To vaccinate or not?

stevieg

stevieg

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Do you vaccinate your dogs only as a pup (the initial course) or annually?

This is something I've given some thought to recently and there is some evidence to suggest that certainly the annual boosters are unnecessary and are in fact actually harming our dogs.
 
You should join Parvo alert on fb and see all the people up and down the country losing their dogs to Parvo, our 3 are all vaxed and when they are older I will discontinue the Parvo as its builds up an immunity. I will always vax against Lepto as the vaccine doesn't last long.

I would not gamble with my dogs lives.
 
i have recently taken my dog to vets for her booster this year and signed up to a new vets (Vets4Pets) and they were offering a deal that was £99 for vaccinations for life so now i just have to book go in and don't have to pay a penny (unless i need a Consultation obvs)

I vaccinate as i think it will be better for her and also if you were to ever put her into a kennels you will need vaccinations (and the extra one for Kennel cough).

Also once a year R gets a quick check over if i haven't taken her before
 
My vets now do full vacs for pups but then lepto every year and full vac every 3 years. I once had my old FCR blood tested aged 6 to see if she had good immunity, she only needed lepto that year.
 
Okay, please don't be offended as I do not wish to appear rude (I am genuinely interested in people's views) but for those of you who vaccinate annually, how much research have you done into the subject or do you accept what your vet tells you?
I certainly would not 'gamble' with my dogs lives either and I am not saying I have a firm belief either way but I am open to new schools of thought.

Have you ever asked yourself why we only vaccinate our children once?
Have you ever considered titre testing as an alternative?
Are you aware that these are live vaccines cultivated on animal brain parts, some of which is then injected into your dog?
Did you know that instances of lepto are comparatively rare and that the vaccine contains mercury?

I am not criticising anyone who vaccinates their dogs. Personally I have the initial puppy course and then don't vaccinate again. There is a school of thought that says once vaccinated a dog will be immune for years, possibly the rest of it's life. Unless this immunity is comprised by serious illness.

At what age do you have your puppies vaccinated?
 
I vaccinate every year and additionally do rabies every 3 years. I do think there is a case for not doing certain vaccinations over a certain age but they have to be done yearly for travelling on the pet passport and most dog walkers want to ensure all their dogs are fully up-to-date as well (and as we work this is a necessity).
 
stevieg said:
Okay, please don't be offended as I do not wish to appear rude (I am genuinely interested in people's views) but for those of you who vaccinate annually, how much research have you done into the subject or do you accept what your vet tells you?
I certainly would not 'gamble' with my dogs lives either and I am not saying I have a firm belief either way but I am open to new schools of thought.

Have you ever asked yourself why we only vaccinate our children once?
Have you ever considered titre testing as an alternative?
Are you aware that these are live vaccines cultivated on animal brain parts, some of which is then injected into your dog?
Did you know that instances of lepto are comparatively rare and that the vaccine contains mercury?

I am not criticising anyone who vaccinates their dogs. Personally I have the initial puppy course and then don't vaccinate again. There is a school of thought that says once vaccinated a dog will be immune for years, possibly the rest of it's life. Unless this immunity is comprised by serious illness.

At what age do you have your puppies vaccinated?
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I go by the advice of my vet. Rightly or wrongly no matter how much research I did I could never be as knowledgeable as someone with years of training and experience. But then you have to trust your vet for this. I'm sure that many dogs do end up with resistance for years/life, however, the regulations currently mean I don't have a choice if I actually want to do with my dog what I do.

However, it really irritates me when people start quoting what chemicals etc are in vaccinations as some kind of scare tactic (used a lot in the current wave of people not vaccinating their kids - madness). Everything has chemicals and saying it has mercury in it can sound very scary to a layman but when in the mix/vaccination is there for a reason.

hF3F4000B


I've never heard of a dog dying because of being vaccinated... I've heard plenty of stories for the opposite!
 
I vaccinate yearly. Would love to titre test, but my vets are lets say, uncooperative - however I do it because I may have to leave him in kennels, and i have yet to find one that will allow a non vaccinated dog- the one I use certainly requires it.

I know many folk who do not routinely vaccinate, or who do so on a 3 yearly cycle.
 
I vaccinate annually but on a three yearly rotation, the schedule most vets are using now I believe - that's core vaccines every three years and only lepto or lepto and parainfluenza in the intervening two years. A lot of the scaremongering seems to come from people thinking it's every vacc every year.

