Unsure about Lepto shot

[GabyM]

Hey everyone!

Chase went in for his first puppy shots this past weekend (distemper, bordatella) and he did great. I spoke to the vet about some concerns I have about giving him the lepto vaccine and she understood but told me that he can get lepto from rats, racoons, possums and we have quite a few of those here in Chicago. She told me she recommended it but she completely understood if I didnt get it for him. He's not getting it until hes around 4 months but Im worried for reactions to it and don't know if I should vaccinate him with it.
What has been your experience with it? any thoughts, comments, suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

[Lovetodream88]

Mine and my mom's had no problems with it. If you get it you might want to hang around the vets office for a bit just incase there is a reaction.

[SirTeddykins]

Teddy had it and was fine!

[Wylie's Mom]

You're smart to consider whether this vaccine is truly needed or not, as lepto can indeed cause some reactions. I would see if you can find incidence and prevalence information for your specific area -- did your vet offer that info at all?

If you do get the vaccine, I'd recommend giving Benadryl about 30mins ahead of the vaccine to prevent reactions.

[SirTeddykins]

Sorry, meant to add that you might find this site useful:


Setting the Facts Straight about Leptospirosis | Veterinary Team Brief

[107barney]

We have lepto here. I don't give the shot to my younger dogs and haven't given it to the older dogs for about 7 years now. The lepto vaccine doesn't cover all the serovars of the disease (strains) and my mostly house dogs are not at a high risk. Unless your dog is going to be in the woods or near stagnant bodies of water or jumps in dirty puddles or wet leaves etc, I'd skip. One of my vets won't give it to toy breeds at all.

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by 107barney

We have lepto here. I don't give the shot to my younger dogs and haven't given it to the older dogs for about 7 years now. The lepto vaccine doesn't cover all the serovars of the disease (strains) and my mostly house dogs are not at a high risk. Unless your dog is going to be in the woods or near stagnant bodies of water or jumps in dirty puddles or wet leaves etc, I'd skip. One of my vets won't give it to toy breeds at all.

Wow, I did not know that the vax didn't cover ALL of the strains. Yikes. So, it's similar to kennel cough vaccine then, in that it only covers certain strains. Good to know. I had never, ever heard this before...I don't think...?

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

Sorry, meant to add that you might find this site useful:


Setting the Facts Straight about Leptospirosis | Veterinary Team Brief

Interesting....and I'm really glad I live in the desert right now since Lepto doesn't really occur here bc it sure sounds like a nasty disease if contracted.

I rather like this site you linked to, btw -- looking around right now at it. We may want this lepto article in the library maybe....?

[Yorkiemom1]

Originally Posted by 107barney

We have lepto here. I don't give the shot to my younger dogs and haven't given it to the older dogs for about 7 years now. The lepto vaccine doesn't cover all the serovars of the disease (strains) and my mostly house dogs are not at a high risk. Unless your dog is going to be in the woods or near stagnant bodies of water or jumps in dirty puddles or wet leaves etc, I'd skip. One of my vets won't give it to toy breeds at all.

We dont have that many cases of Lepto here....and absolutely everything else posted above I agree with, right down to the last sentence. I do not recommend my new owners give the vaccine, and if they do, do the Benadryl shot prior to the vaccine, wait in the vet office for 20 min or so for the shot to take effect, give the vaccine and then hang around the vet waiting room for another half hour to see if the pup is going to have a reaction to it. I had ONE owner that went to her vet, did not follow my suggestions, vet gave the vaccine, owner left the vet, and was barely out of the parking lot and the pup went into anaphylactic shock and died before she could get the car u-turned and parked in the vet lot again! If only she had listened.........

[Maximo]

If I recall correctly, the vaccine only covers about 4 strains and there are hundreds. Of course, many strains are more prevalent then others, but for me the risk of side effects outweighed the benefits of coverage. Also, there is some question on how often the vaccine needs to be given to be effective. Some sources believe every 6 - 8 months. Taking that and my boys' lifestyle into account, I choose not to give it.

Lepto does scare me though. It can enter through the nose and eyes. An infected dog can shed it peeing anywhere.

Edit to add: many dogs here on YT do fine with the vaccine.

[SirTeddykins]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Interesting....and I'm really glad I live in the desert right now since Lepto doesn't really occur here bc it sure sounds like a nasty disease if contracted.

I rather like this site you linked to, btw -- looking around right now at it. We may want this lepto article in the library maybe....?

Thank you. I hope the OP finds the site useful. As with everything, I do not believe that a one size fits all approach is the best approach to anything. I think everyone is correct in stating the known pros AND cons of this vaccine and I think it is the right thing to consider both and then imperative to follow those considerations up with individualized vet advice.


For example, my vets advice was on the basis that I live in England. He confirmed that the chance of contracting Lepto was 1:10,000,000 (due to the vaccinations efficacy in minimizing contraction) and the chance of reaction to the vaccine was 1:10,000,000,000. Based on these odds, he felt it was a good idea to get the vaccination because the disease (if contracted) is very serious. It is up to the individuals thoughts, environment, risk ratio calculation etc to decide on what they think is the best course of action but I firmly believe that vets have the most up to date info re: vaccinations. For example, my vet stated that adverse reactions used to be very common until a few years back when the live antibodies were reduced or altered and reflected in a vaccination brand change. However, this was info from last year and I would not personally be up to date on any gains made in this area as of today.


