The other vaccine that dogs can have is the kennel cough vaccine. Now we do not use this routinely because it does depend a little bit on the lifestyle of your dog and whether they are going to be coming into contact with other dogs, or whether you are in contact with lots of other dogs. But again, this is something that you would discuss with your vet as to whether it was required for your dog or not. It covers against the parainfluenza and the Bordetella bronchiseptica and these are the main two organisms of kennel cough. So dogs that are unvaccinated or become out of date with their vaccinations are then susceptible to picking up these diseases. We still see cases of parvovirus in this country and we still see cases of leptospirosis, so distemper happily has been eradicated from the UK, but we have continued to vaccinate against it to make sure that we do not get cases. The parvovirus is more common in puppies and can also happen in older dogs because their immune systems are not as healthy and as fit as they would have been when they are an adult.
When they do get the parvovirus it can be fatal, especially in the younger dogs because they just do not have the reserves and the fight to get over it, so it is really serious when they get it. And for that reason vaccination is so, so important for dogs. As soon as one animal does have it, as soon as one dog does get the parvovirus, it is highly contagious and so any other dogs that have been in contact with that dog, if they are un-vaccinated are likely or at risk of getting that parvovirus infection as well.