I don't KC vacc - I seldom use kennels and the ones I go to don't require it and are sensible about their reasons for this. One of my dogs has upper respiratory/allergy problems so I don't want to introduce a live nasal vaccine to him. I will also not be using the new lyme disease vaccination, nor have I switched from L2 to L4 for lepto.

I am probably full of vaccs containing mercury and it ain't done me any harm *twitch*. I've had the experience of seeing problems with non-vaccination in both humans and dogs - I was working in the NHS when we saw an outbreak of measles cases, directly as a result of the MMR scaremongering, and have more recently seen (and smelt) a puppy dying of parvo.
 
Did you know that instances of lepto are comparatively rare and that the vaccine contains mercury?

Having lost my dog of a lifetime to Lepto (he was 4) it is not rare, there are various strains of it and the Lepto jab has been updated. Ive heard of a few dogs around here dying from it which is what happens when people become complacent and dont vax. I dont like the thought of putting chemicals into my dogs bodies but I hate the thought of losing another one which could have been prevented, hence the not gambling comment.
 
Dobiegirl said:
......., our 3 are all vaxed and when they are older I will discontinue the Parvo as its builds up an immunity. I will always vax against Lepto as the vaccine doesn't last long.

........
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.... 'as it builds up an immunity', would that be the vaccine to the disease, or the dog to the disease? Not a trick question, and there will be clear distinctions, and I'd be interested to hear.

Also Leptospirosis, do dogs naturally build up a level of immunity to the disease? I don't know, but suspect that they must do, because I've never heard of an 'adult' terrier, and one used for ratting succumbing to the disease, and that was from the days when very few bothered to vaccinate.

50 years ago, it would have been, a Vet who was a family friend assured me that the immunisation 'then' against what was Hardpad and Distemper, gave a puppy protection until it was a year old, 'by which time' (his words), the dog will have built up its own immunity. I never vaccinate beyond the first jabs for most dogs, and sheepdogs never get vaccinated for anything. They are never in public places, they never mix with other dogs, and I've yet to have a mishap. I accept that with Parvo I may be walking a bit of a tightrope.

Considering that dogs will build up their own level of immunity, certainly to two of the major ailments, are the drug manufacturers scaremongering, or have their products lost their efficacy by design?

Regarding Kennel Cough, I can't vaccinate with a live vaccine as my OH has a suppressed health system and animals receiving live vaccines will put her at risk. The other reason for not using the vaccine is that my own Vet, when I asked her, said that, at best, and for dogs at risk, the vaccine was better than nothing, but only just!

Just about all boarding establishments will demand to see a dog's Vacs records and will demand that annual boosters are maintained, but then I would imagine that it's a demand from their insurers, who will make what ever demands they chose, to lessen their risk.

Alec.
 
My little dog was vaccinated every year up until she was 8, then I forgot to have her done and they became overdue and we had to start again from scratch (two injections a couple of weeks apart from each other). The next year I forgot completely and she hasn't been done since, she's now 13 years old.
 
stevieg said:
Have you ever asked yourself why we only vaccinate our children once?
Have you ever considered titre testing as an alternative?
Click to expand...

My children have definitely been vaccinated more than once :p

I think a lot of people would consider titre testing if the cost wasn't so great.
 
This is a subject I am now having to consider, my lab had his 2 year old booster last December and I and the vet think it's possible this is what has set off his immune mediated poly arthritis- so we don't know what to do this time- vet recommends we titre test but vacc for lepto and parvo annually as there are huge amounts of it locally,
So that is the plan this winter we shall see!!
 
I vaccinate yearly for lepto with the new vacc(more strains are included in the new vaccine) and will be following a 3 year protocol once my dogs initial course is finished.The "puppy" course needs to include the first year booster to be considered a complete course.
Shes also kennel cough vaccainated as spends a lot of time at work with me so is high risk of infection and has had the rabies vaccination for the pet passport .

Ideally I would like to titre test as I found the rabies titres we used to do very eyeopening(amazing how many did not make the titre on one vaccine!
but one; its not economically viable in our practice
two: titres can drop over time and
3:I think that a vaccine yearly is less stressful to the dog that yearly bloods for titres.

If i had a dog who had reactions of the vaccines or immune medicated problems I would reconsider my stance but I have seen dozens of pups die of parvo and have treated dogs for suspect lepto...with varying degrees of sucess.I am very aware of the fact these diseases are in my local are and not as uncommon as people like to think.Its not a risk I am willing to take.Thankfully have never came across distemper.
Prevention is so much easier than cure.