Medical info and advice is always changing and so I think it is always a good idea to consult those who are in the field as it is part of their job to be on top of dynamic info as it pertains to treatments, preventatives, etc.


Science talk aside, I was worried and now I'm not because Teddy had absolutely no reaction to the vaccine and now has less than a 1:10,000,000 chance of contracting this horrible condition! However, thanks to this site, I did prepare myself with the right vet questions and prep in the event something did happen. As a result of the info on YT, I felt I made an informed decision for my boy and that is very important!

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

Sorry, meant to add that you might find this site useful:


Setting the Facts Straight about Leptospirosis | Veterinary Team Brief

I missed your link earlier . . . thank you! I'm off to read.

[maxdog]

[QUOTE=SirTeddykins;4560480]Thank you. I hope the OP finds the site useful. As with everything, I do not believe that a one size fits all approach is the best approach to anything. I think everyone is correct in stating the known pros AND cons of this vaccine and I think it is the right thing to consider both and then imperative to follow those considerations up with individualized vet advice.


For example, my vets advice was on the basis that I live in England. He confirmed that the chance of contracting Lepto was 1:10,000,000 (due to the vaccinations efficacy in minimizing contraction) and the chance of reaction to the vaccine was 1:10,000,000,000. Based on these odds, he felt it was a good idea to get the vaccination because the disease (if contracted) is very serious. It is up to the individuals thoughts, environment, risk ratio calculation etc to decide on what they think is the best course of action but I firmly believe that vets have the most up to date info re: vaccinations. For example, my vet stated that adverse reactions used to be very common until a few years back when the live antibodies were reduced or altered and reflected in a vaccination brand change. However, this was info from last year and I would not personally be up to date on any gains made in this area as of today QUOTE]



I admittedly know nothing about this topic (which is why I read these threads). I assume the 1 in 10 million chance of contracting Lepto is for the dogs who have been vaccinated. But only a 1 in 10 billion chance of having a reaction. Those odds are astronomical. Why is there even a concern about it?

[107barney]

I am not swayed in favor of the lepto vaccine given the statistical information about it, which must be weighed against the fact that there are a lot of reactions to the vaccine, especially in toy breeds which are not well quantified. It makes it easy for vets to claim that reactions are "anecdotal" along with the fact that vaccines are still big business for vets. There is almost always going to be a justification for a vaccine, but there may be more than one justification for not giving it all the same. I have personally been on both sides of this having done the lepto vaccine and now no longer doing it.

I had a dog come up positive for one strain of lepto a few years ago and really pondered the decision about vaccination. My vet said this to me, I'm copying and pasting: We only carry the separate lepto vaccine for 4 serovars. I would be happy to try to reach Dr. (Specialist Name) to discuss further prior to vaccination. I am not a fan of that vaccine unless really needed. We do see more reactions to it.

Here is a consensus statement from the ACVIM on leptospirosis and it has some good info to ponder.

2010 ACVIM Small Animal Consensus Statement on Leptospirosis: Diagnosis, Epidemiology, Treatment, and Prevention

[SirTeddykins]

[quote=maxdog;4560519]

Originally Posted by SirTeddykins

Thank you. I hope the OP finds the site useful. As with everything, I do not believe that a one size fits all approach is the best approach to anything. I think everyone is correct in stating the known pros AND cons of this vaccine and I think it is the right thing to consider both and then imperative to follow those considerations up with individualized vet advice.


For example, my vets advice was on the basis that I live in England. He confirmed that the chance of contracting Lepto was 1:10,000,000 (due to the vaccinations efficacy in minimizing contraction) and the chance of reaction to the vaccine was 1:10,000,000,000. Based on these odds, he felt it was a good idea to get the vaccination because the disease (if contracted) is very serious. It is up to the individuals thoughts, environment, risk ratio calculation etc to decide on what they think is the best course of action but I firmly believe that vets have the most up to date info re: vaccinations. For example, my vet stated that adverse reactions used to be very common until a few years back when the live antibodies were reduced or altered and reflected in a vaccination brand change. However, this was info from last year and I would not personally be up to date on any gains made in this area as of today QUOTE]



I admittedly know nothing about this topic (which is why I read these threads). I assume the 1 in 10 million chance of contracting Lepto is for the dogs who have been vaccinated. But only a 1 in 10 billion chance of having a reaction. Those odds are astronomical. Why is there even a concern about it?

Yeah, that was why I questioned having it done at all to which the vet responded re: efficacy of almost eliminating the disease as a result of vaccination adherence. If we all choose to not vaccinate, the risk comes back and increases again. This is not dissimilar to polio, measles, etc. for humans. That is why he is an advocate of the vaccinations and this one in particular.


Again, I will stress this type of info and how it applies to you and your dog as in individual is important to consider in line with veterinary opinions.


All I can say is my dog can run in the woods, ponds, streams, puddles from the rain and I don't have to worry about it unlike some where there is a higher chance of infection for their dogs in comparison (regardless of how low we think it may be). Also, as the above link points out, there are various ways which this disease can be contracted so it's important to make a decision with all of the info available.