Vaccinations

Keeping vaccination information up to date is essential for maintaining the safety of pets in your facility and ensuring appointments can be scheduled without delays. Properly configured vaccination settings allow Kennel Connection to automatically warn staff about missing or expired vaccines, helping you stay compliant with your facility's requirements and avoid admitting pets that do not meet vaccination standards.

Setting Up Vaccines

Before you can add vaccinations to a pet's profile, you must first create your vaccine list.

Navigate to:

File > Lists > Vaccinations

Click New Vacc.

Vaccine Setup Options

Required

Check the Required box if the vaccine is mandatory for your facility.

If a required vaccine is missing or expired, Kennel Connection will display a warning message when scheduling or opening appointments.

Feline

Check Feline if the vaccine only applies to cats.

If a dog has an expired feline vaccine listed on their profile, Kennel Connection will ignore it and will not generate a warning.

Expiration Period

Enter the length of time before the vaccine expires (for example, 6 months or 1 year).

When a vaccination date is entered on the pet card, Kennel Connection will automatically calculate and populate the expiration date based on this setting.

Example:

• Vaccine expires after 1 year
• Vaccination Date: 01/18/2026
• Expiration Date Automatically Calculates: 01/18/2027

Vaccine Type

Select the appropriate vaccine type:

• Rabies 1 Year → Select Rabies 1 Year
• Rabies 3 Year → Select Rabies 3 Year
• All Other Vaccines → Select Other

Click Save when finished.

Adding Vaccines to a Pet Profile

Required vaccines will appear in purple on the pet card until a valid vaccination date is entered.

To record a vaccine:

1. Open the pet profile.
2. Select the vaccine from the dropdown list.
3. Enter the vaccination date.
4. Kennel Connection will automatically calculate the expiration date (if configured).

Exempting Vaccines

There may be situations where a pet should be exempt from a specific vaccine requirement.

For example:

• Distemper 1 Year
• Distemper 3 Year

If the pet has a valid date entered for the 1-year vaccine, you can check Exempt on the 3-year version.

Kennel Connection will no longer generate warnings for the exempted vaccine.

🚨‼️Rabies Vaccine Handling

Rabies vaccines are handled differently than other vaccine types.

If both Rabies vaccines are configured correctly:

• Required = Checked
• Type = Rabies 1 Year or Rabies 3 Year

Then:

• A valid Rabies 1 Year vaccine automatically satisfies the Rabies requirement.
• A valid Rabies 3 Year vaccine automatically satisfies the Rabies requirement.
• No exemption is needed for dogs.

Important Note

⚠️ Do not exempt Rabies vaccines unless the pet is medically unable to receive Rabies vaccinations.

An exempt Rabies vaccine is considered valid by Kennel Connection and may prevent proper vaccination warnings from appearing.

Cat vaccines

Cat Vaccines

Vaccines are not shared between dogs and cats.

Cat-specific vaccines must be created separately.

When creating feline vaccines:

• Check Feline
• Check Required (if applicable)
• Set Type to Other

Feline Rabies Exception

Cat Rabies vaccines function differently because they are configured as Type = Other.

If you track both:

• Rabies 1 Year
• Rabies 3 Year

You must manually exempt the version the pet is not using.

Example:

If a cat has a valid Rabies 1 Year vaccine:

• Enter the vaccination date for Rabies 1 Year
• Check Exempt on Rabies 3 Year

Enabling Vaccination Warnings

To receive vaccine warning messages, warnings must be enabled in System Options.

Navigate to:

File > System Options

Schedule Warnings

Under each module tab:

• Check Show vaccine warnings on schedule

These warnings appear when:

• Creating appointments
• Opening appointments

Pet Card Warnings

Select the Local tab and enable:

• Show vaccination warning messages

These warnings appear whenever a pet profile is opened.

Expired Vaccination Reports

Kennel Connection can generate reports and send emails for pets with expired vaccinations.

Reports can be run for:

• The entire database
• Pets with appointments during a selected date range

For more information, see the Expired vaccinations and Vaccination Warnings articles.

Quick Tips

💡 Create separate vaccine records for dogs and cats to ensure warnings function correctly.

💡 Always configure Rabies vaccines using the proper Rabies vaccine type rather than "Other" whenever possible.

💡 Enter expiration periods when creating vaccines to allow Kennel Connection to automatically calculate expiration dates.

💡 Required vaccines without dates (missing vaccines) will display in PURPLE on the pet card, making them easy to identify. Required vaccines that have dates but are expired will appear in RED.

Common Uses

• Tracking required vaccines for boarding, daycare, grooming, and training appointments.
• Automatically warning staff about expired or missing vaccinations before admitting pets.
• Identifying pets that need updated vaccines before upcoming appointments.
• Sending vaccination reminder emails to clients.
• Running expired vaccination reports to maintain facility compliance and safety standards.
• Managing different vaccine requirements for dogs and cats within the same database.