VETN 227B: Preventative Medical Nursing

What are the different stages of life should animals get their wellness visits?

1. Puppy/kittens of 6-8 weeks

2. Adults

3. Senior/geriatric

What do they check for puppy/kittens of 6-8 weeks at their wellness visits?

Check for:

• Congenital conditions 

• Parasites

• Do tests

• Educate clients

What do adults go through for their wellness visits?

• PE - annual

• Vaccinations - core vacc. q3yrs

• Check for parasites

• Client education

What do senior/geriatric animals go through for their wellness visits?

• PE - q6mos (more often)

• Lab work - check thyroid and MDB (minimum data base)

• Vaccines - core q3yrs

• Check parasites

• Client education 

Why should you take puppies/kittens for their wellness visits earlier than 6 weeks? (What is the reason?)

If they haven’t been nursed and don’t have colostral antibodies from their mom → their immune system is really weak

What is acquired immunity?

Where individual antigens are introduced to the body and create specific antibodies → creates ‘memory’ cells which will remember the antigen in the future and fight it before an infection breaks out

What are the types of acquired immunity?

1. Passive

2. Active

What is passive acquired immmunity?

Antibody transfer from mom’s colostrum (doesn’t last too long)

What is active acquired immunity?

Antigen exposure via vaccines

• Can be long term, natural, or by vaccines

What are the types of active acquired immunity?

1. Non-infectious

2. Infectious

What does non-infectious vaccines do?

They cannot cells and cause disease

What are the types of non-infectious diseases?

1. Killed

2. Subunit - cut antigen into pieces and use the part that creates the antibody

What are the cons to using non-infectious vaccines?

• Less antigen in this → doesn’t last too long

• Adjuvant needed - helps create a stronger immune response or else it won’t be as effective

What is an infectious vaccine?

Can infect cells BUT doesn’t cause disease

What are the types of infectious vaccines?

1. Modified live

2. Attenuated - weakened, creates antibody response

3. Recombinant - take a part of a living organism that will make the antibody and reproduce

What are the routes for administrating vaccines?

• SQ

• IM

• IN (intranasal) or Intra-oral

What is important when it comes to giving vaccines on a cat and why?

Record the location of where you put the vaccine → cats can get a vaccine-caused sarcoma by these vaccines so we should know where we put them

Where should you put a FeLV (feline leukemia virus) vaccine?

Left hind leg

Where should you put a giardia vaccine?

Left front (not really used)

Where should you put a rabies vaccine in a cat?

Right hind leg

Where should you put a FVRCP (feline rhinotracheitis calicivirus panleukopenia) vaccine?

Right front leg

Where should we put vaccines in dogs?

Anywhere

Which of the two vaccinations have a faster onset (or faster effect)?

Infectious

Which of the two vaccines last longer?

Infectious

What are antibodies?

They destroy antigens

What are antigens?

Foreign things in the body and cause disease

Why do we give vaccines?

So the body is exposed to the antigens and can create antibodies that will “remember” them and kill them on sight next them they ever appear

Why do we give boosters to puppies/kittens after 6-12 weeks?

We don’t know if the mother’s colostral antibodies will destroy the vaccine, which would render the vaccine useless

Why should we give the rabies vaccine a bit later in life, typically?

The baby gets mom’s colostral antibodies which already has rabies antibodies in them, so they don’t need the vaccine until a little later on

• If animal has no status of being vaccinated against rabies, then we would vaccinate earlier because it is required by law

Why are core vaccines considered core?

It’s for all species

• The disease is highly contagious and can be found everywhere

Why are noncore vaccines considered noncore?

For animals that are at risk only

Why are non-recommended vaccines considered non-recommended?

• Adverse events can increase (problems)

• Inadequate protection - they don’t actually work well

What are the core vaccines for cats?

1. Rabies

2. Panleukopenia

3. Viral rhinotracheitis

4. Calicivirus

What kind of disease is rabies?

Virus - specifically a rhabdovirus

What systems do rabies affect?

Mainly the nervous system - affects how they act (aggression, solitude, paralysis)

Is rabies endemic?

Yes - that means they are in certain locations and animals only

Ex: You won’t find rabies in Hawaii

What is the only reportable disease to the CDC and why?

