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Originally Posted by gemy  It is pretty huge for breeders not to vaccinate pups at least once prior to placement in their for-ever homes.
Can titers on all the pups truly tell us that the puppy is protected against the big three? Pavro Distemper Rabies? How reliable are titers on 7 or 8 wk old pups?
Like most folks even though I am a breeder, I am quite frankly scared of letting a puppy out of my home without any core vaccines. Usually we place the large breeds at 8wks old. |
Yes, I understand your concern, however, because maternal antibodies can and do interfere with and neutralize/negate the desired immune response from vaccination, the younger a puppy is vaccinated, the less likely it is to mount the proper immune response.
This is what Dr. Ronald Schultz had to say in his 2007 presentation to the AKC Canine Health Foundation entitled,
What Everyone Needs to Know About Canine Vaccines and Vaccination Programs:
What Everyone Needs to Know About Canine Vaccines Perhaps it will answer some questions for you.
"An antibody titer no matter how low shows the animal has immunologic memory since memory effector B cells must be present to produce that antibody. Some dogs without antibody are protected from disease because they have T cell memory, that will provide cell mediated immunity (CMI). CMI will not protect from reinfection, but it will prevent disease."
My own dogs, those of my children and grandchildren are vaccinated with MLV CDV, CPV-2, CPI, andCAV-2 vaccines once as puppies after the age of 12 weeks. An antibody titer is performed two or more weeks later and if found positive our dogs are never again vaccinated. " I have used this vaccination program with modifications (CAV-2 replaced CAV-1 vaccines in 1970's and CPV-2 vaccines were first used in 1980) since 1974! I have never had one of our dogs develop CDV,CAV-1 or CPV-2 even though they have had exposure to many dogs, wildlife and to virulent CPV-2 virus. You may say that I have been lucky, but it is not luck that protects my dogs, it is immunologic memory.
The vaccines in the quote above are CDV (distemper), CPV-2 (parvovirus), CPI (canine parainfluenza), and CAV-2 (hepatitis), and Dr. Ronald Schultz is the Chair of the Department of Pathobiological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine. His challenge and serological studies on canine vaccines form a large part of the scientific data base upon which the 2003, 2006, and 2011 American Animal Hospital Association's Canine Vaccine Guidelines are based, as well as the 2007 World Small Animal Veterinary Association's Vaccine Guidelines.