Annual Vaccinations

[SallyDog]

I have had two friends who over the last 6 months have taken their dogs for their annual vaccinations and the dogs have had severe allergic reactions to them. One dog was 11 yo the other was 7 yo and they have had vaccinations all their lives without problems. The 11yo died 2 months later and never really recovered from the ordeal. The 7yo is still alive but not doing really well.

These people go to different vets hence it is not associated with the vet clinic.

The 11yo pom that died the vet believes that their was probably something wrong with the vaccination.

Reading the thread here about the bc pup with probs that had only recently had its vaccs I'm starting to get concerned on the quality of vacc available. Are the incidents of probs with annual vaccinations high, what are your experiences.

[Jed]

The problem with annual vaccinations is high enough to be of concern. Some pups die, and quite a few older dogs develop problems following vaccinations. There have been several posters who believed their dogs contracting lymphoma was the result of the vaccinations. You may find the threads in the archives.

The AVA protocol, released about 3 years ago, advises that dogs only be vac. every 3 years.

There is a fair bit of opinion that puppy vaccinations, combined with a booster at 12 months is sufficient to provide lifetime immunity.

Personally, once my dog is over 4 I don't vaccinate annually. My dogs are out and about a bit, and would probably be in contact with parvo, so their resistance would be high. If I vaccinated after this age, I would never have a dog over 6 done.

Chances of parvo are reduced in adult dogs anyhow, except for the susceptible breeds (rotties, chihuahuas etc)

It is possible to have a titre test done for antibodies (by the vet) and this will indicate what level of protection the dog has. Costs about the same as a vaccination.

I also feel that a C3 is probably sufficient, or a C4 at most. C7 provices protection against corona virus, and lepto. Corona should not be a problem in an adult dog - even if he did contract it, he will probably recover. Lepto is basically absent from most places in Aus - from Mackay north it might be a problem. Lepto is only present in moist humid places with high temperatures.

Vets have different opinions, and it might be worth asking yours.

Well worth it, if you are concerned about vaccinations, reactions, and immunity.

Edited for shocking sp

Edited October 14, 2006 by Jed

[peibe]

I agree with what Jed has said

I get my dogs done at 6-8 weeks, 10-12 weeks, 14-16 weeks and then at one year, they do not get done again until they are 3 years old, then 5, 7 then finished

I rescue dogs and my dogs do not catch anything, I have had parvo here and kennel cough, they do not get sick

I believe we are over vaccinating in this country

[morgan]

My dogs have never had an adult booster in over 30 years - only the 2 puppy shots (starting at 10 or 11 weeks) They have been exposed to parvo and distemper, and have never had a problem. The only pups I ever lost to parvo were from a mum on breeders terms who was very ill and couldn't feed them for a week after the first couple of days - none of my other dogs caught it.

In this time I have only had a few cases of cancer, no heart disease, no arthritis, only one with allergies, one outbreak of kennel cough, caught from a dog show, and fixed in 2 days,and no other diseases apart from the occasional stomach bug. Gastric torsion has killed several, but this is a problem in my breeds. I usually have up to 15 dogs at a time.

I never use anything apart from C3 - the one time I used one that did coronavirus as well I ended up with the one dog with horrendous allergies. (Don't know why I let myself be talked into that one)

[Dogsfevr]

What vaccs where used & did they als get heartworm shots on the same day??

[SallyDog]

They were both C4 vaccinations and no they were not given heartworm shots as well, both were on monthly heartworm preps.

[Jed]

It's quite difficult to get a C3. Vets always say "Have C4, it's the same price" - which is not the point. Often they don't want to get a lot of C3 in for a couple of injections. I would never have anything over C4 done, and object to that too - but there's not much to be done about it.

[Dogsfevr]

As a boarding kennel owner i can tell you some vets take many people for a big ride especially with the c7 which dogs seem to be reacting too.So many vets are pushing the C& & havent a clue why

We dont use c4 & when we did we lost pups out of a litter ,we werent the only ones & where able to trace issues via the batch # .Many vets these days also dont stick the batch # sticker on the cards which isnt good.Always insist on the sticker being placed

[morgan]

It's quite difficult to get a C3. Vets always say "Have C4, it's the same price" - which is not the point. Often they don't want to get a lot of C3 in for a couple of injections. I would never have anything over C4 done, and object to that too - but there's not much to be done about it.

So glad my vets aren't like this - I use four separate vet practices, and all of them do C3 or C5 as requested, no argument

[InspectorRex]

I am lucky too Morgan, my Vet never pushes anything past a C3 unless the person wants it.

