{"topic_id":"vaccine_guidelines_wsava_2015","category":"vaccine-guidelines","context":"---\ntopic_id: vaccine_guidelines_wsava_2015\ncategory: vaccine-guidelines\ntitle: \"WSAVA Global Vaccination Guidelines (2015/2016) — core & non-core vaccines, dogs & cats\"\nlang: en\nsource: \"WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines Group (VGG), 'Guidelines for the Vaccination of Dogs and Cats', Journal of Small Animal Practice Vol 57, January 2016, © 2016 WSAVA\"\nsource_file: pdf-raw/vaccine-guidelines/wsava_vaccination_guidelines_2015.txt\ndate_parsed: 2026-07-22\ntokens_estimated: 260\nverification:\n  method: substring_match\n  claims: 13\n  passed: 13\n  date: 2026-07-22\n---\n\n# WSAVA Global Vaccination Guidelines (2015/2016) — core & non-core vaccines for dogs and cats\n\nSource: WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines Group (VGG), \"Guidelines for the Vaccination of Dogs and Cats\" (M. J. Day, M. C. Horzinek, R. D. Schultz, R. A. Squires), Journal of Small Animal Practice Vol 57, January 2016, © 2016 WSAVA. First-hand PDF text-extracted with pdftotext to `pdf-raw/vaccine-guidelines/wsava_vaccination_guidelines_2015.txt`; pull-quotes below are verbatim.\n\n## Core vs non-core — VGG definitions\n> \"the VGG has defined core vaccines as those which ALL dogs and cats, regardless of circumstances or geographical location, should receive.\"\n> \"The VGG considers that a core vaccine is one that all dogs throughout the world must receive, at recommended intervals, in order to provide life-long protection against infectious diseases of global significance.\"\n\n## Dog core vaccines\n> \"Core vaccines for dogs are those that protect against canine distemper virus (CDV), canine adenovirus (CAV) and the variants of canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2).\"\n\n## Cat core vaccines\n> \"Core vaccines for cats are those that protect against feline parvovirus (FPV), feline calicivirus (FCV) and feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1).\"\n\n## Rabies\n> \"In areas of the world where rabies virus infection is endemic, vaccination against this agent should be considered core for both species, even if there is no legal requirement for routine vaccination.\"\n> \"In many countries, rabies vaccination is a legal requirement, and is generally also required for international pet travel.\"\n> \"The VGG strongly endorses the joint statement of the WSAVA One Health Committee and the International Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) which sets a target for global elimination of canine rabies by 2030 (Anon 2013b).\"\n\n## Non-core vaccines\n> \"The VGG has defined non-core vaccines as those that are required by only those animals whose geographical location, local environment or lifestyle places them at risk of contracting specific infections.\"\n\n## Revaccination interval\n> \"Core vaccines should not be given any more frequently than every three years after the 6- or 12-month booster injection following the puppy/kitten series, because the duration of immunity (DOI) is many years and may be up to the lifetime of the pet.\"\n\n## Puppy / kitten primary schedule\n> \"The recommendation of the VGG is for initial core vaccination at 6–8 weeks of age, then every 2–4 weeks until 16 weeks of age or older.\"\n\n## Citation (verbatim from title page)\n> \"COMPILED BY THE VACCINATION GUIDELINES GROUP (VGG) OF THE WORLD SMALL ANIMAL VETERINARY ASSOCIATION (WSAVA)\"\n> \"Journal of Small Animal Practice • Vol 57 • January 2016 • © 2016 WSAVA\"\n\nSource: `pdf-raw/vaccine-guidelines/wsava_vaccination_guidelines_2015.txt` (WSAVA 2015/2016 Global Vaccination Guidelines, pdftotext extraction).\n","sources":[],"tokens_estimated":260,"generated_at":null,"tip":"Use /api/v1/topics to discover more topics. /api/v1/nutrient for precise single-point queries. /api/v1/cross_compare for 2-3 standard comparisons."}