Dog vaccinations overdue

[MiniMilton]

I called my vet today (a different one to my horses vet) to book my dogs in for their annual booster. Between one thing and another I am a little late doing so. 2 and a half months overdue. They made a big song and dance about having to restart the whole vaccination programme again as if they were puppies. This has never been said to me before and I'm always a little late getting vaccinations done. They are farm dogs and very very rarely are in contact with other dogs. Which is why it was never at the top of my priority list. Is the vet just trying to rip me off? I'm about to call another practice to see if they give me the same story

 

[YasandCrystal]

Well that's interesting as my dog was 3 months overdue and I was told that it would be ok to vaccinate that late but that it was on the cusp. I wasn't going to vaccinate as you read so much scary stuff about how bad the vaccinations are for dogs. I talked it through with the vet and decided to go ahead.
It sounds like they are trying to make money from you. I had the same with a rabbit and mixcsymotosis(sp?) jabs I was advised it had to be every 6 months, but another vet confirmed that annually was sufficient, maybe dropping to 9 months in a rife area.

 

[MiniMilton]

Hmm yes I get a distinct feeling they are trying to squeeze more money out of me. They fact that I bring 4 pets to them (all of which are now overdue) you would think they would just appreciate my custom. I have been going to this practice for 20 years and it had never been mentoned before. Now that one of the partners has retired and there is a new vet, they say that anymore than 4 weeks you have to restart, might get away with 6 weeks over due max.

 

[YasandCrystal]

Hmm yes I get a distinct feeling they are trying to squeeze more money out of me. They fact that I bring 4 pets to them (all of which are now overdue) you would think they would just appreciate my custom. I have been going to this practice for 20 years and it had never been mentoned before. Now that one of the partners has retired and there is a new vet, they say that anymore than 4 weeks you have to restart, might get away with 6 weeks over due max.

My advice would be to try another vet practice. I have 3 dogs and I have now moved all off mine to the vets on Pets at Home simply because they offer out of hours - not evenings at the weekends, but they are there on a Saturday all day and Sunday mornings and having been stung by that national emergency chain of vets that charge excrutiatingly mad prices I am limiting my need to ever darken their doorstep.I even took my injured cat at 10pm to my horse vet practice to euthanase as I refuse to line their pockets again.

 

[twiggy2]

just like to ad many people not vaccinating correctly or at all has meant in many areas parvovirus is on a rapid increase, local to me one vet saw 3 unrelated cases last week alone and they were all past saving I would start again to be safe for the sake of a few pounds

 

[Supertrooper]

It depends on the vaccine used, so it may not be your vets trying to make a quick buck!

 

[LovesCobs]

They're talking rubbish (in my totally non professional opinion) its just both my horses were overdue, one because she had been too ill to vaccinate. Vet said I could go to over 15 months but if we did pony club etc I'd have to start again as they are strict on the dates. In terms of effectiveness it was fine so I just had usual booster. I am also overdue with my cat. In his case he had cat flu when I got him as a kitten and so he has the non live vaccine. They don't have any and are waiting for it to come in from the cat stray place. It may be another month or so. At 1st the receptionist was telling me he was already a month over and may need to start again. She then spoke to the vet and he said it'd be ok for another month or 2. Funny how it changed when its not your fault you can't have it done

 

[Aru]

When was their last booster and what vaccine (brand name) is being used?A lot depends on the age of the dog,if the initial course was completed..ie all puppy boosters and the year after booster given according to schedule and the vaccines involved...as well as how high risk the area you live in is for the likes of lepto and parvo..

Its quite possible if the full course was done up to two years that the only vaccine needing to be boostered is lepto as the rest are viral vaccines and in most cases are now on a 3 year schedule.

However as lepto is a non viral vaccine its the one most likely needing to be done,the strains covered in the vaccines are changing frequently and the vaccine is not known to be long lasting....

So I would be asking what is the dogs risk for lepto? and are you willing to take the risk of them not being covered for that....its also important to consider that Leptosporosis is zoonotic and can be passed on from a sick dog to humans....
Also will you ever need to board? as most boarding kennels (rightly!)expect the dogs to be up to date on vaccinations

Ah just seen they are farm dogs....I would be seriously considering keeping them covered for lepto as they would have plenty of potential exposure situations on a farm.