Yearly Vaccinations - Opinions please

I've always kept up with vaccinations yearly, specially now as I take dogs when their owners go on holiday, all mine must be up to date with vaccs :)
I think if I didn't have to keep them up to date I probably still would but that's cause I trust my vet :)
 
I would always have them done for the first few years, after that there is some residual immunity (altho some things ideally you would do as they update new strains etc).
But you might need to do it if insured or if you need it to ever go to kennels.
 
Mine are all done,I dont like it it lowers the immune system but as they are both rescues its a condition of my adoption they have to be vaccinated. Ive also done obedience and agility with Darcy and they have to be vaccinated for that.

As you know for insuring your dog their vaccinations need to be up to date otherwise the policy is invalid.
 
I am very interested in this. How much of those annual jabs is a shot in the arm for your local vets' finances? No-one wants to dice with their pet's health, but I do worry about the whole health/financial implications of it.
Jabs and boosters as youngsters are one thing. But do they really need them in older age (kennel requirements aside)?
 
Yellow Dog is only vaccinated again kennel cough atm. He has such a bad reaction to being vaccinated and its got worse as he's got older (hes 8 now). I spoke to the vet about it and she agreed with me. If I ever go away he goes to my parents so don't have to worry about kennels.
 
Dex has his a) condition of adoption- not that I think they would check
b) he will have to spend a short amount of time per year in kennels.

Really wish this country would wake up to blood testing for Ab's instead of jabbing willy nilly
 
Mine are done as youngsters to but I tend to stop as they get older unless they are being shown. My vets suggest only doing for lepto every year and the others every 2 years unless there is an outbreak of parvo or similar locally. Buffy wasn't vaccinated at all after the age of 6 because she suffered from immune mediated polyarthritis shortly after a jab and although obviously we couldn't prove it ws from the vacc my vet felt it wasn't worth risking doing her again.
Lexie, you can blood test for ab, certainly against parvo and I presume against other diseases as well. We used to have it done routinely when parvo was at its height to make sure the vacc had taken, it didn't always in the early days.
 
I am a strong believer that we over immunise. My dog got meningitis which was caused by an autoimmune attack - right after she had her vaccinations - she was also due in season at the same time. Although I would never say the vaccinations were fully responsible, I do thick they were in part. As a result she cant be vaccinated anyway, and the only reason I keep my other dog done is for when they have to go to dog boarding (the Setter has to go to my Mom as nobody will take her without vaccinations). My retriever only gets full shots every 2 years, every alternate they only give part (cant remember which).
If I had the choice (ie no problems with boarders) they would have puppy vaccinations and a booster at 1 year and thats it unless there was an outbreak near by.
 
Having seen how quickly parvo kills I have them done every year. The woman had a doberman pup but hadnt taken it out of the garden so dont know if the mother had had the parvo vac. But the pup got it and died. Dobermans are very prone to getting parvo.

I would rather pay for the piece of mind.
 
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No, I don't after puppy jabs and booster. Never had a cat or rabbit jabbed either, but reading the posters in the vets waiting room, you'd think I was an evil owner. None of them ever need to see a vet, all are tough as old boots.

My only trips to the vets are for the horses, who incidently, are jabbed.
 
I am interested to read that your insurance is invalid if you don't vaccinate. I don't recall reading that in the policy documents. My dogs have their puppy jabs, but I only vaccinate yearly for lepto and go bi annually for the rest.
 
MurphysMinder said:
Mine are done as youngsters to but I tend to stop as they get older unless they are being shown. My vets suggest only doing for lepto every year and the others every 2 years unless there is an outbreak of parvo or similar locally. Buffy wasn't vaccinated at all after the age of 6 because she suffered from immune mediated polyarthritis shortly after a jab and although obviously we couldn't prove it ws from the vacc my vet felt it wasn't worth risking doing her again.
Lexie, you can blood test for ab, certainly against parvo and I presume against other diseases as well. We used to have it done routinely when parvo was at its height to make sure the vacc had taken, it didn't always in the early days.
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Yeah but a kennel will not accept an Ab level as proof of immunity, which IMO they should, so that you can actually time your vaccs around when they are needed NOT simply yearly.
 
Now I may well be wrong, but it's always been my understanding that puppies are vaccinated to give them protection until they are a year old, or there abouts. After that, they've built up their own immunity, though whether this applies to Parvovirus and Kennel Cough, I'm unsure, but even then these two particular complaints, mostly affect puppies up to a year old.

