confused about boosters

[chatwizme]

I got the card from the vet last week saying my 2 yr old 4 lb yorkie needs her "booster" for DHPPB. She also needs the heartworm test and more heartworm pills. I had her on the heartworm meds until last Oct. I just called and the girl told me that she doesn't need the blood test for heartworm and I can just get the meds. That will save me $35 but should I just start giving her the meds without the test? (The weather has been crappy here and I haven't seen any bugs to speak of yet.) Also, can somebody clarify if I REALLY need to do the booster shot? She has had her puppy shots and she's had 2 sets of other shots. The first set made her VERY ill so the next year I had it done one at a time and she didn't have any reaction at all. Does she REALLY need more of these shots? I know Petsmart won't groom her without some of them. Help! I do not even hardly know what I'm asking!

[Ellie May]

What you need will depend on your vet, your lifestyle, and where you take your pup.

Some vets let clients skip yearly heartworm testing. I wouldn't even consider skipping it. Also, the drug should be given year-round.

Rabies goes by state law.
Bacterial vaccines like bordatella and lepto are needed at least once a year, but not all dogs should get them.
Modified live virus vaccines like distemper, parvo, and distemper wiill vary between vets. After a one year booster, I'd give them no more than every 3 years. Everybody has their philosophy on it though. You could do titers. This is something that is best studied before proceeding with yearly vaccines.

If there is a life threatening reaction to a non-core vaccine (anything except rabies, parvo, distemper, and hepatitis), most vets won't give it again. If there was a life threatening reaction to a core vaccine (rabies, distemper, parvo, hepatitis), then there is more of a problem.

There is a thread about this in the YT Library.

[SpArKyOfCaLi]

I agree that this all depends on you and your vet.

IMHO...After the puppy shots and the one year booster, shots should only be done every 3 years (some say longer except for rabies due to the fact that it's the law).

[jp4m2]

Originally Posted by chatwizme

I got the card from the vet last week saying my 2 yr old 4 lb yorkie needs her "booster" for DHPPB. She also needs the heartworm test and more heartworm pills. I had her on the heartworm meds until last Oct. I just called and the girl told me that she doesn't need the blood test for heartworm and I can just get the meds. That will save me $35 but should I just start giving her the meds without the test? (The weather has been crappy here and I haven't seen any bugs to speak of yet.) Also, can somebody clarify if I REALLY need to do the booster shot? She has had her puppy shots and she's had 2 sets of other shots. The first set made her VERY ill so the next year I had it done one at a time and she didn't have any reaction at all. Does she REALLY need more of these shots? I know Petsmart won't groom her without some of them. Help! I do not even hardly know what I'm asking!

These are some links with very helpful info :

Truth4Dogs

Top Natural Holistic Dog Health Care Book: Multiple Award Winner

Foe decades the recommendation for pet vaccines was to be administered on an annual basis. Recently it was moved to a tri-annually basis. Neither or these recommendations, annually or tri-annually, is based on any kind of scientific studies. The three year recommendation was a compromise between the American Animal Hospital Ass. and the vet. schools. It had nothing to do if it was safe for our pets. Many immunologists feel the tri-annual recommendation is still over-vaccination of our pets. Dr. Schultz has completed his own studies that shows protection for parvo and distemper to be at least 7 years, and quite possibly for the life of the pet once the puppy shots and 1 years booster are complete.....

"On Page 18 of the 2003 American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Guidelines it states that: “We now know that booster injections are of no value in dogs already immune, and immunity from distemper infection and vaccination lasts for a minimum of 7 years based on challenge studies and up to 15 years (a lifetime) based on antibody titer.” They further state that hepatitis and parvovirus vaccines have been proven to protect for a minimum of 7 years by challenge and up to 9 and 10 years based on antibody count. "


Are Our Pets Being Over-Vaccinated? by Melissa Burden
Jean Dodds, DVM, a world renowned vaccine research scientist, in Santa Monica, CA, told The Press many boosters are unnecessary.
“Why should we be giving pets foreign substances when they do not need them,” said Dodds, who has researched the vaccination guidelines for over 30 years. Veterinarians, she said, have been giving annual vaccinations simply because it’s assumed they are needed and were recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture.
“There never was any data that suggested vaccines must be given yearly,” Dodds said. “Veterinarians assumed there was data but there wasn’t.” Vaccines like parvovirus and canine distemper are responsible for many diseases of the immune system in dogs, she contends. Anemia, arthritis, epilepsy, thyroid disease, liver failure, diabetes, allergies and other conditions, she believes, are linked to vaccines.
“Approximately five to 10 percent will develop problems,” Dodds said. “That increases to 20 percent in pure breeds.” Irish Setters, Great Danes, German Shepherds, Weimaraners and Akitas are at higher risk of developing Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy, a bone disease that causes a 107 degree fever, pain, and the inability to walk as a result of vaccinations, she said.
“But there is really no breed that is not at risk,” she said. The only vaccination needed, she asserts, is the rabies vaccine because it is legally required. Dogs’ and cats’ immune systems mature fully at 6 months old, she explained. If canine distemper, feline distemper and parvovirus vaccines are given after 6 months, a pet has immunity for the rest of its life.

Neither Dr. Dodds or Dr. Schultz recommends lyme or lepto vaccines....

"Since there are so many Leptospirosis serovars out there, and since the pathogenic strains vary, and since the vaccines cannot guarantee protection from infection, it would make better sense to not inject your dog with any Leptospira vaccines."

Dr Ron Schultz (the world’s foremost independent authority on canine vaccines) hates to see them in with anything else and, in puppies, advises that they are completely finished with the viral inoculations before getting a vaccine against Lepto, which he neither recommends nor advocates - even in Lepto endemic areas.
“I have seen older dogs go into kidney failure within two days of receiving a Lepto vaccine.”


This is a schedule that may be helpful to guide you in your decisions...

Vaccination Schedule Recommendations For Dogs

The links provided give a lot of info concerning vaccinating a small dog, vaccine reactions, reducing the amount of vaccines, and etc.etc.

[jeane]

i have a 9 year old papillion who has always had bad reactions to her shots so I have a vaccine titer done once a year and we won't vaccinate her until its necessary. her little face swells up .