Soph the vet and any Dog People - ? re vaccines

[NevadaRabbit]

Hubs heard that vets are investigating the increasing occurrences of dog cancers/leukemia as it relates to vaccinations. (This is one of those "my friend Doug heard from his uncle whose neighbor is a vet" things, so apply grains of salt as needed.)

 

Apparently researchers are looking into the possibility that dogs are over-vaccinated and this is throwing their immune systems out of whack. And that it's possible to have your vet do a blood draw and test for immunity levels rather than just dosing your dog with more vaccine.

 

??

[newbie]

That is so interesting, I wonder if it same for cats, I can remember the breeder saying do not vaccinate too much, it is dangerous.

[Soph the vet]

Yes, this is true. We are overvaccinating, IMO. We know, anecdotally that antibody levels last much longer for most vaccines than the manufacturer's liscense for it. For example a typical distemper vax is liscensed for one year but the dog may have antibody levels high enough to combat the virus for 3 or 4 years or more in some cases. If you want to test your dog you can pull blood for antibody titers. There is one vet in our practice who does this quite a bit, especially with older dogs. I do know it is much more expensive than receiving the vaccine. The core vaccines in dogs (distemper/parvo and rabies) are not a huge problem given repeatedly over many years. The Lyme vax is a big problem in causing immune-mediated problems in some dogs so that their own immune system starts attacking their joints or kidneys or liver, etc. For this reason I do not recommend it for house dogs or dogs that get good tick prevention care. Plus it just isn't a good vaccine. Other vaccines are given so infrequently that I don't worry about causing problems in patients.

Cats are another story. Rabies vaccine has been shown to cause vaccine-induced sarcomas in some cats. These are aggressive malignant tumors of the skin and connective tissue usually at the site of vaccination. There may be other problems in cats related to the leukemia vax that I would need to read up on before commenting. I believe you can also pull antibody titers for cats as well.

If your dog is older and has been vaccinated routinely you may want to skip everything except Rabies. It is important for legal reasons to keep current on that vax.

Let me know if you want more info.

Soph

[In The Great White North]

What about the kennel cough vaccine?

 

The vet says its good for a year but the kennel wants it every 6 months

[NevadaRabbit]

We have a 2 year old Fox Terrier (smooth variety, she's very particular about that part). We have to board her at a very neat, clean, loving kennel once or twice a year and they require up-to-date vaccines for DHPP, rabies, and kennel cough. No lyme vax for her (she's indoor/our backyard).

 

It sounds like the Lyme vax is the one that is most troubling in your opinion? At age 2 should we even bother testing or just go ahead and boost her? Is kennel cough vaccine one we should worry over?

 

Thanks so much, Soph. :)

[Soph the vet]

What about the kennel cough vaccine?

 

The vet says its good for a year but the kennel wants it every 6 months

It is good for a year and most kennels around here honor that. If you have a dog that is a show dog I would do it every 6 months. It is like the flu vax for us in that not every strain of bordatella will be in it. So even though you vax your dog they may still get kennel cough if a different strain is out there.

Kennels can set their own rules. What I would do is make sure you have had your dog vaxed within 6 months of boarding.

[Soph the vet]

We have a 2 year old Fox Terrier (smooth variety, she's very particular about that part). We have to board her at a very neat, clean, loving kennel once or twice a year and they require up-to-date vaccines for DHPP, rabies, and kennel cough. No lyme vax for her (she's indoor/our backyard).

 

It sounds like the Lyme vax is the one that is most troubling in your opinion? At age 2 should we even bother testing or just go ahead and boost her? Is kennel cough vaccine one we should worry over?

 

Thanks so much, Soph. :)

Definitely at 2 yrs. boost her. When I talk about antibody titers we are talking those dogs who have been vaccinated regularly for at least 5 or 6 years. Lymes is the most troubling to me for dogs. Kennel cough is not troubling, may or may not protect as I pointed out in the other post right before this one. Most people only get it if they are boarding. It is a self-limiting albeit annoying disease.

[NevadaRabbit]

Definitely at 2 yrs. boost her. When I talk about antibody titers we are talking those dogs who have been vaccinated regularly for at least 5 or 6 years. Lymes is the most troubling to me for dogs. Kennel cough is not troubling, may or may not protect as I pointed out in the other post right before this one. Most people only get it if they are boarding. It is a self-limiting albeit annoying disease.

 

I'll get her in for her boosters next week. :) Thanks SO much!!

[lllll]

We don't do any shots for our 17 1/2 year old Chihuahua anymore. She's almost totally blind and deaf and stays inside most of the time. When I let her out, she goes from one door to the other door by walking alongside the house as a guide. The only thing I give her is heartworm medicine; but I spread that out, even. Instead of once a month, I wait for 5 or 6 weeks between doses. It definitely affects how she feels.

 

I've noticed she seems to feel better and act livlier when I feed her some cooked, mixed veggies with her usual IAMS. And I still feed her a little steak every now and then, with all the fat cut off.

 

For our 12-13yo Chi, I take her to get the rabies shot at a clinic and give her the booster shots myself. I spread the boosters out much farther than the usual year that the vet wants to do. It's been working very well. I also do her heartworm like I do our older dog's heartworm. Same for the food, too. She's very healthy.

 

I was so glad to read Soph the vet's posts about all this, because I had suspected some of this years ago and that's how I came up with a more 'relaxed' schedule for the shots.

 

Also, we live way out in the woods with ticks from about April to about August and I've found it's better to skip that shot and use "Advantage" (?) brand tick preventative for the few tick months of the year. It's topical and does an excellent job of keeping off the ticks (so they don't bring them into the house!).

 

We do the same for our 3 cats and one is a male who prowls the woods all night, unless it's really cold or wet. They also do well with the extended shot schedule, Advantage, and added veggies and meat.

 

HTH

Edited October 18, 2008 by ksva