Can a single vaccine dose provide any benefit to the dog or cat? Will it benefit the canine and feline populations?
A. Yes. One dose of a MLV canine or feline core vaccine should provide long term immunity when given to animals at or after 16 weeks of age. Every puppy and kitten 16 weeks of age or older should receive at least one dose of the MLV core vaccines. We need to vaccinate more animals in the population with core vaccines to achieve herd immunity (e.g. 75% or higher, when probably only 50% of dogs and 25% of cats are vaccinated) and thereby prevent epidemic outbreaks.
