Would you carry on his annual vaccs?

JackDaniels1

JackDaniels1

Well-Known Member
Joined
22 February 2009
Messages
1,050
Visit site
Have an elderly retired boy who usually has a jab once a year, i'm wondering whether to stop or continue? He isn't in any work and lives out. I use to keep him at a yard so he had to have one whereas now he is just out at grass.
 
If there are other horses around then yes.

You may know he's not going out, but other horses may be competing/hacking/boxing to different yards etc.

Pan
 
Personnally, no I wouldnt ,i stopped my old mares at 17 as she was just a field ornament, droped her insurance too as petplan hiked it up fro 25 month to nearly 30 due to her age i guess, she was at a friends place so keep costs were to a minimum. food fet trim wormer just dead basics losther back i march due to a deep rooted infection, 1 month of various antibiotics, made no differance so done wha was best for her.
 
I would. Tet is as likely in the field as out ridden. And unless him & his companions are all isolated as said he'll still come into contact with others.
 
I'm sorry but my feeling are that for the cost of the injection once a year be it just the tetanus it is worth doing.

Just because our horses are retired it does not mean we do not keep things up.

Teeth , farrier, worming and injections should be kept up regardless of age.
 
I would. Having seen tetanus first hand I would hate to see any horse with it. That horse although younger was also unridden and eventually was pts.
 
It would be interesting to know what his titre tests show. Why not have a blood test to see? I used to vaccinate my dogs annually but then tried titre testing. I've found that it is very, very unusual (one in around 25 dogs and that one never did develop immunity) for any to need vaccination after the initial course and one booster.
 
And as far as tetanus goes even the protocol in humans has changed. It used to be routine to give a tetanus booster after every cut or bite. Now it isn't considered unnecessary so long as the casualty has received three jabs during the course of their lifetime - and most get that during childhood vacs.
 
Immunity decreases in old age. Therefore your horse is more susceptible to flu virus than before. Why do people think an old horse is less susceptible when every year they hear the doctors warning old people to go and have a flu jab? Flu affects much the same epidemiological groups in any species. Flu vaccines change regularly to incorporate new strains of flu virus therefore they dont build up an immunity as such.
Horses are less resistant to tetanus than humans dogs and other species. After the initial course and booster, repeat boosters are only due every 2-3 yrs depending on manufacturer. what is £25 in two years? A small price to pay for peace of mind! Anyone who has ever seen a horse affected by tetanus will put risk it.
 
paulineh said:
I'm sorry but my feeling are that for the cost of the injection once a year be it just the tetanus it is worth doing.

Just because our horses are retired it does not mean we do not keep things up.

Teeth , farrier, worming and injections should be kept up regardless of age.
Click to expand...

Agree with this. The other thing that happens when the vet calls for annual vac's/teeth etc is that its an opportunity to check the animal over generally - not that it should ONLY be done once a year........far from it, but IMO vets do take an interest in their veterans (at least my practice does, very much so) and if and when there's a PTS decision to be made then at least they know the horse coz they've dealt with it before.

Also it makes common sense TBH. An older horse is just as likely to get tetanus as a younger one, and will be more susceptible to flu if it is around.
 
Agree mjR2bt - oldies shouldn't be forgotten. Most people retire oldies rather than PTS at the end of their useful life but resent paying for their NEEDS - vet farrier supplements eyc. If you feel you owe it to your horse to retire him/her then at least make sure you are going to care for them on their best interest not let them rot away in cushingoid/arthritic etc hell.
 
I asked myself this question when my old boy was due for his jabs. I carried on with them because i couldn't bear the thought of losing him because i hadn't carried them on.
 
My old boy is in the same situation. I kept going with mine, mostly for tetanus. Plus it's the only time the vet sees him so can ask any niggles that I've been worrying about.
 
Absolutely no way - only my horses that need it for competing are flu jabbed

For me it is a £30 call out plus £30 jab

Instead I jab for tetanus only which is more like £10, and once they are older they do (like humans) get a lifetime immunity

Chances of you being vaccinated against a strain of flu going round is slim to none
 
No I dont get my old boy vaccinated anymore. He is not on a yard though etc no competition horses etc. I am not covered for tetanus either.
 
I discussed this with my vet a couple of months ago.

I have 4; various ages. he stated that the 22 and 17 year old would only need their jabs every 2 years and the younger ones annually.

This is based on the fact that I do not travel to shows and are a closed unit - as oposed to a livery set up.

Best to talk this through with your vet.
 
I think it is extremely irresponsible to not at least vaccinate for tetanus, I have seen a couple of horses die/be pts due to it and it is horrific. You can't rely on lifetime immunity so unless you're willing to get the vet out to administer tetanus antitoxin every time the horse gets a small scrape, you really should keep up the jabs every couple of years IMO :)
 
I know too many people that don't vaccinate! Crazy! Probably comes down to cost! Our vets has just issued a warning of an outbreak in Shropshire of 6 unvaccinated horses getting influenza! I definitely don't understand not vaccinating for tetanus! My mare is now a field ornament for the rest of her years and she will always have her vaccinations even though she won't leave the yard!
 
How old is the horse OP? I stop all other vaccinations for the old horses when they get to around 30 years old except tetanus and rabies which I have done every 2 years. I always give them a probiotic for a week prior to vaccinating and continue it for 2 weeks after because when they get very old like this it can totally mess them up and they can go downhill quickly. It has nothing to do with cost as vaccinations here are a minimal cost, it has purely to do with doing the best for these old horses.
 
I stopped vaccinating my old man at 20 I figured having been vaccinated every year for 16 yrs as far as I knew was enough... Humans only need 5 tetanus vacs in their much longer lifetime -- if he wasn't immune by then he wasn't going to be.., equally the jab started making him really poorly for a week so I though enough was enough.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top