What is your opinion on vaccines?

[MaplesMommy]

So I was wondering what your guy's point of view is on vaccines?
Do you vaccinate your dog? If so ,against what? Why do you do this? And how often do you vaccinate?

Maple has gotten her Distemper,Parvo and Influenza shot when she was still at the breeder with 7 weeks old. Now I know better and I should have asked the breeder not to vaccinate. She then got her second round at 13 1/2 weeks old ; Distemper,Parvo,Influenza. And that's it. No more vaccines for her! I do titer tests.

 

[Cbrugs]

Jax has been vaccinated for everything the vet has recommended. He also goes to doggy daycare and they require certain vaccinations as does Petsmart (where he goes once a month for baths). Since Jax is frequently around other dogs, I prefer for him to be vaccinated.

 

[KimB3384]

Jax has been vaccinated for everything the vet has recommended. He also goes to doggy daycare and they require certain vaccinations as does Petsmart (where he goes once a month for baths). Since Jax is frequently around other dogs, I prefer for him to be vaccinated.

Same for us.

Why the anti-vaccine sentiment? Did Maple have a problem with something?

 

[lkclark]

There is quite a bit of new literature on vaccines, much of which favors titer-testing over boosters.

Dr. Karen Becker is one such proponent:



But I am in the same boat where my doggy daycamp will be requiring "up-to-date" vaccinations.

 

[lkclark]

Here's another piece of info:

MINIMAL VACCINE USE
by
W. Jean Dodds, DVM
HEMOPET
938 Stanford Street
Santa Monica, CA 90403
310/828-4804
Fax: 310/ 453-5240
e-mail: hemopet at hotmail com
(remove spaces, use @ symbol and .com)

​

 

[pbois]

I'm a firm believer in appropriate vaccines. Way too much risk to not vaccinate in my opinion. At the clinic I work at we have tons of vaccines, but we try to cater the vaccines to the dog.... Not all dogs need the random lymes, lepto, rattlesnake, influenza (the true flu vaccine for dogs), etc.... It amazes me how many vets give everything under the sun to a dog that goes no where but their backyard. And not all dogs need the core vaccines every year. The main vaccines that are given regularly at our clinic are the DHP (distemper,hepatitis,parvo), rabies (we have to by law), and Bordetella (our intranasal Bordetella also contains parainfluenza.....the newer research has shown that parainfluenza in the combo injectable vaccines is useless).

 

[MaplesMommy]

I am not against vaccination, but I am against OVER vaccinating.

If you vaccinate a puppy at the proper age (which is not at 6-7 weeks when most breeders do it) he will likely be immune for a life time! The whole anual booster thing is just money making for the pharmaceutical industry and the vet. Vaccinate your dog once or twice at a proper age and only with the necessary vaccines. After that do titer tests! A lot of people dont even know about them because nobody,especially not their vet, told them such thing exists. A titer test is a blood test in which it can be determine wether the dog has produces antibodies to a certain 'disease' ,in which case he is immune, or if he doesnt have any antibodies for this certain illness,in which case it is recommended to vaccinate.Lots of times dogs are already immune so why attack their immune system with an unnesearry vaccine and risk cancer ,auto immune disease etc etc?I am only talking about common and 'severe' disease such as Parvo and Distemper by the way. Kennel cough for example is one of these vaccines that I find ridicolous. An average healthy dog would most likely NOT die from it,it is in fact one of the most treatable illnesses. So why ruin and poison the dogs immune system and risk other health issues just to avoid a common cold?
Also there hasnt been a single case of canine herpes in North America for the last 15 years. And the lepto vaccine doesnt even cover the most common strains of it. So why vaccinate?
A healthy dog on a healthy diet = a healthy immune system.
Maple has been around pet stores ,parks and a lot of other dogs for her whole life. She has been exposed and therefore her immune system is top! Its just like these parents that keep their kids always super clean and they are not allowed to get dirty or even eat dirt. Later on these are the ones with the most allergies and sensitivities.

We all only want the best for our babies and I am not trying to offend anybody,so I hope you dont feel that way. I just think it is a very important topic and you should open your mind and maybe do some research and build your own opinion

 

[2bullymama]

Always have them vaccinated..... rabies, distemper, parvo

 

[MaplesMommy]

But why not do a titer test first , to see if its necessary?

 

[Alice Kable]

Always have them vaccinated..... rabies, distemper, parvo

Ditto! I'm not taking any chances with my boys!

 

[MaplesMommy]

Some dogs actually get the disease from the vaccine! So why not run a quick blood test on antibodies. If the dog has eg parvo antibodies in his body, he is already immune, so why inject more of the disease whem the dog is already protected?
Don't get me wrong, I only want the best for my pup, and I dont want to take any risks, so for that reason I dont over vaccinate a healthy dog with a working immune system.

Like I said before I hope nobody is feeling attacked. This is just my point of view, and everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

 

[lkclark]

Some dogs actually get the disease from the vaccine! So why not run a quick blood test on antibodies. If the dog has eg parvo antibodies in his body, he is already immune, so why inject more of the disease whem the dog is already protected?
Don't get me wrong, I only want the best for my pup, and I dont want to take any risks, so for that reason I dont over vaccinate a healthy dog with a working immune system.

