Heomeopathy boosters??

[Juel]

Harvey is due his boosters now & to be honest i'm quite concerned as one of the illnessess that we lost ~Honey~ to was an auto-immune desease.
Harvey &Honey were 1/2 related on their fathers side so i am more concerned for this reason.

I have read through alot of the posts on here(will read more tomorrow)
& have spoken to my vet but i'm still really nervous.

My vet still recommends yearly boosters but they would  only give 2 vaccines this time (lepto & parvo i think) then next year all 7 the year after just the 2 etc.....is this common practice?
He also mentioned Heomeopathy as an alternative......any views anyone??

I asked about a blood test to see how active Harveys immune system is but he didn't seem to know about that test,i'm sure some of you on here have had one done though?!!

He also suggested waiting until the winter months as his immune system would be less active then but i feel like i'm trapped in a vicious circle as i'd hate to wait & then Harvey contract something !!

I guess as my vet says i'm just a little over anxious at the moment as it's still early days with ~Honey~ but i get all panicy at the thought of his boosters :?

Any advice would be gratefully recieved especially on the Heomeopathy subject!!

luv
juels n harveymonster xx                    

[PennyB]

Can't blame you for being anxious. Recent thought in the vet world is vaccinate against lepto each year and the rest every other year (see http://cockersonline.co.uk/forum/viewtopic...ght=vaccination. Or may be you could just vaccinate against lepto and test for antibodies for parvo.

Bizarre that your vet didn't know about the test. Mine has never done one but knows all about them.

Don't know much about nosodes though as the research I've seen isn't that conclusive.


There is a forum on yahoo for canine health which you may also find useful as there is often discussion about the alternatives to conventional vet medicine:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/k9health

You have to register to participate.                    

[Sheryl]

Speaking as a mum whose dog has fought AIHA for 5 years now, I have to say that if an alternative was available then I would go for it in a heartbeat.  I think it is the Titers test you mean.  I do not know how accurate this is as I was under the impression that it only confirmed exposure to any disease and not levels of immunity.  I could be wrong, I usually am  :oops:  :oops:  The lady who runs the kennels that I put my other dog Holly to, uses nosodes to vaccinate her dogs and she swears by them.  Only thing is, the local council do not recognise it as a safe form of vaccination so will not allow dogs to be in kennels unless they have had the conventional vaccination.  I know it is difficult Juels, especially when you have or have had a dog that has suffered with auto immune disease but it is just a case of weighing up the alternatives.  Despite all the pain and suffering Chloe has been through (and us watching her), I still vaccinate Holly.  To me, the alternative of what she may pick up and consequently die from, is much more horrendous.  It is very much a case of damned if you do and damned if you don't.     I wouldn't presume to advise either way, I just do what I feel in my heart is best for my babies and I am sure you will too                    

[Michele]

This is also an interesting thread on the same subject and it gives details and results of the titre test that I had done for Neneh http://cockersonline.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3478                    

[Hel]

Harvey is due his boosters now & to be honest i'm quite concerned as one of the illnessess that we lost ~Honey~ to was an auto-immune desease.
Harvey &Honey were 1/2 related on their fathers side so i am more concerned for this reason.


luv
juels n harveymonster xx

If I were in your position, I would have serious doubts about the whole vaccination thing, particularly due to the relationship between the dogs.

Having said that, I vaccs my dogs (they are rescues) every year, but largely because me and my rescue dogs come into contact with other new rescue dogs on a very regular basis.

Fletch was rehomed froma byb aged 4 who had the puppy jabs done but nothing more.  Pip aged 6, I suspect, had his first jabs at the rescue.  Both had to start the full course as if they were pups.  I've had no bad reactions, as do the majority of dog owners.  But then Fletch and Pip managed to get through the most dangerous years of life without them...

However, if you ever need to board your dog, you will need the vaccs certificate.

Sorry, I'm not much help, just probably giving you more to think about!                    

[Cob-Web]

Hi

I have just noticed while I was researching insurance for Molo that some insurance companies specify 'fully vacinated' in their terms and conditions :x                    

[bluegirl]

hi,
I lost my old dog to AIHA and I was also concerned about vaccinating my new pup, because they are sited as a causative agent. My new pup wasn't related to my old dog so the dilemma wasn't quite the same. I felt that they had me over a barrel because without jabs I couldn't kennel my pup or have insurance. I weighed up the pros and cons of the situation and decided although I wasn't in full agreeance, AIHA (especially from vaccinations) is relatively uncommon but the likehood of requiring expensive vetinary treatment could come at any time, which I would not be able to fund without insurance so I took the chance and she is fine.
Hope this helps,
From Karen                    

[PennyB]

I thought if you didn't vaccinate you were only not insured for those illnesses that may happen from those diseases but were insured for anything else.                    

[Cob-Web]

Penny

Although no specific expeience of this, I suspect companies will look for any loophole not to pay out on a claim, and the policies I have looked at specifically state the animal must be vacinated.

I imagine you could get a policy which did work in the way you describe, but suspect any company would hike the premiums accordingly  :x                    

[Juel]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm still very very anxious about all this but i feel like i'm bashing my head up a wall...the more i read the more i go around in circles,should i ,shouldn't i??..... :?  :?

I've had a good old talk to my Hubby tonight & we feel that as worried as we are we are going to go ahead & give Harvey his boosters mainly due to the fact that where we walk him he would be at high risk as he comes close to rabbits,squirrels etc which i'm lead to believe are high risk animals......so i'll ring the vet  tomorrow,discuss the Heomeopathy side of things further but if no guarantees are given which i'm sure they're not then we'll have to go the conventional route.......i'm absolutely pooing my pants over this i tell you......ignorance was bliss!!!!!!

If a reaction did occur would it be instant?

luv
juels&harvey xx                    

[Hel]

Hi Juels

Both Fletch and Pip lived in a rural environment before coming to me.  Pip was an outside dog in Ireland who regularly escaped and clearly knows how to catch small furry animals for his tea.  As far as I know, rabbits and squirrels, although they obviously harbour diseases, don't have many that a dog, vacced or unvacced, would catch.  

I'd be more concerned about Weils disease which is spread from rats and the rat population in cities is growing.  As virtually everyone and everydog comes into contact with rats (city, town or country) whether they see them or not, I'd consider vaccing for that, if nothing else.

As I've said I do vaccs every year, but to be honest, wouldn't if I didn't do rescue and therefore put my dogs much more at risk from vacc diseases than other dogs.  And I also don't kennel my dogs or have insurance policies to worry about.  I stopped vaccing my rescue Jamie when he was 12 ish and even the vet agreed that it was pointless to continue (he lived for another 5years!)

I'm afraid only you can make the decision - and I don't envy you that decision.

Very best wishes

Hel