Puppy and Kitten Vaccination Schedule
Enter a date of birth and get the actual dates, with what each dose covers and why the timing is what it is. Built for Indian conditions, where rabies and leptospirosis both carry real weight.
For a rescue with no known birthday, your vet can estimate age from teeth. An estimate is fine here.
Two things make the Indian schedule different from the one on most foreign sites. Rabies is not optional here, it is a legal requirement in most municipalities and a genuine public health matter. And leptospirosis carries real weight rather than theoretical, because monsoon water and rodent contact are ordinary conditions in Indian cities.
Parvo and panleukopenia are the reason for the timing
The gaps between doses are not arbitrary. A puppy or kitten is born with antibodies from its mother, and those antibodies also block the vaccine from working. Nobody can tell exactly when maternal protection fades, so the schedule gives repeated doses across the window in which it usually does.
That is why the last dose matters as much as the first. A puppy that had two doses and then stopped is not protected, and parvovirus survives in Indian soil for months. This is the single most common preventable death in young dogs here.
The two week window nobody respects
Immunity is not reliable until roughly two weeks after the final kitten or puppy dose. In that window, public parks, street contact and unvaccinated dogs are genuine risks rather than cautious advice.
It is also the window when everyone wants to show the new puppy to everyone. Socialisation matters, so do it in your own home with vaccinated adult dogs rather than on the road outside.
Keep the card, stamped
Boarding facilities ask for it. Airlines ask for it. A municipal dog licence needs it. If you ever travel with the animal, the health certificate process starts from it.
Get it filled in and stamped at every visit. A card reconstructed from memory two years later is worth nothing to anyone who asks.
What goes wrong
- Stopping after two doses because the puppy seems fine. Seeming fine is not immunity.
- Starting too early. A dose at four weeks is usually blocked by maternal antibodies and does not count.
- Taking a part-vaccinated puppy to a park. This is how most parvo cases in Indian cities begin.
- Skipping rabies because the dog stays indoors. It is a legal requirement in most municipalities regardless.
- Losing the card. Nothing else proves any of it happened.
Ring a vet rather than wait
Vaccination is routine, but the diseases it prevents move fast in young animals. If any of these appear in an unvaccinated or part-vaccinated animal, it is urgent.
- Bloody diarrhoea, or vomiting that will not stop
- Sudden refusal to eat or drink in a puppy or kitten
- Lethargy that came on within hours
- A swelling on the face, or difficulty breathing, shortly after a vaccination
- Any collapse
Questions people ask
When should a puppy get its first vaccination in India?
Usually at six weeks for the first DHPPi dose, then at nine and twelve weeks, with rabies from twelve to sixteen weeks. Many Indian vets add a fourth DHPPi at sixteen weeks to cover puppies whose maternal antibodies lasted longer.
When should a kitten be vaccinated?
FVRCP at eight, twelve and sixteen weeks, with rabies from twelve weeks. Immunity is not reliable until about two weeks after the final dose.
Is the rabies vaccine compulsory for dogs in India?
In practice yes. Most municipal corporations require proof of rabies vaccination for a dog licence, and rabies remains a serious public health matter in India. It is also required for boarding, for travel, and for any health certificate.
Does an indoor cat need vaccinating?
Yes. Indoor cats get out, tradespeople bring things in on shoes, and panleukopenia is extremely hardy in the environment. The interval after the first year is a conversation with your vet, but the kitten course is not optional.
What if my rescue has no vaccination history?
Your vet will usually restart the course rather than guess. Over-vaccinating carries far less risk than assuming protection that may not exist, and an estimated age from teeth is accurate enough to schedule from.
Can I vaccinate at home to save money?
Vaccines need an unbroken cold chain and a vet who can respond if the animal reacts. A vaccine that spent an afternoon in an Indian summer is not a vaccine, and a reaction at home with nobody trained present is the reason this is not a saving.
These tools give averages. Averages are a starting point and not a verdict on your dog. Anything here that touches health is written to help you decide whether something is worth a vet's time, never to tell you what is wrong.
The gap before the course finishes
A puppy is not reliably protected until about two weeks after the final dose, which lands somewhere around sixteen to eighteen weeks. Until then, vets advise keeping them off ground that unvaccinated animals use, which is most Indian streets and every society garden. An indoor coir pad is what fills that gap without holding it in.
SniffSociety makes the coir pad. Everything else on this page is free and always will be.