Vaccines and parasites: what every pet needs

Vaccination and parasite control is the dullest subject in pet ownership and simultaneously the cheapest way to avoid the most expensive problems. The difficulty is that the result is invisible: when it is all done properly, nothing happens. So what follows is not a calendar of dates but an explanation of how it works.

Why vaccinate a cat that never goes outside

The most common objection, and the weakest one. An indoor cat does not meet other animals, but pathogens reach the flat by another route: on your shoes, on your clothes, on your hands after stroking somebody else's pet. Some viruses survive in the environment for weeks.

• You bring the infection in yourself — that is the main route for indoor cats.
• An animal can slip out onto the stairs, into the yard, and get lost. That is the moment vaccination matters, and it is too late to arrange then.
• Any trip — to the vet, to a boarding place, abroad — requires documented vaccinations.
• In many countries rabies vaccination for dogs is a legal requirement regardless of where the animal lives.

On rabies specifically: it is fatal to animals and people alike, and there is no treatment once symptoms appear. That is why it sits apart from the rest and is regulated by law rather than left to the owner's preference.

How the vaccine series works

The logic is the same for puppies and kittens. While a youngster is nursing it is protected by its mother's antibodies. That protection fades gradually, and there is a window where maternal immunity no longer works and the animal's own has not yet formed. That is why vaccination is a series rather than a single shot — so that window is not missed.

1. 1A first vaccination early on, then one or more repeats a few weeks apart. Exact timings are set by the vet.
2. 2Full protection does not arrive the moment of the injection but some time after the series is complete. Until then the animal counts as unprotected.
3. 3After that, boosters at regular intervals for the rest of the animal's life.
4. 4The animal must be healthy before each vaccination, and worming is done beforehand — otherwise the vaccine works less well.

An important nuance for puppies: quarantine does not mean total isolation. The socialisation window is short and closes early, so a puppy still needs to see the world — carried, in safe places, without contact with unknown animals. We go into this in the article on a puppy's first months.

Worms: why treatment is scheduled, not reactive

A common mistake is waiting for symptoms. An animal with a moderate burden usually looks perfectly normal, and visible signs appear once things are well advanced. So treatment runs to a schedule rather than to observation.

• Infection happens through entirely ordinary things: grass, soil, raw meat, fleas, sniffing other animals' droppings.
• Indoor cats get infected too — again, most often through what people carry in.
• Signs that mean a vet visit: eating normally but losing weight; a dull coat; a bloated belly in a youngster; vomiting; scooting along the floor; visible matter in the stool.
• Some parasites pass to humans, and children are most at risk. That is not an argument against having a pet — it is an argument for regular treatment and washing hands.

How often depends on how the animal lives: one that walks outside and scavenges needs treating more often than one that never leaves the flat. This is exactly the question to ask a vet once and then simply follow.

Fleas and ticks: barely a season any more

The old rule of "treat from May to September" no longer holds: in mild winters ticks are active in December, and fleas live in a heated flat all year regardless of the weather.

• Fleas are not just an itch: they carry other parasites and cause allergic dermatitis, which is slow and expensive to treat.
• If you find fleas on the animal, you have to treat the home as well: most of the population lives not on the pet but in bedding, carpets and floor gaps.
• Remove a tick as quickly as possible — the longer it stays attached, the higher the risk of transmission. Watch the animal for several days afterwards.
• Warning signs after a tick bite: lethargy, refusing food, raised temperature, dark urine. That means calling a vet the same day.

Vet records: what they are actually for

A vaccination record is not paperwork for its own sake — it is the only thing that proves the animal is up to date. Without it you cannot travel, cannot leave the animal in boarding, and cannot quickly explain the history to a new vet.

• Vaccine labels, dates, and the vet's signature and stamp — without those an entry carries no weight.
• Dates of parasite treatments.
• The microchip number, if there is one.
• Photograph every page and keep a copy on your phone and in the cloud. Records go missing precisely when they are needed.

An animal from the street or a shelter

The order is slightly different here. An animal with an unknown history is seen by a vet first, and only then is vaccination planned — against a background of malnutrition or hidden illness it will not work properly.

1. 1An examination and, if needed, tests. If there are already animals at home, quarantine until the picture is clear.
2. 2Treatment for external and internal parasites on the timeline the vet sets.
3. 3Vaccination, once the animal is stable.
4. 4Neutering, after recovery. We cover why that matters in a separate article.

Shelter animals usually arrive with basic treatments and vaccinations already done — always ask for the paperwork at handover and find out immediately when the next dates fall.

Three myths that cost the most

• "The animal looks healthy, so everything is fine." That is exactly what most parasite burdens look like right up until they do not.
• "One vaccination as a puppy covers a lifetime." Protection is not permanent, which is the whole reason boosters exist.
• "Vaccines are harmful." A day or two of being subdued is a normal reaction. Serious complications are incomparably rarer than the diseases being vaccinated against, and that is precisely why a vet examines the animal beforehand.

The summary is simple: do this once, systematically — write down the dates, set reminders on your phone, keep the records somewhere known. After that it costs a few hours a year and removes most of the frightening scenarios.