Protection Built Around Your Pet’s Actual Risk
Vaccination is one of the highest-return things you can do for an animal’s health, and parasite prevention in the Central Valley is a year-round job rather than a seasonal one. C.H. Veterinary Clinic builds both around your specific pet: age, lifestyle, where they go, and what they are actually exposed to. A dog that hikes and boards has a different risk profile than a cat that has never left the house.
We vaccinate dogs and cats in the clinic, with protocols built around each pet’s actual risk.
Core vaccines (recommended for every dog)
Lifestyle vaccines (based on exposure)
Core vaccines
Lifestyle vaccines
Age | Typical visit |
6 to 8 weeks | First DHPP or FVRCP, fecal test, physical exam |
10 to 12 weeks | Booster, plus lifestyle vaccines as indicated |
14 to 16 weeks | Final booster and rabies |
1 year | Boosters, then adult schedule |
The series matters. A single puppy shot does not confer protection. Maternal antibodies interfere with vaccine response early on, which is why the series runs to 16 weeks rather than stopping when the puppy looks healthy. A puppy is not reliably protected against parvo until the series is complete. Keep unfinished puppies away from dog parks, pet store floors, and unknown dogs.
Fresno County’s mild winters do not kill off the parasite population. Prevention that lapses from November to March leaves a real gap.
Heartworm.
Transmitted by mosquitoes, which the Valley’s irrigation canals and standing water sustain across a long season. Heartworm prevention is monthly and year-round. Treatment for an established infection is expensive, hard on the dog, and takes months, while prevention is a monthly dose. Dogs should be heartworm tested before starting or restarting prevention, which we run in-house with results in minutes.
Fleas.
Constant pressure here. Beyond the itching, fleas cause flea allergy dermatitis, transmit tapeworms, and can cause anemia in small or young animals. By the time you see fleas on the pet, the house has a population.
Ticks.
Present in foothill and brushy areas around the county, and vectors for several diseases.
Intestinal parasites.
Roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms. Several are transmissible to humans, particularly children. We run fecal testing in-house.
Rabies vaccination is required by law for dogs, and rabies certification is required for licensing. Other vaccines are medical recommendations rather than legal requirements, though boarding facilities, groomers, daycares, and training classes commonly require proof of Bordetella and DHPP.
Yes. Rabies is legally required regardless, and bats do get indoors. Panleukopenia is extremely durable in the environment and can be carried inside on shoes and clothing. Indoor cats also escape, go to the groomer, board during travel, and end up at the vet next to other animals.
Mild reactions happen and are usually brief: some soreness at the injection site, lower energy, or a reduced appetite for a day. Serious reactions are uncommon. Call us if you see facial swelling, hives, repeated vomiting, or difficulty breathing after a vaccine, and tell us about any past reaction so we can adjust the protocol or pre-treat.
It varies by vaccine. Rabies is typically given as a one-year vaccine initially, then a three-year vaccine. Several other vaccines follow one-year or three-year schedules depending on the product and your pet’s risk. We track it and remind you.
Yes. Mosquito activity in the Central Valley extends across most of the year, and the once-common practice of stopping prevention in winter leaves a gap that mosquitoes are happy to use. Year-round monthly prevention is the current recommendation, and most products also cover intestinal parasites.
Prevention, without exception. A parvo hospitalization costs many multiples of the vaccine series. Heartworm treatment costs many multiples of years of prevention. This is the part of veterinary medicine where spending small and early genuinely avoids spending large and late.
Call (559) 292-7393 to schedule vaccinations or start parasite prevention.
