By Gavin Olsen
“Preventive medicine,” a term that most people find synonymous with vaccination, involves much more. Of course, vaccination is a large aspect of preventive medicine, but physical examination, routine lab work and other types of disease prevention are included.
There are numerous vaccines on the market and not all are required. According to a joint publication by the American Veterinary Medical Association and American Animal Hospital Association, which groups vaccines according to whether they are core (or highly recommended) or non-core (considered elective, unless the diseases are endemic in the area), dogs should receive four core vaccines, while cats should receive between four and five.