Prevention of serious infectious disease through pet vaccination has been practiced for many years. It is safe to state that no single achievement has had greater impact on the well being of pets and pet owners than the development and continual improvement in animal vaccines. Early vaccines did not provide the same safe and effective protection that we have today. This protection however has not come without certain side effects. In recent years, the scientific and veterinary medical community, have paid close attention to the theory that over vaccination may be occurring as a result of improvement in the duration of immunity that the current vaccine products are providing. Methods to measure that immune status have recently become available and cost effective.

The recommendation for choice of vaccines and the schedule for their administration is now made on an individual basis that depends upon the lifestyle of the animal, possible exposure to disease, and the amount of immunity measured by a test called a