Year Vacinations

[MissMolly]

My miss Molly is due for her year vaccination, but after reading a few topics on here and information on the net and from other people, (it is all so conflicting) i am unsure as to weather i should have her done.. What is a titre test and should i have this done before i decide weather to get her, her yearly vac???

[InspectorRex]

Personally I would get this final vaccination done( I take it this is the one after her 3mth vaccination and she is about 15mths?) then decide from there whether or not you are going to titre test or vaccinate.

I vaccinate every 3 years for distemper/hepatitis/paarvo with Nobivac and annually for Kennel Cough with the Intra-nasal Kennel cough.

Whatever you do it has to be your choice. The one thing that I would NOT recommend is the yearly Heartworm injection as there has been too many adverse reactions and deaths associated with it.

[MissMolly]

Personally I would get this final vaccination done( I take it this is the one after her 3mth vaccination and she is about 15mths?) then decide from there whether or not you are going to titre test or vaccinate.

I vaccinate every 3 years for distemper/hepatitis/paarvo with Nobivac and annually for Kennel Cough with the Intra-nasal Kennel cough.

Whatever you do it has to be your choice. The one thing that I would NOT recommend is the yearly Heartworm injection as there has been too many adverse reactions and deaths associated with it.

OOps i should have said Miss Molly is 2 years old, she had her first yearly. I was going to get her a heartworm injection also, i did get one of my girls her yearly (it was her first) and she also had a heartworm injections..... Why don't all vets tell you about the side effects, (doctors have too)..

[Kavik]

I recently asked about titre testing at my vet - they had to get back to me as they don't normally do them. It turns out it's at least twice as expensive as the vaccination ($150/200) and has to be sent to other states, maybe even o/s to get done?

There is also a 3 yr vaccine (Why don't they tell us this normally? I only found out asking about titre tests)

The vet's reason for yearly vaccinations - so that they could do a yearly health check on the dog and pick up any problems early.

[montall]

I recently put my three into boarding kennels and you have to have proof of their up to date C5 vaccination to get in there. I was talking to the vet about it and he mentioned that in his opinion yearly vacs aren't entirely necessary but when dogs are going into high risk areas like kennels he would recommend it. He mentioned that you still have to vaccinate against kennel cough every 12 months and the nasal application can be a bit difficult to administer properly. He owns an old dog himself and he wouldn't vaccinate him yearly, more like three yearly, but with young ones it's probably ok. He also mentioned that he doesn't approve of the yearly heartworm vaccination; monthly or daily tablets are fine. I just love an honest vet who isn't trying to sell you stuff for the sake of it.

The bottom line seems to be that there can be reactions to the vaccinations but it is reasonably rare (just like human babies I guess) but the vaccination will actually last longer than 1 year in most cases. Personally I only vaccinate my dogs if I am putting them in kennels and then only because I have to. I am happy with the kennel I use and I'm not sure I would want my dogs in one that didn't insist on vaccinations being up to date. As for the titre test, I have no idea how much vets charge for that but it could well be another money grab couldn't it? You end up paying anyway whether your dog gets the vaccination or not and then if it does need it you pay twice.

ETA .. Just read Kavik's post and at $150/$200 a go the titre test is quite a lucrative little money grab.

Edited August 31, 2008 by montall

[Guest Tess32]

There's no definitive answer - the threads you would have found on here sum up the issues.

If you have her titer tested, you will basically see a 'snapshot' of the amount of antibodies she currently had for X disease. What it shows is that in the face of potential infection, your dog formed an immune response to her initial vaccinations and now she has memory cells and antibodies that will protect her against that disease. You only need to titer test ONCE unless you require the certificate for obedience etc.

The reason many are against vaccinations is because once a dog seroconverts (mounts an initial immune response to that disease after her first workable vaccination), you cannot actually boost immunity. All you do is temporarily boost the the amount of antibodies because they are 'called up' to fight the threat (vaccine). It doesn't make more memory cells and it doesn't 'help' the dog. Unfortunately memory cells cannot be measured.

That doesn't mean your dog can be 100% guaranteed to never get any disease, just like a yearly vaccinated dog can still get x disease. All people, animals etc can have times where their immune system is compromised, or some dogs are called non responders and can never form a response to that disease.

There is also the risk of vaccine related issues, some of which are not obviously linked to vaccination such as itching, skin issues, allergies and so on.

In the end you have to do what you feel comfortable with, but make the choice with common sense and research rather than remaining with the status quo just because it's easier

[Just Midol]

Tess, why do you need to titre test once?

No matter what the results are, there is nothing you can do?

[Guest Tess32]

Tess, why do you need to titre test once?

No matter what the results are, there is nothing you can do?

Most people WANT to know, and some people would choose to limit where their dog goes if they had a non responder.

Also if you titer a puppy lilke I did, it showed he had no response (or maternal antibodies interfered) to his initial vaccination, but did to his 13 week one - showing me I had no reason to vaccinate for the 16 week shot. It's impossible to know when maternal antibodies fade..