Dogs truly can be your best friend. It is important to bring your new puppy as well as your older dog to the veterinarian for vaccinations and health check- ups. Vaccinations are available to prevent many dog diseases. Prevention costs less than treatment, and makes your dog healthier. Without a vaccination program, many dogs will come down with a serious or even fatal disease. Vaccinations help prevent diseases by stimulating the immune system to produce antibodies that help fight viruses and bacteria that cause diseases. The protection provided by a vaccine gradually declines after a pet is vaccinated, so it is important to provide regular boosters for your pet. Nursing animals receive antibodies from their mother's milk that aid in protection from disease during the first months of its life. However, these same antibodies can also decrease the effectiveness of a vaccine. During the first few months of life, maternal antibodies gradually decrease. This is why veterinarians give a series of vaccine doses from 6-16 weeks of age. If maternal antibodies are present, later doses will stimulate the animal's own antibodies to be formed against the disease. Puppies should be weaned and be in good health for a vaccination program to be effective. What do we vaccinate for?

Rabies: All warm blooded animals (dogs, cats, livestock, wild animals, and humans) can become infected with rabies. Mississippi State Law recomends the three-year rabies vaccine. Yet, in accordance with AAHA,s recommendations of regional flexibility as well as that of the AVMA's NRC panel, we are continuing to recommend annual rabies boosters due to the active cases of rabies in our region(active rabies in both Mobile and Pascagoula in 2003). Therefore, Bienville AMC uses a three-year vaccine for added protection for our dogs and cats (at no additional charge as opposed to the one-year vaccine), but still recommends annual boosting of both dogs and cats for optimal protection.

Canine hepatitis: This disease is spread primarily through infected urine by a virus. The virus can attack organs throughout the dog's body, causing fever, eye damage, liver damage, diarrhea, respiratory problems, and changes in the blood. Initial vaccination is given at 6 weeks of age, boostered every three weeks to 16 weeks of age, then annually.

Canine distemper: This virus can affect up to 75% of unprotected dogs, especially puppies. Signs may include diarrhea, fever, respiratory problems, seizures, muscular twitches, and discharge from the eyes and nose. Initial vaccination is given at 6 weeks of age, boostered every three weeks to 16 weeks of age, then annually.

Canine leptospirosis: This bacteria can affect dogs of all ages, damaging liver, kidneys, and other major organs. Dogs infected can shed the bacteria for months after it has been sick. Other dogs and even humans can pick up the bacteria from the infected dog's urine.

Viral diarrhea: Parvovirus and coronavirus are the two main causes of viral diarrhea in dogs, especially puppies. It is very easily spread through vomitus and diarrhea, and can be deadly, especially in young puppies. Initial vaccination is given at 6 weeks of age, boostered every three weeks to 16 weeks of age, then annually. Some breeds of dogs are more susceptible than others, and may need more initial boosters.

Respiratory disease: A wide variety of bacteria and viruses are involved with canine respiratory disease. The three most common are parainfluenza virus, adenovirus type 2, and Bordetalla bronchiseptica bacteria. Vaccines against all three of these are available.

Nutrition and parasite control are very important for dogs as well. Dogs should be fed a high quality dog food. A fecal exam should be done on puppies at each visit and annually for older dogs to check for intestinal worms. Heartworm disease is very common among dogs here in the South. Mosquitoes transmit the disease, and left untreated, causes heart failure. It is very important to start your puppy on a heartworm prevention program to avoid contracting this deadly but preventable disease.

It is very important to have your dog spayed or neutered. It lessens the chance of them catching diseases, lessens their chances for some types of cancer, and lowers the excess cat population, as well as making them healthier overall.

Geriatrics: Older pets ( the age depends on the breed of dog) are prone to age related diseases. They can experience heart disease, arthritis, poorly functioning liver and kidneys, metabolic changes, and weight problems. It is particularly important that older dogs receive an annual geriatric exam in conjunction with their annual vaccinations. We offer complete bloodwork, urinalysis, x-rays, ECG's, and ultrasound for the evaluation of your geriatric dog. We will discuss with you what your pet may need, and offer special packages for our geriatric patients.