I am a vet and have only ever met one vet who did not vaccinate his own dogs.(He didn't vaccinate his children either and practiced home remedies,a very interesting individual). I think that says a lot.....
 
Aru is it possible to still get the old version of the lepto jab as this year my bit had his new version so had to have the two jabs two weeks apart like a puppy and I wonder if something in this new version caused his reaction as I have since found out lepto can be a cause for the IMPA- so am concerned this May have been the jab he reacted to but I really don't want to not let him have it.
Thanks
 
Quote 'I've never heard of a dog dying because of being vaccinated... I've heard plenty of stories for the opposite!'

Just because you personally haven't heard of it doesn't mean it doesn't happen. I have heard of it. Dogs who react adversely to vaccines don't necessarily drop dead overnight!\

Quote 'My children have definitely been vaccinated more than once

I think a lot of people would consider titre testing if the cost wasn't so great.'

What do you vaccinate your children against more than once? Do you vaccinate them every year for the same disease?
If you think titre testing is too expensive you need to shop around. There is a vet near me who will do it for 25-00.

I love my dogs and will always do the best I can for them and if there is any chance of finding a more natural way of protecting them against disease then I will explore it. Just because we have been vaccinating for years doesn't mean there will never be a better alternative.
However I have yet to be completely convinced either way
 
My dog and cats had their 1st course, then a booster 1 year later. They haven't had anything since and are now 12 and 13yrs old and very healthy, if they were living with me in London I would be having them done regularly purely because I am in a higher risk location (they live with my parents in the countryside!). My practice does yearly boosters, however I think they are considering yearly lepto and the rest every 3 years. We don't have any uptake on the titre testing as it is not cheaper, and potentially more stressful to the animal.

I would also consider your pet insurance if not vaccinating? I have been told that without vaccinations some companies may not cover you for any claims should your pet contract something that could have been covered by vaccines? I am not sure if it's true, but it's worth checking your policies.

It's personal preference, but I have seen a few puppies die from parvo, and recently had a ferret with canine distemper that was awful. I would rather vaccinate.
 
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Mine get their puppy course and then maybe the first year then we stop. The working terriers, who were mainly used on fox but ratted as well never had a jab for anything and all lived long healthy lives, so who knows. We don't have workers any more but I suspect we would still not jab them.
 
I have been doing yearly lepto and twice yearly for others for quite a while, and will probably go onto 3 yearly if my vet recommends it. I had a bitch a few years ago with immune mediated poly arthritis and she was not vaccinated after this happened (she was 6 at the time) as my vet considered too high a risk.
I don't vaccinate for KC but like Aru my daughter had her dog jabbed for it as he went to work with her and so was exposed to lots of nasties.
As I can distantly remember dogs dying of distemper, and more recently the shocking first outbreak of parvo I would never stop vaccinating completely without very good reason.
 
She didn't particularly like water (although would paddle in the sea) so it wasn't a huge problem. However we are in the country so rats were always a risk but she did okay. She did have other health problems not related to the vaccine so we lost her at 10 years old. :(
How old was your dog when he had the IMPA?
 
Sorry to hear that, He was just over 2 when it started- about 2weeks after his injections but only grumpy and showing pain but non specific it actually calmed down independently then it kicked off at end of April we don't know why it started off again but to the point he couldn't stand. He is 6weeks in and is being reduced to 5mg steroids tomorrow for one week then all being well comes off completely the following week.
Did your dog totally recover form the IMPA?
 
Yes she fully recovered and didn't have any further flare ups. She had a very drastic first attack though, screaming in pain and just trying to hide behind furniture. She too was on steroids and came off them without problems.
Despite this I still would always have dogs vaccinated, my family have had many dogs over the years, my mum bred GSDs as did I, and she has been the only one who had a reaction, whereas I have seen how poorly dogs can be with parvo so not worth the risk imho.
 
Her attack sounds like my boy when he was actually in a full on attack he woke me up at 3am screaming- not a pleasant experience!
Yes I would always vaccinate any other dogs but I think he will likely not be done in future as the risk is much more prevalent but it will involve a discussion with my vets closer to I imagine- and I may even speak to other vets to get a general consensus!! Thanks for your info MM much appreciated
 
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