• Rabies → We report this so we can create a barrier between humans and wild animals (so people don’t get rabies)

What are the types of vaccines for rabies?

Rabies:

• Killed (non-infectious)

• Recombinant (infectious)

• Canary-pox vectored

When should you administer the rabies vaccine for both cats and dogs?

>12 weeks (Rabies)

• Then, 1yr → memory cells to kick in

• q3yrs

What kind of disease is panleukopenia?

Virus - believed to have come from parvovirus from dogs

What are signs of panleukopenia?

• Fever

• Vomiting

• Diarrhea

• Sudden death

• Cerebellar hypoplasia - from mom → Affects fetus → Affects their brain

Highly contagious

Panleukopenia is an endemic disease for…

Cats and any resistant (?)

What are the vaccines used for panleukopenia?

Used in a combo → Rhinotracheitis + panleukopenia (FVRCP)

• Inactivated

• Modified live (infectious)

What is something to be careful of when administrating a modified live vaccine for panleukopenia?

Don’t give it to kittens <4 months → or else it will affect their cerebrum

When should you administer panleukopenia vaccines?

• Q3-4 weeks until 4mos of age

  • Then 1 yr (booster)

  • After booster, q3yrs

What kind of disease is viral rhinotracheitis?

Herpes virus

What are the signs of viral rhinotracheitis?

Highly contagious signs:

• Fever

• Ocular/nasal dischage

• Sneezing

Other than being an endemic disease, what else is viral rhinotracheitis considered?

Can be a latent infection - show up later in life during stressful episodes

What are the type of vaccines given for viral rhinotracheitis?

• Used in a combo with panleukopenia + calicivirus (FVRCP)

• Inactivated

• Modified live (infectious) → Can cause mild disease

When should you administer the viral rhinotracheitis vaccine?

>12 wks of age

• Then a booster 1 yr later

• After that, q3yrs

What is very similar to viral rhinotracheitis in terms of symptoms?

Calicivirus

What are the signs of calicivirus?

Highly contagious signs (like URI or herpes (viral rhinotracheitis))

• Fever

• Ocular/nasal discharge

• Sneezing

• Oral ulcerations (on tongue)**

What are the type of vaccines given for calicivirus?

Given in combo with rhinotracheitis + panleukopenia (FVRCP)

• Inactivated* - most common

• Modified live (infectious) → can cause lameness

When should you administer the calicivirus?

>12 weeks

• After that, a booster 1yr later

• Then, q3yrs

What are the noncore vaccines for a cat?

• Leukemia virus

• FIV (feline immunodeficiency virus)

• FIP (feline infectious peritonitis)

• Chlamydophila felis

• Bordetella bronchiseptica

• Giardiasis (giarda)

What is leukemia virus considered?

Retrovirus

What are the signs of leukemia virus?

Contagious disease:

• Immunosuppression

• Severe anemia

• Lymphoma - cancer (lymph cells)

What kind of cats does leukemia virus mostly target?

Outdoor cats

When giving a leukemia virus vaccine, what is the first thing you should do before doing so?

Make sure they test negative → if they already test positive, that means they already got the vaccine or disease already

What are the types of vaccines given for leukemia virus?

Leukemia vaccines:

1. Inactivated

2. Recombinant - don’t give <4mos

When should you administer the leukemia virus vaccine?

All kittens but you can’t anticipate if they get it in the future

• >8weeks, q4wks 2x

• After that, q1yr

What kind of disease is feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)?

Lentivirus

What are the signs of FIV?

Immunosuppression

What kind of cats does FIV target?

Adult male cats → specifically the ones who fight outdoors

What is the type of vaccine used for FIV?

1. Inactivated (FIV)

What must you do before administering the vaccine for FIV?

Test negative for FIV → if it’s positive, then they already have the vaccine

Why should you microchip your cat that has the FIV vaccine?

After being vaccinated with FIV, they will always test positive for it even when they don’t have the disease

• That means if they are out, get captured by animal control, and get tested for FIV and it shows up positive, they will euthanize the cat if there’s no microchip or any ID even if they don’t have FIV and its just the vaccine

What kind of cats should get the FIV vaccine?

