Core vaccines protect against serious, widely relevant diseases, while additional vaccines depend on age, health, lifestyle, geography, and exposure. A veterinarian should individualize product choice and timing.
Written or medically reviewed by Dr. Susset Diaz Castillo, DVM, PhD. Last reviewed: 2026-08-28.
Quick Summary: Core vaccines protect against serious, widely relevant diseases, while additional vaccines depend on age, health, lifestyle, geography, and exposure. A veterinarian should individualize product choice and timing.
Veterinary guidelines generally identify canine vaccines against distemper, adenovirus, and parvovirus as core. For cats, panleukopenia, herpesvirus, and calicivirus vaccines are generally core. Rabies vaccination is broadly recommended and may be legally required; requirements vary by jurisdiction. Recommendations for feline leukemia virus, leptospirosis, Bordetella, canine influenza, Lyme disease, and other vaccines depend on age, lifestyle, local exposure, product labeling, and evolving professional guidance.
Puppies and kittens normally need an initial series because maternal antibodies can interfere unpredictably with early doses. Adult boosters are not all given at the same interval. Prior records, product type, health status, and legal requirements matter, so an internet schedule should not replace an individualized plan.
Tell the veterinarian about boarding, grooming, daycare, dog parks, wildlife or rodent contact, outdoor access, travel, household pets, prior reactions, immune-mediated disease, pregnancy, and medications that affect immunity. Indoor cats still can escape, encounter bats, move homes, or need boarding. Risk can change over a pet's lifetime.
Vaccination timing or product choice may be modified when a pet is acutely ill or has particular medical risks, but illness does not automatically require every vaccine to be postponed. The decision is individualized. Age alone is not a reason to stop automatically. Antibody titer testing has specific uses but does not replace every vaccine or satisfy every rabies law.
Mild soreness, sleepiness, or reduced appetite can occur for a short period. Contact the veterinary team if these signs are marked, persistent, or concerning. Facial swelling, widespread hives, repeated vomiting, breathing difficulty, collapse, or profound weakness can indicate a serious reaction and require immediate emergency care. Do not give human antihistamines or pain relievers unless a veterinarian has provided patient-specific instructions.
Keep vaccine certificates and product records. Rabies documentation may be needed for licensing, housing, boarding, and travel. Destination and carrier rules can differ from routine medical recommendations and can change, so verify them before travel.
VestaSoul — My Vet At Home® serves select areas of Miami-Dade County and select areas of Broward County. When clinically appropriate, vaccines a pet is due for may be administered as part of the standard $695-per-pet All-Included Visit; the veterinarian first reviews health, records, and exposure. The visit includes a $250 Medical Credit toward eligible laboratory testing performed during that visit. This appointment-based practice is not an emergency service.
This guide provides general education and cannot diagnose an individual pet or replace an examination by a veterinarian who has reviewed that pet's history.
Often yes, but the exact plan is individualized. Escape, bats, moves, boarding, household exposures, and legal rabies requirements remain relevant.
No. Intervals differ by disease, product, age, initial series, law, and risk. Review the actual records and product history with a veterinarian.
Breathing difficulty, collapse, facial swelling, widespread hives, repeated vomiting, or profound weakness require immediate emergency evaluation.
Dr. Susset Diaz Castillo, DVM, PhD is the veterinarian behind VestaSoul — My Vet At Home®. VestaSoul — My Vet At Home® is a mobile veterinary house-call practice serving select areas of Miami-Dade County and select areas of Broward County. Learn more at Meet the Vet.
This article is for general educational purposes only and is not a substitute for an in-person examination, diagnosis, or treatment by a licensed veterinarian. If your pet is showing severe or rapidly worsening symptoms — such as collapse, difficulty breathing, uncontrolled bleeding, seizures, suspected poisoning, or an inability to urinate — go to the nearest emergency animal hospital immediately. VestaSoul — My Vet At Home® is an appointment-based, non-emergency practice and does not provide emergency or after-hours care.
VestaSoul — My Vet At Home® is a mobile veterinary house-call practice serving select areas of Miami-Dade County and select areas of Broward County.