Titers
 

okay I just made Bella's appointment for titers. Can someone explain the whole process? I have read up but i wanna know what your experiance was with them.

Kinda shocked me when the receptionist was trying to talke me out of it....I said Excuse me The Vet (dr.rob) suggested it to me....geesh

then she proceed to tell me how its so expensive?????? I was like okay whatever the cost I WANT TITERS she says thats 90 bucks....I mean I know thats a lot of money but in the big pictures....not really. I was expecting her to say like 200-300 or something even then I would pay it, ITS WHAT I WANT.
Any experiances or advice would be appreciated! :)

We do titers on Ellie now and will be vaccinating every three years even if the titers are good (that is what her vet is comfortable with). I think 95% of dogs retain immune anywhere from 7 years - a lifetime, so I think they are a waste for the most part but hey, it gets me out of vaccinating.:)

Ellie had the parvo and distemper done ($85 altogether).
It is just a simple blood test and it is sent to a lab (Colorado State in our case). You will get the results within two weeks.

Ellie had been vaccinated the year before but I think they did too many at once because her parvo came back fine but her distemper was only 1:16, so I really had no choice but to vaccinate against it again.

So yes we use them but they don't give the whole picture and they don't take into account that just because there is a low titer, there are still memory cells and the dog would probably be protected anyway.

They are nice though for those who don't want to vaccinate...
It is certainly fair to vaccinate if there is a low titer though. It is better than vaccinated before even looking...

Does that help?

WTF? And HOW 'BOUT the price of over vaccination over the last how many decades.....let's see: dental carries/decay, food allergies, allergies in general, brain damage, liver issues, kidney issues....what else...I mean - the crazy increase in all of these things is tightly correlated to the advent of over-vaccination and it's plain as day in their own published, peer-reviewed literature.

Whew, just had to get that out. Carry on. :rolleyes:

Btw, I made an Xcel spreadsheet to track my furbutts' vaccines (it gets so confusing). So, if anyone wants to squeeze their anus as tight as I do, I'm willing to share it. (wonder how I would do that?)

Yes this helped. Its exactly what i had thought and read about but wanted to see if others perceived it the same. :) And yes, it comes down to a choice and what you want for your baby. Diggy is a tiny lil guy...and he gets the same dosage of a Vac as Ada...she is over 3 pounds bigger than Diggy Doesnt make sense to me. And to have this done year after year....well I dont see how it can be possible that he needs all that. I mean if you go to daycare unfortunatly you have to vaccinate and be UTD or to get on a plane. But for my kids...we dont get out that much as Diggy gets STRESSED easy and the Hypo acts up, so we try to avoid all stress. I know things can be brought in on shoes also but really Id rather run that risk than KNOWINGLY over vaccinate (if that makes sense??). Thanks for your reply!

Im gonna print this out and black out your name of course and plop this down on the receptionist desk at the vet :cool: HA Cuz I really could NOT have said it better!!! Hence why I dont care about the price being I have been thru ENOUGH of the seizures they blamed on Hypo (which could be) but they did come right after vac's ya know.....he past the Bile acid Pre 5 post 7 Blood panel was great, so hmmmmmmm:rolleyes: He reacted BAD to revolution (BAD!) so no I am NOT thrilled about pumping him full of vacs that are not needed Call me crazy:confused:

Im not saying those that do Vac every year are wrong AT ALL just for Diggy...well he doesnt have the best track record with meds and all....SO I am really scared for him even to give him his Sentinnel (I break in half by the way its for up to 10 pounds....He is not even 4 pounds :mad: )

I love you determination!!!!!! I had spread sheet for my ferrets vacs.....I was obsessed with making sure they got what they needed and NONE of what they didnt!!!!

Thank YOU universe, I am NOT alone. Strange, yes, but NOT alone. :D :p :D

Well let me just tell ya.....I walked my ferrets, i took them EVERYWHERE with me in the carrier just like a fur butt! So in general I would say I hear "Don't those carry RABIES?????" about 10 times a day.....

OMG NO NO NO .....MORE ferrets have DIED from a reaction to the Vac rather than Rabies itself??????

Why would you vaccinate???? Yet its on the list of "to do's" for Ferret Care....Uggggggggggggg

This is from a Vet who specializes in Ferrets.....
Ferrets are susceptible to rabies, but it is a rare disease in this species compared to dogs and especially cats. Part of the reason for this is an inborn resistance to rabies. The occurrence of rabies in closely related wild animals, such as weasels and mink, is very low. Ferrets have very thick, tough skin, and not all bites will penetrate. For rabies virus to be transmitted, the skin must be broken and the wound contaminated with saliva from the rabid animal. There have been fewer than 20 cases of confirmed rabies in ferrets in the USA since 1958.


20 cases in 50 years??????????? wow yes we should all run out and vaccinate our ferrets now. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

Yet all ferret care manuals will tell you get the vac. STUPID!!!!:mad:

Ferrets like we see at pet stores have never lived in the "wild" they are only a relative to the black footed ferret but MUCH different. They cannot survive in the wild its IMPOSSIBLE maybe a week or so but like a hampster do not maintain instincts to live in the wild....so why do we continue to vaccinate these guys?? Oh and they are not a good host for heartworm either but I assure you....They would give ya CAT heartworms pills too....

:thumbup: Excellent post! I wish more people understood this and would educate themselves on the dangers of over-vaccination.

:thumbup: Agreed!:animal-pa

I appreciate the replys and i now feel more comfortable about titering. thanks!

If the titers are good (even after three years), why would you still vaccinate? If a dog has sufficient antibodies, why vaccinate? Just curious what your reason for this is (besides that it's what your vet wants to do)?

I plan to do titers on my pets from now on. My youngest cat will get her 1 year boosters this year and we'll do that, but Lacy, my older cat, and my younger cat will have titers done from now on. As long as they are protected, I personally won't be vaccinating them period. I know I'll learn more about evaluating an individual animal's risk for actually contracting a disease while in school, and I plan to only vaccinate my pets for what I feel like they are actually at risk for from now on.

As a vet, I'm really going to try and look at each animal individually and talk to their owner about each vaccine. I will highly suggest yearly titers instead of revaccination as well...I just think overvaccinating pets is such a bad thing.

I totally agree but her vet office vaccinates all animals every year and I have to be happy just to do them every three instead... It isn't my choice and I like the vet too much to switch.

I just feel like every dog should be looked at individually especially differences in size. Diggy goes nowhere, like i said hypo get out of control and his sugar drops....so we remain in the yard and trips to my moms so I would like to know what they are at risk to get with only being out that little and not much exposure to public. Plus being in Michigan, dont you think heartworm administration would be different than those who live in warmer climates? No mosquitos here in the winter. So whats the point?

I am very glad to hear that. I wish more vets thought like you when it comes to vaccinations.