Booster Vaccinations

[tysilio]

Apologies if this topic has been covered before (I’m sure I remember seeing it). Merlin went for his annual booster vacs yesterday. Including kennel cough I came out 40 quid lighter!

My question is are annual boosters necessary. Browsing another message board, a poster said 3 yearly boosters are ‘the norm’ and was surprised the vet hadn’t indicated this to the OP on that site. I appreciate some people do not vaccinate. That’s not a debate I want to get into as because Merlin goes to kennels occassionally, he has to have them. Is three yearly the norm or does it depend on the strain of vaccine used/vet surgery policy.

Any feedback would be appreciated.

[suki1964]

Is this country the "norm" is every year.

I have chosen to have Alfie vaccinated every two years for parvo and yearly for lepto. Although my vet was open to the idea I still had to sign a disclaimer and if Alfie did contract parvo he wouldnt be covered by the insurance

[Jane S]

There is one vaccine on the market (Intervet's Nobivac DHPPi) which offers 3 years protection for parvovirus, hepatitis and distemper but yearly boosters are still recommended for leptospirosis. Not sure how many vets are actually following this protocol though as most still seem keen to push for annual boosters for all the vaccine components

Jane

[Joelf]

My vets use the vaccine Jane mentions & they vaccinate every other year for the main diseases & yearly for lepto.

[PennyB]

There is one vaccine on the market (Intervet's Nobivac DHPPi) which offers 3 years protection for parvovirus, hepatitis and distemper but yearly boosters are still recommended for leptospirosis. Not sure how many vets are actually following this protocol though as most still seem keen to push for annual boosters for all the vaccine components

Jane

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I've just had the yearly one for lepto only for Wilf, and have given the parvo etc. a miss this year and didn't have to sign any disclaimers.

I don't think its just the vets but some owners who normally vax their dogs are worried about reducing it.

[Sharon]

My vet does this too, yearly Lepto and every 3 years for boosters.

[shonajoy]

Nobivacs dhppi is done every three years, but most people just get all done yearly. Kennels are prone to being dofficult in some cases, and some owners prefer a yearly one. We also have owners who have titers done for immunity, but thats expensive.

[KellyS]

Ebony's booster is due and I am wondering what to do.  She has previously had Nobivac DHPPIL which I covers all of the diseases mentioned.  I am considering just having the Lepto done this year and having the full lot done every other year.  Can vets just adminster a vacine for Lepto?  Does anyone know what it is called as I guess my vets will be difficult about this!!

[suki1964]

Mine will do just lepto (after a huge discussion)

[PennyB]

Ebony's booster is due and I am wondering what to do.  She has previously had Nobivac DHPPIL which I covers all of the diseases mentioned.  I am considering just having the Lepto done this year and having the full lot done every other year.  Can vets just adminster a vacine for Lepto?  Does anyone know what it is called as I guess my vets will be difficult about this!!

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I just asked for the lepto bit!

[shonajoy]

They shouldn't give you a hard time at all, just ask for only the lepto.

My youngest, Hamish, has an autoimmune disorder and I won't ever vaccinate him - not one of the vets at work has tried to talk me out of it, the view seems to be if you know enough to refuse it and have researched it, then that's your right.

[Penel]

Titres are not expensive.  It cost me £35 to have one of mine titre tested.

If a vet is using the aforementioned Nobivac vaccine then they should not be doing this annually.  The manufacturers recommendations are very clear on this.  See here for the data sheet for the Nobivac DHPPi vaccine, so you can see the recommendations for how often each component should be given. Please note this line too which people (including vets) often don't know about:

Contra-indications, warnings, etc

Only healthy dogs should be vaccinated. The vaccine may not be effective in dogs incubating the disease at the time of vaccination.

here

For some more general news see (scroll down for vaccine info)http://www.intervet.co.uk/species_pages/dog/news.asp

[Gini]

I was wondering about boosters for puppies at 12 months old. It would obviously depend which brand. I would assume (?) that they would need their 12 month booster incase they still had  their mother's immunity when they had their first vaccs? Not sure what I'm talking about!

[shonajoy]

Titres are not expensive.  It cost me £35 to have one of mine titre tested.

If a vet is using the aforementioned Nobivac vaccine then they should not be doing this annually.  The manufacturers recommendations are very clear on this.  See here for the data sheet for the Nobivac DHPPi vaccine, so you can see the recommendations for how often each component should be given. Please note this line too which people (including vets) often don't know about:

Contra-indications, warnings, etc

Only healthy dogs should be vaccinated. The vaccine may not be effective in dogs incubating the disease at the time of vaccination.

here

For some more general news see (scroll down for vaccine info)http://www.intervet.co.uk/species_pages/dog/news.asp

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Our lab must be particularly expensive then - it costs nearly double that.

Also, when you consider the booster is £20, owners without a lot of spare cash often go for the booster anyway!

[wendy]

Thanks for the excellent info Penel.  I am so confused about what to do with my dog he reacted very very badly with the second injection and was not very well at all - which frightened me.  My fears are made worst by the fact that his aunt had a regular booser injection and it destroyed her immune system and the owner nearly lost her.  Finley is due his booster - already had note from vet - I currently have him on Nosodes from Ainsworths which is hopefully protecting him from hard Pad and Distemper, parvo Virus, leptospirosis, Hepatitis and Kennel Cough.  

Last week at training a couple told me that their baby cocker had also reacted very badly from the second injection she was sick, could not walk and was very unwell.  I was wondering if I should talk to the vet and just have the Lepto vac done or investigate the possibility of having a titres test done.

Wendy