To boost or not to boost. Are we wasting our money?

[Mrs T]

I found this interesting article on the BBC website. 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3588457.stm

[Cob-Web]

My two are on a three-yearly vaccination schedule; which is accepted by the kennels and training classes etc - but until there is a universal acceptance of the over-vaccination problem by all sectors, then dog owners like myself have to accept that they may be putting their dogs at risk 

[CarolineL]

Funnily enough I had a long conversation with my vet about this very subject this morning.

At my practice for dogs they vaccinate for parvo and lepto every year but everything else is done every 3 years (i think).

I have been in a quandry for ages about whether or not to vaccinate Hurley and I did suggest titre testing to my vet. He explained the positives and negatives of titre testing and admitted that it is not always 100% accurate.... he did explain why but Im not sure I can remember well enough to explain this.

I have decided to have Hurley's boosters done this year and we will see how we go next year with everything else.

He said that this was being scrutinised by the professionals but only for dogs.... he said that we were probably over vaccinating cats too but there hasn't been an awful lot of research done on cats yet.  

Of course it is in the pharmaceuticals interest that we vaccinate every year - you also have to take into consideration whether or not your insurance would be valid........

Cx

[Cob-Web]

- you also have to take into consideration whether or not your insurance would be valid........

Cx

How true  Some policies are completely invalidated if the dog isn't vaccinated, so won't pay out for anything - others specify that conditions covered by vaccinations are excluded if the dog is not vaccinated - so it is definitely worth reading the small print 

[Tasha]

definitely something to think about regarding insurance policies some companies will ask for proof from your vet when you make a claim that you have taken 'due care' with your dog even if its not related to the reason for the claim and use it as an excuse not to pay out.

Mine are passported so I can't afford to miss a booster or main injection even if I could get away with it in the UK the possibility of a vet abroad saying NO and having to leave them behind is too much of a worry.  It would be nice to know for definite if its ok to extend the period between the start and booster being given.   I know that in recent years vaccinations for somethings like the rabies jab is now three yearly instead of yearly as it used to be (despite some countries refusing to accept anything except a yearly vaccination for it) which is a great improvement.

Breeds like the weimaraner are prone to auto immune problems that alot of people have put down to direct conflict with the course of drugs given (we now have a specific rountine they recommend to follow in the States but its not really followed through to the uk as common practise) so being able to reduce the level of drugs given to a dog would be very beneficial.

[clairep4]

My vet also does Parvo and Lepto every year (there's alot of Parvo around our area, apparently) and everything else is every 3 years. So both mine still get their boosters - also they go out with dogwalkers with dogs I don't know, and come across so many dogs in our local parks, that I'm still too worried NOT to have them done. Especially with Bella as she's the one where they say "you'd have to be REALLY unlucky..." - that's her, the unlucky one!

My cats on the other hand haven't had their jabs for about 3 years now. The old one hardly goes out so it doesn't seem worth it, and the other one (touch wood) has never had a day's illness in his life (other than injuries from fights now and then) - in fact the vet was going through our records and said "who the hell is Taj? I've never met him!" and we've been with the same vet for 8 years... 

[Cazzie]

My cat Sassy hasnt been done as she nearly died the last time she had a booster and was advised to give her some of the booster every 3 or so years 

[Helen]

It's not the money that I care about wasting, it's the danger of over-vaccinating to the dog's health 

[Tasha]

I don't think the money side of it comes into it definitely about the health.  You can titre test but I don't know how accurate it is or if it qualifies as an acceptable method of cover for the passport scheme.  It is expensive though and some vets won't do it.

[Helen]

what amazes me is that we don't question the booster programmes and the links with AI disorders enough and happily accept vet's advice

....if parents were told that their children needed a MMR  booster jab in order to go to school every year wouldn't parents question it?

Doctors are as much professionals as vets, yet we seem to question doctors not vets.

and this really confuses me...what's the difference between boostering cats, and boostering dogs? Surely if you booster one, you should booster the other?

If I was concerned about my dogs protection levels I would titre.  It costs about £35.00 from my vet.
However, you can get a low titre and the dog still be protected as titre testing only measures circulating antibodies - it cannot measure memory cells.If you do titre , and get good results - then you're ok.  The decision is yours to re-vaccinate or not if you get low results.

Can someone please correct me on this if I'm wrong, but it's my understanding too that the same vacs are given to all dogs - whatever the size. So my assumption is a spaniel would get the same dose as a Great Dane?

I find the whole vaccination thing a minefield, and its a really personal decision which is based on your own research and requirements.

The risks are yours to weigh up, but please do not booster you dog if they are at all unwell    and
in my honest opinion, any dog that has reacted to a vaccination should not be vaccinated again, as the likelihood is that the next time they will react more strongly.

[bluegirl]

I have been undecided about vaccinations for many years now, but have always decided to keep up with them. Funnily enough until we had cockers all our dogs were only ever given the first years vax and then nothing else and never came to any harm. My last dog was vaccinated yearly and developed an AI disease, which in my own mind I believe it was due to having an undetected cancer (as this can trigger AI disease) but I will never really know for sure that vaccinations hadn't caused it.
This year due to a mix up with the vets they sent me a reminder in June to have all 3 dogs vaccinated which made me realise that Penny had been due in January and was now 5 -6 mths over. I asked them would she need to start again and they said yes, which I was not happy to do, so Penny is now unvaccinated and I doubt I'll continue with hers.

[CarolineL]

This year due to a mix up with the vets they sent me a reminder in June to have all 3 dogs vaccinated which made me realise that Penny had been due in January and was now 5 -6 mths over. I asked them would she need to start again and they said yes, which I was not happy to do, so Penny is now unvaccinated and I doubt I'll continue with hers.

This is what I find so frustrating about vets, alot of their practices/policies appear to be on personal opinion. My vet is a real advocate of BARF, believes that Thornits really can do a good job and were absolutely fine about Hurley's booster being 5 months late........... 

[suki1964]

I have been undecided about vaccinations for many years now, but have always decided to keep up with them. Funnily enough until we had cockers all our dogs were only ever given the first years vax and then nothing else and never came to any harm. My last dog was vaccinated yearly and developed an AI disease, which in my own mind I believe it was due to having an undetected cancer (as this can trigger AI disease) but I will never really know for sure that vaccinations hadn't caused it.
This year due to a mix up with the vets they sent me a reminder in June to have all 3 dogs vaccinated which made me realise that Penny had been due in January and was now 5 -6 mths over. I asked them would she need to start again and they said yes, which I was not happy to do, so Penny is now unvaccinated and I doubt I'll continue with hers.

See how vets differ, my last vet said as long as the boosters were done within a year of being due then it was fine - in other words he also agreed yearly boosters werent needed, yet when I wanted a two yearly schedule I had to sign a disclaimer, no wonder owners are so confused !!!

[Cazzie]

I will continue to be advised by my vet with regards to vaccinations. I do hope that all those people with dogs that opt not vaccinated will make it common knowledge to others that their dogs are not vaccinated 

[LurcherGirl]

I will continue to be advised by my vet with regards to vaccinations. I do hope that all those people with dogs that opt not vaccinated will make it common knowledge to others that their dogs are not vaccinated 

Why? If your dog is vaccinated, it should make no difference to your dog, surely?