Every three to four weeks up until they reach 16 weeks of age. That way, we ensure we form lasting immunity to protect your kitten. It's once a year after that.

We like to start kitten vaccines between seven and eight weeks of age. You can start them around six weeks. I typically like to wait a little longer just because the maternal antibodies are still hanging around. Then once you start your vaccines, you give them every three to four weeks up until the kitten is 16 weeks of age.

We'll talk about core vaccines first before talking about non-core. Core vaccines are considered the most important thing for your kittens, especially in the United States. They are vaccines for the most common diseases that we can prevent. The first one, of course, is rabies. Rabies can be given starting at 13 weeks and then needs to be given once a year after that. Rabies is transmissible to people, which is why it's so important. It is a hundred percent fatal to animals, so it's super important. Even if your cat or kitten doesn't go outside, it's super important because things can happen. Here in Texas, we have endemic rabies. Skunks can carry rabies and show no symptoms. There was an instance even where a raccoon got inside and bit an indoor kitty cat who had to be put down because that raccoon carried rabies. Fluke things happen, and it's super important to follow. It's also Texas state law. Non-core vaccines would be something like feline leukemia. Feline leukemia is known as the Kitty-Loving Loving Disease because it's transmitted by cats when they're grooming and loving each other. It's usually fatal as well. We recommend it for cats that go outside and interact, but if they're indoor only, they're low risk. Another core vaccine that's super important is our FVRCP, which is basically for feline upper respiratory viruses that can be detrimental to their health and can create emergency situations. Just like we get vaccinated for the flu, or some of us get vaccinated for COVID-19, FVRCP is considered a core vaccine because it is one of the most common transmissible diseases in kittens.

The main questions would be basic stuff. You would want to know what will be in your pet's best interest, what will be the welfare situation, and how much time they are going outside. Do you need to be bringing your food? Can I bring my pet a doggy bed or a blanket of some sort? Sometimes they don't want you to bring chew toys because they're concerned that they might chew the blanket because of anxiety, and that could create some intestinal issues. So again, those are discussions you need to have. But more importantly, medications. What medications does your pet need, don't forget to bring your medications if your dog needs to be medicated in your absence. Is somebody on the premises all the time or just during certain hours of the day? How are they going to deal with emergencies? These are the sort of things you need to start thinking about if you need to board your dog.

I can only speak for North Carolina. I can't speak for other locations or other states, but at least in North Carolina, each boarding facility has an annual inspection. They're checking for things like cleanliness and ensuring that there are exits, the equipment is secure, and there's fresh food and fresh water available for the dogs at all times. Those inspectors take their job very seriously because the welfare of your pets is really at stake. One of the considerations with an emergency is every veterinary or every boarding facility will have a resource veterinarian, a source of a local veterinarian where there is an emergency contact. So in the event of an emergency, although every clinic or every facility does it differently, they will alert the pet parent that there is an emergency, in which case they will take the pet to that emergency clinic. Some boarding facilities will want to know who your full-service veterinarian is when you bring your pet in. If that full-service veterinarian does provide emergency care during operational hours, and if there is an emergency during office hours, they can take your dog to that clinic. There are after-hours veterinary clinics in many towns, but not every town, and for the weekend situations, if your regular veterinarian is closed, so they can always take it to an after-hours emergency clinic if need be.

Good question. Let's dig into it a little bit. If your dog has anxiety, it depends on the degree of anxiety. If it's quite profound, there are medications that veterinarians can prescribe to help reduce anxiety. If you're going to do something of that nature, I recommend starting to give the medication before going to the boarding facility. Don't wait till the day of. You want to have a loading period of a couple of days or around three days, depending on the medication. That's a discussion you'd have with your full-service veterinarian to help reduce the anxiety. There can be other ways of trying to address that. Depending on the boarding facility, they might allow you to go into the facility with your dog so they can start making that association. You're with them, and you can be there to support them with their anxiety. Again, if the dog has severe anxiety issues, that might be a situation where you can try a probiotic called Calming Care that you can add to the food. I would do it well before the visit. There's another medication called L-theanine that you can get. I do have a handout on these medications with dosages that you can look at. CBD can also be used. I'm probably going to get canceled for saying that, but you can try CBD. It definitely has a tremendous benefit for many dogs with anxiety. A lot of research is going into dosing for that, but that's another consideration.

It depends on the breed. If you have a goofy golden retriever, probably not. They're probably going to be happy to make new friends. But in all honesty, yes, there will be a degree of anxiety with every dog that will be taken out of its comfort zone and out of its element around strangers. But there are those occasional dogs who do well in any kind of situation. That is one thing you are going to have to give some consideration to. If you have a high-anxiety dog or one that has separation issues from you, yes, you definitely need to be prepared to deal with that.

You have to consider the situation with your dog. If they are in high medical need and you don't think it is appropriate for somebody to take care of the dog in the way you think is in your dog's best interests. If you have a dog with special needs, understand that at the dog boarding facilities, many individuals are not trained to handle some of the situations arising with your particular pet. So keep that in consideration. Some other reasons will be if you have a very aggressive dog that may not do well with the handlers because, obviously, they have to be able to handle your dog and take them outside, or maybe they have to avoid interaction with other dogs. Also, consider if your dog is a very high-anxiety dog, and we'll talk more about that in a moment; there can be some other reasons why you may not find it appropriate to board your dog. I'm always going to circle back to the fact that if you need to leave town and leave your dog with someone or at a boarding facility, always try to see if you can get an in-house pet sitter or take your pet to somebody else's house. If you can get more in an in-home environment, that will always be less stressful and a better situation for everybody.