immune system stronger and more prepared to fight infection. Vaccination exposes animals to biological products that mimic pathogens to stimulate the immune system and allow it to get stronger without causing disease. This can help young animals strengthen their immune system quickly and safely.
What is vaccination?
A vaccine is a biological product that stimulates an animal’s immune system to protect it from disease. Vaccines contain biological substances designed to resemble a pathogen. Vaccines do not cause disease, but they “trick” the body into thinking that it has been infected with a specific pathogen. The body’s defenses react by mounting an immune response. The body produces specific protective antibodies to fight this pathogen and needs to remember how to fight it in the future if it encounters the pathogen again. The body stores this response in its memory with antibody-producing memory cells. If the animal is ever exposed to the real pathogen, these memory cells produce disease-fighting antibodies rapidly and in higher numbers. In other words, the body is prepared to fight the real disease quickly. For highly contagious and potentially deadly diseases, this preparation can save lives and reduce the severity of disease.
There are different types of vaccines. Some can contain pieces of a killed pathogen and some contain pieces of a weakened live pathogen. Remember, vaccines do not cause disease. They simply teach the body how to respond to a specific pathogen and protect it from disease. Some animals may feel unwell after receiving a vaccine, but this is usually temporary.
Why are vaccines important?
Vaccines are usually designed to protect animals against diseases that:
1. Cause severe illness
2. Are deadly
3. Can spread quickly
4. Are contagious
These articles are brought to you by the Student Initiative for Reservation Services (SIRVS) at the University of Minnesota and Tufts Community Action Team (TCAT) at Tufts University.
IMPORTANT TERMS
Pathogen: any organism that can cause disease. Some examples are bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi.
Immune System: a complex collection of cells and proteins that work together to defend an animal from diseases caused by pathogens.
Antibody: a blood protein produced by the body in response to infection with a pathogen as a part of the immune system. Antibodies bind to a specific pathogen or toxin, making it unable to attach to other cells and cause damage. The binding of antibodies to a pathogen/toxin also marks it as an intruder so that it can be recognized and destroyed by other cells of the immune system.
Immunity: the ability of an animal to resist infection with a pathogen. This is often due to the presence of specific antibodies against that pathogen.
Vaccine: a biological product that is designed to mimic a pathogen and is used to stimulate the body to create antibodies against this pathogen without causing disease.
Vaccination: the process of giving a vaccine. Vaccines are often administered into the body by needle injection under the skin or into the muscle, but some vaccines can be given by mouth or sprayed up the nose.