Like I said before I hope nobody is feeling attacked. This is just my point of view, and everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

I agree with you.

I'd rather pay for titer testing + necessary vaccinations rather than simply layering them on year after year without knowing if they're even necessary.

Also, great remark about the immune system. It truly is key.

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[davidh]

We still vaccinate ours, like the vet suggest, but the more I read, the more I am thinking about checking into the titer test. No since giving an annual vaccine that they do not need after their original ones, if they don't need them.

 

[pbois]

I think Vets aren't necessarily promoting titers not because it's a huge money making scam for them or the vaccine companies, but because offering your run of the mill client a 12-20 dollar vaccine vs. a 120 dollar test to see if they might need the vaccine doesn't make much sense......especially because you just don't see dogs get sick from the vaccines very often (or at least we don't). Clients who don't want to vaccinate come in with that mindset and ask for titers which I'm sure a Vet would be happy to do. If Vets were really that into making money off their clients they would do a titer on every pet......those tests are marked up a lot more than the vaccines.

If you have a vet that is up to speed on vaccine protocol they are asking you questions and want to know what your pets risks are......if they are low then giving that core vaccine every 3 years is good enough for me.

 

[MaplesMommy]

Where I come from a titer test runs between 40-60 $. Even if it was more it would be worth it to me to see if my dog really needs it instead of just injecting more and more of the disease. Dogs CAN develop the disease from the vaccine, but it doesnt always happen fast. Sometimes you gotta see the big picture. I heard of dogs that got Parvo 2 months after their vaccination. The dog got sick,the owner went to the vet and of course wasnt thinking it had anything to do with the vaccination 2 months ago but it was confirmed her dog had Parvo and he was never exposed to any other dogs or parks etc so he actually got it from the vaccine.
And a lot of vaccines arent even protecting the dog because the disease 1. Doesnt even exist anymore or 2. The vaccine doesnt cover the most common strains such as in the Lepto and Influenza vaccine.

I think more and more people are starting to do their own research and open their mind and that makes me happy

 

[MaplesMommy]

Oh and I forgot to add : Somebody told me that their vet is pro titer so when you get a titer test done and your dog isnt immune they actually vaccinate the dog for free afterwards.I think that is absolutely awesome and a great idea! Its probably hard to find a vet like that though

 

[lkclark]

Oh and I forgot to add : Somebody told me that their vet is pro titer so when you get a titer test done and your dog isnt immune they actually vaccinate the dog for free afterwards.I think that is absolutely awesome and a great idea! Its probably hard to find a vet like that though

Wow that's really neat! I'm going to shop around for someone with that sort of method

 

[pbois]

Absolutely everyone should do their homework and only do or not do what makes them comfortable, but I've worked at an animal hospital for 15 years and not once have we ever had a puppy or dog get a virus from giving them the vaccination. So I guess I'm skewed to trust that the Vet I work for stays on top of what vaccines are better to give than not and what vaccine companies to trust. I've seen plenty of puppies and dogs over many many years die of parvo or distemper and it's not something I want to mess with. Like I said if my pets are low risk then that core distemper/parvo vaccine every 2-3 years is good for me......better than being caught off guard with a sick dog down the road.

 

[I Love Louie]

I was advised that I should do the titer and not vaccinate every year especially because Louie is a white dog. Not sure why that is but I was told once they get their distemper vaccine they don't need it again. Kind of like human vaccines we don't get them every year!!


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[suebee]

My vet and I have had a lot of discussions on vaccines. Frankie has to have Rabies by law, but we are going with the 3 year one. He also will get the DHPP, but the vet said he did not need it every year. He will run titers if I want, but he suggested doing that one every three years also. Lepto scares me (the vaccine and the disease!) We live in the woods and have every wild animal you can think of in our backyard, so even though I only take him out to use the bathroom, he snuffles the ground and is exposed to various animal waste. I was told (2) of the (4) strains in the shot have been seen in our area. I was also told this is the vaccine with the most severe reactions. They are leaving it up to me, but suggest that I get it for Frankie. If I do, they want me to stay near the clinic for at least the first hour - they said that reactions almost always occur within the first 20 min - 1 hour after vaccination. As far as the Lyme vaccine - my mother, sister, aunt and my sister's dog have had Lyme disease. It is terrible here, but I heard the vaccine can also cause many issues and is no guarantee of immunity, in fact the vaccine can bring on arthritis symptoms in a dog. So, I have Frankie on the Nexguard chew which is for ticks and fleas. So far, he only had one tick which did not even attach. My sister is using it and her dogs had several ticks also (deer ticks) which did not attach either! So, I am not giving the Lyme vaccine to Frankie - I'll just be very thorough in "tick checks." Any other opinions for people with pups in southeast PA would be interesting to hear! Thanks everyone - I sure learn a lot from you all!