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Understanding current veterinary advice about vaccination and socialisation in puppies: a CAV survey
CAV uPDAte
understanding current veterinary advice about vaccination and socialisation in puppies: a CAV survey
lORelle BARRett,
NZVA Veterinary manager (Companion Animals)
In late 2020, representatives from Companion Animals NZ approached the CAV committee about anecdotal reports that the messaging from veterinarians to puppy owners regarding vaccination and socialisation was highly variable. the concern was that inconsistencies in messaging was leading to confusion amongst puppy owners about the right thing to do for their puppy. the CAV committee and CANZ agreed to work together in 2021 to better understand the advice veterinarians are currently providing their puppy owners, and to assist with resources if veterinarians thought they were needed. the first step was to undertake a survey of NZVA members asking them to tell us about the advice they are currently providing to puppy owners. the online survey was run via Surveymonkey for 6 weeks during may and June of this year and was open to all NZVA members. Notification of the survey occurred in e-CAV, Vet News emails, and on the NZVA member Facebook page. A summary of findings follows:
Demographics
the survey was completed by 113 veterinarians. Figure 1 shows the distribution of respondents’ geographical location and practitioner type (companion animal veterinarian in companion animal only practice, companion animal veterinarian in
Contact: cav@vets.org.nz
Jametlene Reskp for Unsplash
Figure 1. Demographics of responding veterinarians (n = 113) by region and practitioner type. CA = companion animal veterinarian in companion animal only practice; CAm = companion animal veterinarian in mixed animal practice; m = mixed animal veterinarian.
mixed animal practice, mixed animal veterinarian). the median year of graduation was 2001 (range 1976–2020).
Parvovirus risk and vaccination recommendations
Respondents were asked to estimate their local risk of parvovirus on a sliding scale from 1–100%. Figure 2 presents the mean estimated parvovirus risk for each region of New Zealand, as indicated by respondents from that region. Respondents were also asked the following: l typical age recommended for starting primary vaccinations. l typical age recommended for finishing primary vaccinations. l time interval between completing primary vaccinations and unrestricted access to the outside world. Figure 3 presents a summary of respondents’ recommendations for each of these questions. Eight weeks of age was the most recommended age for starting primary vaccinations (63.7% of respondents). those who selected ‘other’ for starting recommendations typically recommended the first vaccination between 6–8 weeks of age, and this was often associated with litters of puppies being presented by breeders for first vaccination prior to going to new owners.
the most recommended age for finishing primary vaccinations was 16 weeks. there was some variation in recommendations occurring in the ‘other’ category. these included: l Finishing at 12 weeks for low-risk puppies vs. 16 weeks for high-risk (e.g. black and tan breeds) l Finishing age was dictated by starting age of vaccination, e.g. 8/12/16 week programme ī 6/10/14 week programme Recommendations for the time interval between the last primary vaccination and unrestricted access to the outside world were mixed. the most common recommendation was to wait 1 week after the last vaccination (51.3% of respondents), followed by 2 weeks (28.3%). the most common recommendation stated in the ‘other’ category was to wait 10 days following the last primary vaccination. However, a number of respondents also reported that they recommend limited access to the outside world after the 12-week vaccination for increased socialisation opportunities.
Figure 2. mean estimated parvovirus risk (1–100%) by region, as indicated by veterinarians from that region (n = 113).
Figure 3. Summary of recommendations made by veterinarians (n = 113) for the age to start primary vaccinations in puppies (‘Recommended start age’), the age to finish primary vaccinations (‘Recommended finish age’), and the time interval to wait before allowing unrestricted access to the outside world (‘Recommended wait time after last vaccination’).
Socialisation recommendations
Respondents were asked about the types of socialisation activities they recommended that puppy owners undertake. A yes-or-no response was sought for whether they recommended puppy classes, and a free-text entry was offered when asking about additional socialisation activities. the free text responses were then reviewed and theme categories were created based on the descriptions provided. the final additional socialisation categories were: l ‘Safe’ dogs: dogs that were vaccinated and on properties with no known parvovirus risk. l Car rides: taking puppy in the car when family is going out and about. l Carried in public: carrying puppy (in arms/carrier/pushchair etc.) out in public but not allowing them onto the ground. l Walked in public: e.g. on neighbourhood pavements, the beach at low tide, but generally avoiding areas with high dog traffic levels.
l Sights and sounds: exposure to everyday noises/sights, e.g. vacuum cleaners, noisy vehicles, hand-held objects such as umbrellas. l New people: meeting people outside of the immediate family, e.g. extended family, friends, children, the elderly etc. l Vet clinic visits: visits with no interventions/procedures performed, just positive interactions with veterinary staff. l Nothing else: no other socialisation activities recommended above puppy classes. Figure 4 presents the percentage of respondents that recommended different types of activities. the most recommended activities were puppy classes (96%) and interactions with safe dogs (86%). the most common reason for respondents not recommending puppy classes was a lack of local availability. those that did not recommend anything beyond puppy classes considered that puppy classes provided sufficient socialisation opportunities. Respondents that recommended walking in public all came from regions where the mean percentage of parvovirus risk was considered to be less than 50%.
