PREVENTIVE · VACCINATION

What a vaccination schedule actually protects against.

Most families know their pet needs shots. Far fewer know that the second dose is the one doing the work, or which of these are optional in Bengaluru.

WRITTEN BY THE BOZO WAGS CLINICAL TEAM7 MIN READUPDATED FEBRUARY 2026
3 doses
Before a puppy is genuinely protected. One injection is a start, not a shield.
1 year
The booster most often missed — and the one that carries immunity into adult life.
Rabies
A legal requirement in Karnataka, and the certificate boarding, travel and adoption all ask for.

The schedule, on a rail

Dates shift a little with the individual — a shelter kitten, a bitch with a poor colostrum history — but this is what we write into a new pet’s record on day one.

PUPPY · DOG
6 WK
Deworm + DHPPi 1
9 WK
DHPPi 2
12 WK
DHPPi 3 + rabies
16 WK
Rabies 2
1 YR
Full booster
ANNUAL
Booster + exam
KITTEN · CAT
8 WK
Tricat 1
12 WK
Tricat 2 + rabies
16 WK
Rabies 2
1 YR
Full booster
ANNUAL
Booster + exam

Why the second dose is the one that counts

A newborn borrows its mother’s antibodies. Those antibodies fade over the first three months — and while they fade, they also block the vaccine from working properly. Nobody can time the crossover exactly, so we cover it with a series.

PROTECTION THRESHOLDMOTHER’S ANTIBODIESHIS OWN IMMUNITYWINDOW OFVULNERABILITYDOSE 1 · 6 WKDOSE 2 · 9 WKDOSE 3 · 12 WK
The first dose often lands while the mother’s antibodies are still high enough to neutralise it — and too low to protect. That overlap is why a puppy that has had “one injection” is not vaccinated, and why the parvo cases we lose are almost always half-course puppies.

What is in the injection

DISEASE
SPECIES
STATUS
WHY IT MATTERS HERE
Rabies
DOG & CAT
CORE · LEGAL
Fatal, and transmissible to you. Required under Karnataka rules; boarding, travel and adoption all need the certificate.
Parvovirus
DOG
CORE
Bloody diarrhoea, dehydration, days in a ward. The most common thing we lose an unvaccinated puppy to in this city.
Distemper
DOG
CORE
Respiratory then neurological. Survivors are often left with tremors for life.
Hepatitis & parainfluenza
DOG
CORE
Part of the same DHPPi injection. No extra visit, no extra needle.
Leptospirosis
DOG
CORE HERE
Spread in standing water and rat urine — which is most of Bengaluru in monsoon. Also infects people.
Panleukopenia, herpes, calici
CAT
CORE
One Tricat injection. Herpes and calici are why shelter kittens sneeze and why the eyes scar.
Kennel cough
DOG
IF BOARDING
Ask for it two weeks before a boarding stay or a dog-park habit. Not needed for a house dog that meets nobody.
FeLV
CAT
IF OUTDOOR
Worth it for cats that fight or roam. Indoor-only cats can usually skip it.

If the schedule has already slipped

1
Bring the card, or none
No record is fine. We restart on a conservative schedule rather than guess at partial cover.
2
Two doses, three weeks apart
For an adult of unknown history, that is usually all it takes to be properly covered.
3
Then a date in the calendar
We set the annual on the record and text you a week before. Free, and you can stop it with one reply.
REMINDERS, NOT NAGGING
Leave a number and we will text you before each booster is due.

The commonest reason a pet misses a shot is that nobody remembered. Set it up on the contact page in twenty seconds.

+91 97405 08008
NEXT IN THE JOURNAL
Knowing when, and how we help you decide

The quality-of-life questions we ask families, written down so you can sit with them before you have to.