Shots! Eek!

Let’s get it out of the way; shots can be scary.  But shots are an important part of keeping our pets healthy, and we want them to be healthy!  The big medical word for shots is vaccinations, or vaccines.   You’ve probably heard of measles, right?  But you’ve never gotten measles, right? That’s because you got a measles vaccine! Vaccines prevent us from getting diseases, like measles!

Now, dogs and cats don’t get measles, but they do get other diseases.  One of the biggest diseases we have to prevent is rabies.  Dogs and cats can get rabies, and people can get rabies from dogs and cats!  So to keep our dogs and cats safe, and to keep you safe, we give them rabies shots.

We all know shots can hurt, but there are things we can do to help our pets!  The first thing is to be brave! When we are scared, our pets can get nervous too.  But if we are brave, it can help our pets be brave! The second thing is to help them think about something else; for example – treats!  When you get a shot, you probably get a sticker (and you earned it!), but we don’t give animals stickers; they would just try to eat them! So instead we often give animals treats.  Many dogs and cats won’t even notice their shots if there are treats nearby! 

So next time you go to the vet with your pet; remember – stay brave, eat treats! Wait! No! We don’t eat the treats; the puppy does!

Thank you for reading!

-Dr. Chuck