• Outdoor/fighter male cats

• Cats who live with FIV+ cats → so they don’t get the disease

When should you give the FIV vaccine?

>8wks

• 3 doses 2-3wks

• Booster q1yr

• q3yrs

What kind of disease is feline infectious peritonitis (FIP)?

Coronavirus

What are the two forms of FIP can a cat get?

1. Wet - serum in peritoneum

2. Dry - looks like pus nodules in peritoneum

What kind of vaccine do you give for FIP?

1. Modified live intranasal (Infectious)

Is it recommended to vaccinate for FIP?

Not really → They test positive for coronavirus (initially) but it might not be the same strain as the one for FIP → can cause problems

When should you vaccinate for FIP?

>16wks (FIP)

• 2 doses 2-3wks

• q1yr

What kind of disease is chlamydophila felis?

Bacterial

What kind of symptoms show up with chlamydophila felis?

Conjunctivitis

• Can look like serum to mucopurulent (mucus +pus)

• Like URI/herpes (calicivirus)

What are the types of vaccines used to vaccinate against chlamydophila felis (more accurate to say bacterin)?

1. Modified live virus (infectious)

2. Inactivated bacterin

What does the chlamydophila felis vaccine protect and not protect against?

• Has some protection from disease

• Does not protect against infection and shedding it on other objects for other cats to get infected

Who should you vaccinate against chlamydophila felis?

• Multi cat houses who go outside

• Previously infected cats

When should you vaccinate against chlamydophila felis?

>9wks

• 2 doses 3-4wks

• q1yr

What kind of disease is bordetella bronchiseptica? (AKA kennel cough for cats)

Bacterial (kennel cough)

What are the signs of bordetella? (in cats)

ITB (most in dogs) - infectious tracheobronchitis

• URI

• Can transmit to and from dogs → Can be shed and spread for ~ 5mos

What kind of vaccine is used to vaccinate against bordetella?

Modified live virus intranasal → bordetella (in cats)

• Don’t give unless they might get it (like they go boarding)

When should you vaccinate against bordetella for cats?

• 72 hrs before entry into boarding, shelter, groomer, with a lot of cats

• >8wks - doesn’t last long

  • Booster q1yr

What kind of disease is giardia?

Protozoan

What are the signs of giardia in cats?

• Diarrhea

• Weight loss

What is the type of vaccine used for giardia?

1. Inactivated → But we have no idea how long it last

Is it recommended to vaccinate against giardia?

Not really → we don’t know how long it lasts

When should we administer the giardia vaccine?

>8wks (Giardia)

• 2 doses 2-4wks

• q1yr

What are the core vaccines for dogs?

• Rabies

• Distemper

• Infectious hepatitis/trachebronchitis

• Canine parvo enteritis AKA parvovirus

What kind of disease is distemper?

Paramyxovirus

What are the disease manifestations/signs of distemper?

• Respiratory disease

• GI disease

• Nervous system → affects ependymal cells in lateral ventricles

• Epithelial hyperkeratosis* → anything that has epithelialization issues is a big tell-tale sign of distemper

Other than being endemic (everywhere), what other organisms can distemper affect?

Younger animals are more susceptible

Other species → Ferrets can get it

What are the vaccines used against distemper?

1. Modified live virus (infectious)

2. Recombinant

For distemper

When should you administer the vaccine for distemper?

>6wks 

• q3-4wks until 16wks (b/c of colostral antibodies → they’ll keep taking out the vaccine until they wear off, so just keep giving boosters until the puppy has made its own antibodies/immune system for itself)

• 1 yr later - memory cells kick in

• q3yrs

What type of virus is infectious hepatitis/tracheobronchitis in dogs?

Adenovirus

What are the two types of adenovirus and what kind of diseases do they cause?

1. CAV type 1 → causes infectious hepatitis

2. CAV type 2 → causes infectious tracheobronchitis AKA kennel cough

What are the symptoms for CAV 1?

Infectious hepatitis signs are: GI signs, coagulopathy (liver/bleeding problems), ocular signs (like moon blindness or corneal edema)

What are the symptoms of CAV 2?

Infectious tracheobronchitis → basically just kennel cough symptoms

What are the types of vaccines you can give for infectious hepatitis/tracheobronchitis?

Used in a combo → DA2P-P