[Doodlebug]

I did find out something interesting about the rabies shot. I asked the vet if the dog gets a dose of rabies shot in proportion to their size. She said NO every dog gets the same dose no matter the size. That sounded a little scary to me. I didn't think to ask her about the 1 yr vs the 3 yr dosage. I really wish they would tell you that the 1 year and the 3 year shot is the same. But they didn't tell us that.

The vet STRONGLY advised me to get the lepto along with the other shots. She said they do have cases of lepto come in for treatment and it is a very dangerous disease. She asked if we have squirrels in our yard and I told her we have a lot of rabbit (or squirrel) doo doo in our yard and our dogs eat the doo doo. She said I REALLY need to get that shot to be safe.

I asked her what she would do if this was HER dog. She was really sincere in her responses and gave explanations for her reasoning.

I also asked her about the titer (sp?) and she said they can do that test and get the amount of the vaccine that she has in her system (I hope I am explaining this correctly) but they don't have a measurement of how much they actually need to have in their system to be safe. I would sure like to know if anyone has any more information on this test.

Daisy is a good solid 13 lbs and the info she gave me pertained to Daisy and I don't know if the same would be true for tiny dogs regarding giving all the shots.

I thank everyone for their input. I took everything from everyone into consideration but the vets opinion won me over and I got the shots. I am watching Daisy to make sure she doesn't have a bad reaction to the shots. The vet said watch for swelling and lethargy. As soon as I brought Daisy home she wanted to play a game of chase with me in the yard. She is wagging her tail and running like a little maniac. I don't know if this is because of the shot but she sure isn't lethargic.

My husband asked the receptionist about the mail order meds. She cautioned that some of these meds are coming from Australia or other countries and may not meet the same standards that they have in this country. She also mentioned that when you pay the postage, you are not saving much, if anything. When my hubby checked the prices on some of the meds, he found out they were cheaper at the vets office. You might want to check on this.

I am really appreciating all of the responses and I want to generate more discussion on this topic so hopefully I will have an easier time next year when I have to make this decision again. I would really appreciate hearing what others are doing regarding shots and how you came to the decision. This was so hard on me and I feel terrible having to make the decision to vaccinate and worry about the effects of it, or not vaccinating and worrying that she will get a fatal disease.

NOW I have to decide if I am going to have the FLU shot myself tomorrow. I guess that's another topic for another day. LOL