During the late 1960s I worked in the Battersea Dog's Home (I was at a loose end!). There was a blanket policy that no puppies were ever re-homed. Kennel Cough was endemic, and infection was almost a certainty.

Assuming that I'm right, then the annual boosters, so recommended by both the manufacturers and our vets ;), are a waist of time and money. I stand to be proved wrong, I realise! :)

Alec.
 
Interesting posts, and Alec, that's what I thought.
I have a friend who is a vet nurse, and is worried by how much mercury is in the live vaccines, and the fact they are live vaccines in the first place.
She doesn't have hers jabbed and neither do a lot of my sled dog friends, RSPCA friends, and even a couple of vets that I know. I'm just collecting info and opinions at the mo.
 
After puppy vaccs and yearly booster, you can titre test to check for ongoing immunity. Doubtful if kennels would accept that as proof?

Lepto only lasts about 6 month so needs re-doing twice yearly but only some strains are covered so it's a bit pointless really, same as kennel cough. You need to check the manufacturer's details to see how long they recommend between boosters eg parvovirus may last three, not one year.

We definitely over vaccinate but it's vet's bread and butter so they won't tell you not to jab.
 
I had it done for a couple of years til she built up immunity. Totally agree with what alec has said.
As for Dobermanns being prone to Parvo, they are no more susceptible to it than any other breed.
 
I do mine every year as it's:

- A condition of the insurance for both of them
- A condition of Ricoh's adoption
- A condition of their training classes (it's never been checked, incidentally, but as it's held at an RSPCA centre with lots of kennelled dogs coming and going it's a sensible precaution)
- There is the possibility that they will travel to France and Germany in the future and everything will need to be in order for a passport.
 
Alec Swan said:
Now I may well be wrong, but it's always been my understanding that puppies are vaccinated to give them protection until they are a year old, or there abouts. After that, they've built up their own immunity, though whether this applies to Parvovirus and Kennel Cough, I'm unsure, but even then these two particular complaints, mostly affect puppies up to a year old.

During the late 1960s I worked in the Battersea Dog's Home (I was at a loose end!). There was a blanket policy that no puppies were ever re-homed. Kennel Cough was endemic, and infection was almost a certainty.

Assuming that I'm right, then the annual boosters, so recommended by both the manufacturers and our vets ;), are a waist of time and money. I stand to be proved wrong, I realise! :)

Alec.
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If puppies were`nt rehomed what happened to them Alec? My dogs all have their primary vaccinations,a booster a year later,thereafter it is just lepto yearly and parvo prior to mating a bitch,more for her puppies` immunity than anything else.
Those being shown are done for kennel cough via the intrac nose vaccine.
Interestingly ,many years ago ,we had a parvo outbreak in our puppies.The daft vet did`nt twig..said it was down to feeding raw meat(:eek:) so for a while we used blood cells from the adults to boost the puppies against whatever it was.The more vaccinated bull terriers blood was excellent..but the less vaccinated border collies was not so good.SO,although those adults obviously had enough immunity to protect themselves,it was not high enough to use as an immuniser.
 
EAST KENT said:
If puppies were`nt rehomed what happened to them Alec? ........
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They were killed. In those days we did it by electrocution. Strangely, it was the puppies which were the most likely to recover, from the shock. Some would put them through the whole barbaric process again, but those of us who cared, generally brought about a massive cranial blow.

I'm not a barbarian, but it was in the '60s, we had to work with what we had, and there was a daily intake of 40 or so dogs, with perhaps 10% being reclaimed, and a further 10% being re-homed, all so often disastrously.

We had one particular mongrel bitch, who put in a third appearance!! We became fed up with re-homing her, and she ended up being personal, if you see what I mean!! When I left The Home, I left her there, and I missed her for a good while. She always greeted me in the mornings, and would search through the morning team, until she found me. We spent our days together. I called her Cindy, after a very pretty van driver who worked for The Home! :o

Back to the immunisation of puppies, am I right in thinking that generally most dogs by the age of about 12 months, have built up a degree of immunity to most of the catchable complaints?

Alec.
 
Uh horrible.Even today a big proportion get PTS,as you say ,with a daily inflow what else is there to do?
Dogs do not get immunisation to lepto,and the vaccine is`nt that long lasting either.Mine get a shot if they have close contact with a rat,just as a surety.
One mini bull terrier we bred nearly died of lepto due to NOT being boosted every year,an expensive mistake.
 
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