Confidence discussing risks
Respondents were asked to rate their confidence on a 5-point scale (from ‘Extremely confident’ to ‘Not at all confident’) for discussing with puppy owners the local risk of parvovirus and prevention strategies, and appropriate socialisation vs the local parvovirus risk. Figure 5 presents the level of confidence that respondents indicated for each question, stratified by practitioner type. Companion animal veterinarians tended to rate themselves as extremely confident or very confident when discussing both issues, whereas mixed animal veterinarians tended to rate themselves as either very confident or somewhat confident.
there was no correlation between the mean percentage of regional parvovirus risk and respondents’ confidence in discussing either the local parvovirus risk (correlation coefficient = 0.07), or appropriate socialisation vs. local parvovirus risk (correlation coefficient =
Figure 4. types of socialisation activity recommended by veterinarians (n = 113). ‘Safe dogs’ = allowing contact with vaccinated dogs on properties with no known parvovirus risk; ‘Car rides’ = taking puppy in the car when family is going out and about; ‘Carried in public’ = carrying puppy (in arms/carrier/pushchair etc.) out in public but not allowing them onto the ground; ‘Walked in public’ = e.g. on neighbourhood pavements, the beach at low tide, but generally avoiding areas with high dog traffic levels; ‘Sights and sounds’ = exposure to everyday noises/sights, e.g. vacuum cleaners, noisy vehicles, hand-held objects such as umbrellas; ‘New people’ = meeting people outside of the immediate family, e.g. extended family, friends, children, the elderly etc.; ‘Vet clinic visits’ = visits with no interventions/ procedures performed, just positive interactions with veterinary staff; ‘Nothing else’ = no other socialisation activities recommended above puppy classes.
Figure 5. Confidence of veterinarians (n =113) when discussing the local risk of parvovirus exposure and prevention strategies with puppy owners (‘Confidence discussing parvo risk’), and when discussing appropriate socialisation vs the local parvovirus risk (‘Confidence discussing socialisation vs parvo risk’). CA = companion animal veterinarian in companion animal only practice; CAm = companion animal veterinarian in mixed animal practice; m = mixed animal veterinarian.
0.00). Confidence discussing the local parvovirus risk was strongly correlated with confidence discussing appropriate socialisation vs. local parvovirus risk (correlation coefficient = 0.81).
Provision of resources
Respondents were asked to rank the usefulness of possible resources about puppy socialisation. table 1 summarises the percentage of respondents that ranked each possible resource as either Very useful, Somewhat useful, Neutral, Somewhat unuseful, or Not at all useful.
Commentary on survey findings
the data on vaccination recommendations indicates that there
is good alignment within the surveyed respondents on when vaccinations should commence in puppies. However, there are some disparities with the recommended age of finishing a primary vaccination course, and recommendations for how long to wait after the last vaccination before unrestricted access to the outside world should occur.
Although the level of confidence discussing appropriate socialisation was generally high amongst respondents, the data on recommended socialisation activities indicates that there is scope for veterinary teams to broaden their discussions with puppy owners about what appropriate socialisation can include. Positive exposure to a wide variety of experiences is a cornerstone of growing happy, confident dogs. Provision of resources such as client handouts or socialisation checklists may aid both veterinarians and clients in future discussions about puppy socialisation.
It is interesting to note that the advice to take puppies out walking in public prior to completion of their primary vaccination course comes from practitioners who rate their local risk of parvovirus as less than 50%. this may provide some insight into the anecdotal reports that puppy owners are receiving conflicting advice from veterinarians about whether it is appropriate to take the puppy into the outside world. there is unlikely to be a one-size-fits all answer to this, as the types of socialisation activities that can be safely undertaken by owners may vary based on the local risk of parvovirus. Veterinarians therefore need to help puppy owners understand the breadth of socialisation activities that can be safely undertaken relative to the risk of local parvovirus exposure, and that the advice provided for that owner’s situation may differ to advice given to their family/friends/colleagues because of variations in parvovirus risk.
Coming up next issue
l A review of the current science on parvovirus vaccination and immunity in puppies. l Redefining what socialisation in puppies means. l
table 1. Responding veterinarians’ (n = 113) assessment of the usefulness of possible resources about on puppy socialisation. Results are the percentage of respondents.
Printable client handouts Printable posters for clinic owner checklist of socialisation activities CPD for vets/nurses about puppy socialisation Educational articles about puppy socialisation
Very useful Somewhat useful Neutral Somewhat unuseful
Not at all useful 69 22 23 1 0 32 36 27 3 2 60 24 13 3 1
43 35 201 1 0
44 32 20 3 1
