Teacup Vaccinations: Keeping Your Puppy Healthy by Dean Marton

Once you have brought your teacup puppy home, wait at least a week or so until he has settled into his new home. Since immunization shots could put your puppy into stress, making him lose his appetite, it is best to wait at least 48 hours for his first checkup. At your first visit to the vet, a health check is needed to determine whether your dog is healthy or not. Regardless of results, your vet will tell you to set up a schedule for completing all required immunizations for your teacup.
Since regular vaccinations can prevent your teacup puppy from contracting these common diseases, it is your responsibility as a dog owner to ensure regular visits with the vet. In order to prevent dog health problems, you should be aware of the common diseases faced by dogs. Depending on your vet's assessment, your dog should be able to complete his shots for Canine Distemper, Rabies, Infectious Hepatitis and Corona Virus.

Here are other common dog problems that may need vaccination in the future:

1) Parvo - Scientifically known as Parvovirus, this viral disease affects all types of dogs, but is more common in puppies rather than adults. However, this disease could have serious consequences for the infected puppy, including sudden death. Since there is still no cure available for Parvo, it is important to vaccinate teacup puppies against it at an early age. Your vet will schedule a Parvo immunization as soon as your teacup puppy reaches 6 weeks of age and continue vaccinations until their 20th week.

2) Heartworms - These parasitic worms are common in dogs as well as cats. As their name suggest, heartworms live inside your puppy's heart, free-floating near blood vessels. Unfortunately, even if you take care of your teacup puppy strictly, these worms can still be transmitted from dog-to-dog via mosquitoes. Since heartworms can be extremely dangerous to your dog's health, it is best to give him shots around 3-6 months old because most 7-month old dogs and older are prone to experience adverse reactions to heartworm treatments.

3) Worms - Your teacup puppy may be infected by several variations of intestinal parasites, such as whipworms, tapeworms, roundworms and hookworms. Because these worms could cause numerous health problems, including death, you should take all measure to detect and prevent it as soon as possible. During the first 8 weeks of your teacup puppy's life, he should have received shots on measles, distemper and CPI. After these main vaccinations, be prepared for lyme, heartworm, rabies, hepatitis, parvo, parainfluenza, leptospirosis and other vaccinations appropriate to your area.