She has also adopted the 3 year protocol for vaccinations

Sallydaog, have the owners of these dogs reported the allergic reactions to the governing body?go to

www.avpma.gov.au

and report it.They are very prompt in responding and will follow through each case. If ppl don't report reactions then everyone will think all vaccines cause No reactions

[Noelle]

Can anyone reading this explain to me, please, what is a "killed virus" for vacinations and what are the benefits? Thankyou

[monsterpup]

Hi,

I live in Melbourne, and I have just gone through the biggest rigmarole to get my dogs titer tested so that I don't have to vaccinate. My pup had the 3 puppy shots, with progressively worse reactions until after the last one he was covered with a bleeding rash AND had an ear infection. I got him better with natural treatments and natural food- the vet wanted to prescribe drugs and creams etc, and to sell me Science Diet, . The vet admitted that he had a vaccine reaction - but still wanted to do another vacc. TIME FOR A NEW VET! Ringing around, couldn't find a vet that did did titer testing - the staff hadn't even heard of it!!! Long story short, ( through Leenie on DOL), I rang a vet in Qld, who gave me the name of a vet in Melbourne who might do it for me. She did, but it was the first one she had ever done, and the blood had to go to the UK. Both dogs have massive immunity -even the pup with only his 3 puppy shots. I'll never vaccinate again, but I have to have a titer test for them every year so they can go to the kennel. If you need info about the process I'm happy to share.

Yearly vaccinations are such a con by the big pharmaceutical companies. They could never get away with pushing yearly vaccinations for humans, but for animals anything goes.

[jesomil]

Hi monsterpup,

I would love to find out who i could get the dogs titer tested through in Melbourne. My vet doesnt do it. Could you PM me the details?

Also, was it expensive?

Thanks

[SallyDog]

I'll second jesomil's request. If anyone knows vets in Victoria who do titre testing could they please add this to the thread, I am sure there are alot of us interested in this and I am sure the vets won't mind the business, it may encourage more to offer the service. I am particularily looking for one in either Melb metro or gippsland region. Also interested in price but not essential

[monsterpup]

Happy to share the info Dr Nicole Hoskin, Prahran Vet Hospital, 682 Malvern Rd, Prahran, tel 9510 1335

Cost was$140.25 for each dog. There are two types of test - one which is just a yes/no to immunity, which can be done by sending the blood interstate, and one which gives a breakdown of immunity levels for each disease, which has to be sent to the UK. I got the breakdown for the first time, but the vet said the yes/no will be good enough in future - it costs around half, I think. She was terrific, she had to ring around everywhere, and had to ring me back about four times before she could sort out the process. I couldn't recommend her highly enough.

Hope this helps anyone in Melbourne looking to do this - it nearly drove me crazy trying to find out. Even the holistic vets I rang either didn't know about it, or wouldn't go through the process of finding out for me.

[lcringo]

This won't help you to find a vet in your area, but I used to live in Canada and the vet I saw there was a holistic vet; I never had my dog vaccinated and when I had him titred at about a year, his immunity was through the roof - his parvo immunity was higher than any of the other 30-odd dogs she had titred at that time, and both parvo and distemper were way higher than my friend's dog, which had recieved every single vaccine his vet could pump into him (3 puppy shots and yearly bosters); at 7 years his titre was lower than the recommended 'safe' zone.

Now thinking back I think I would have vaccinated my puppy a couple times to be safe, as the fact that his immunity was so high meant he had been introduced to the diseases, and fortunately was healthy enough to have mounted an effective immune response without getting sick...

My friend's dog was the opposite, and I couldn't decide whether he shouldn't vaccinate him again, since obviously the vaccines weren't doing anything, or if he SHOULD vaccinate him yearly since obviously he needed the yearly boost to pump his system up to the level it was...

Anyways the point of that is, titreing your dog is a great way to moniter his immune system, and decide whether a vaccine is necessary or not. After that I titred my dog yearly, and if his levels had dropped below 'safe' would have known to vaccinate him. I think that's the best way to go, that way your dog's protected, but not getting unnecessary vaccines.

Because of the cost of sending bloods off to be titred, my vet would hold "titre clinics" over a weekend or whatever, and then send off all the bloods together - most of her cost was the actual shipping, etc. and if we got our titres done then, the cost was about 50$/dog - something you might want to suggest to your vet, especially if you guys can get enough people together to guarantee 20 clients or whatever minimum. My vet would also travel to other towns nearby once a year to offer them the same service, since noone else in the area was offering titres as an option. You may be able to convince your vet that this would be a good business opportunity for him/her, as they could gain a lot of clients by offering a service only available through them, especially if they advertised the "titre clinics" as my vet did.

ETA - the cost may have also been less if the lab she sent the bloods off to offered a group discount, I'm not sure...

Edited October 15, 2006 by lcringo