Vaccinations And Old Dogs (:(:

[Fordogs]

I was at work on Saturday and a lady brought in her 17 year old Mini Pin x who had kept her up all night needing to wee. Any way vet on duty tested the old girls urine and her kidneys had simply shut down.

I was working exactly a week prior to this event when this owner brought her then apparently healthy old girl in for a vaccination and at the time I did think *** WHY *** vaccinate a dog of this age but it was not for me to say any thing BUT why do vets NOT suggest that it is NOT in the dogs best interest???? :mad

It maybe that the kidneys were shutting down anyway but I am sure that her vaccination didn't help any.

[Guest lavendergirl]

I would suggest the answer is because vaccinations are their bread and butter income. Thats why most are still vaccinating yearly even though the AVA guidelines state that vacs should be given every three years. Also the same reason a lot recommend Hills Science Diet:).

[Mags]

My vet has never vaccinated my old dogs (or cats for that matter) - they suggest geriatric bloods instead - a much better option imo as we can monitor how they are going and pick up anything early which we have done on a couple of occasions. Really can't get my head around the continued & unnecessary over vaccination of companion animals even after the veterinary association protocols have changed.

[vetrg]

I was at work on Saturday and a lady brought in her 17 year old Mini Pin x who had kept her up all night needing to wee. Any way vet on duty tested the old girls urine and her kidneys had simply shut down.

I was working exactly a week prior to this event when this owner brought her then apparently healthy old girl in for a vaccination and at the time I did think *** WHY *** vaccinate a dog of this age but it was not for me to say any thing BUT why do vets NOT suggest that it is NOT in the dogs best interest???? :mad

It maybe that the kidneys were shutting down anyway but I am sure that her vaccination didn't help any.

I will wait for the brickbats to be thrown however: here it goes.

There has been no large scale study to show that vaccination causes disease. The greatest step forward in medicine and disease prevention was, and still is, vaccination. We live in a smug post vaccination world and enjoy its benefits. I have watched dogs die from leptospirosis, parvovirus and distemper- all of which were in unvaccinated dogs. If you titre test your dogs then you can chose to vaccinate or not. Otherwise vaccination schedules should be adhered to as per manufacturers guidelines. Had this dog been vaccinated yearly- was it due a vaccine? This was a 17 year old dog- it is going to die from something. Why blame vacciantion- might have stolen some grapes, might have drunk antifreeze, might be old and wearing out. Older dogs have reduced active immune response, there is some debate about whether we should increase the vaccine schedule in older dogs for some antigens.

Give me a break and speak to some of the older vets (not many left now) who have dealt with parvo and distemper outbreaks prior to vaccination and ask them how many think vaccination is a bad idea.