Lepto Vaccine
 

Riley is due for his yearly exam and vaccines end of August. He turned 1-year old in May. So far he will be getting his rabies, dhpp and bordetella. I do bordetella because I take him to a lot of different Meet-Ups, monthly.

I remember when I got Riley, I ran into a girl that lives 2 buildings down. We were walking our pups together and she mentioned that her Pup got Lepto and how it was Really Nasty! She almost lost him.... :eek:

Everything i had heard about the lepto vaccine was about how terrible it was and that it could give a really really bad reaction.

I also know there are a TON of Rats in my neighborhood and in the park.... one can running right at Riley and myself. Thankfully there was a plastic barrier in front of me and I was holding Riley.
We also have "2" Opposum right around the corner from me. The neighbors are putting moth balls in their yards because that will apparently keep the opposums out of it.

I have also been reading that a lot of vets in this area give the vaccine to their dogs......

I am thinking now that maybe I should do the Lepto.... I won't do the Lyme since I give him his Frontline Plus monthly.

Does anybody have anything they can share.... good or bad?!

I struggled with this recently when my dog Barney threw a positive on a leptospirosis http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/sic...ospirosis.html

After all was said and done, I was advised to give the vaccine and then I was advised not too - my vets could not agree. Over the years, I've had more vets tell me to give the vaccine than not, but I have decided against it. The older ones have had it in the past but my youngest dog has not.

This is a tough one. Leptospirosis is a horrible disease. The dog is usually very sick when the vets diagnose it. I still am not giving the vaccine at this point and I really hope I don't come to regret it.

Good luck with your decision!

I understand your ambivalence when it comes with making the decision as to allow the administration of a vaccine or not. If you don't allow the administration and the disease is contracted you feel guilt. If you do allow the administration and an adverse reaction should occur there is guilt.
All we can do is do our research and do what is best without letting fears guide us.

You could call your state health dept. and see how many cases have been reported in your area. Some area are higher risk for Lepto than others. For instance in Texas Lepto cases are very rare. Dr. Schultz lives in an area that would be considered high risk, but he still does not administer this vaccine.


According to Dr. Schultz there are too many negatives to allow this vaccine to be given.:

There are over 200 different strains of Lepto but there are only four available vaccine serovars of leptospirosis: L. Canicola, L. Gripophytosa, L. Icterohemorrhagiae, and L.Pomona. However, there are two more that are causing disease in dogs, L.Autumnalis and L. Bratislava, for which we have no vaccines.

This vaccine has more adverse effects reported than all other canine vaccines combined...Anaphylaxis, anorexia, fever, dehydration, autoimmune disease, digestive issues, limping, loud vocalization following vaccination, acute organ failure, renal failure (within 48 hours of injection), liver failure, pancreatitis, death, dermatitis, puritis, cancer, degeneration of soft tissue: all of these have been reported following administration of the Leptospira vaccine.

Immunity to bacteria is only temporary. So the immunity will always wear off over time, sometimes in less than a year. This means that you have to repeatedly vaccinate for leptospirosis in order to maintain immunity. Repeated vaccination of course increases the chances there will be an adverse reaction.

The vaccine causes shedding of the bacteria into the environment which makes them a risk to other animals and people,Lepto is transmissible to humans.

Lepto vaccines do not protect the dog from infection with Lepto. In the Canine Health Concern vaccine survey, 100% of dogs with Leptospirosis contracted it just after being vaccinated against it


Once vaccinated, the patient’s serum can no longer be a useful record for diagnostic tests, as the serum antibody titer from the vaccine cannot be distinguished from antibody caused by natural infection. This leads to interpretation problems when trying to diagnose the presence of infection or disease.

Maybe a better defense against Lepto other than vaccination is awareness. Familiarize yourself with the symptoms of Lepto: fever, joint pain, and general malaise, loss appetite, vomiting, diarrhea,increased water consumption and urine output while others may have a decreasing output of urine. The organism settles in the kidneys and begins to reproduce, leading to further inflammation and then kidney failure. Antibiotic treatment is quickly effective for Lepto, Doxycycline is the antibiotic of choice.

I have spoken to 3 local vets recently in different clinic..(a personal survey) none suggest yearly boosters except for rabies and bordella. Two suggested the 3 yr rabies and said reseachers were working on a 10 yr rabies.

I think it depends on where you live and your dogs life style.

This isn't true for lepto which requires boosters as another poster said.
If there is a gap, meaning you stop the vaccine and then start it up again, you need a new 2-shot series.

I am only telling you what many vets in my area do...so far none give lepto that I have used...there are so many I like to try them all out...
I took Pinkie to be spayed...heard about a great new vet...breeder himself. Before I could say a word he told me what he believed...no DHL boosters, no letpo and did I have a problem with that???LOL

Well there you go - none give lepto - and therefore of the vax they give, they don't do annual boosters. That makes sense. But to be clear, if one gives the lepto vaccine, it requires boosters or is useless.

I like your new vet - mine is the same way, she is not into pumping up my dog for the sake of the bill and plus we spend enough anyway LOL Unfortunately, I've had other vets who did not have this attitude, always looking for the cash cow.... Disgusting.

I will never personally give lepto again only because Jackson had a terrible reaction to it at 12 weeks. From my understanding, a second time would be a worse reaction, I think. So it's not something I'm willing to do. He also had lymes disease and was caught early and treated with 30 days of antibiotics and is now kept on preventatives year-round so I also don't do the lyme vaccine. I, too, am really for as less vaccines as possible. But I do think lepto in this area is more frequent so I also am really indifferent about it.... did he get lepto as a pup?

I'm so sorry you had to go through this.... :(
It is a really tough decision....

I read on the internet that many, if not most vet schools have now changed the vaccine protocal...so I think we will see younger vets with different ideas...
I have had 3 pet owners that had my old Yorkies...in the 11 to 13 yr range die within 3 days of a booster.
I have not given a Yorkie any vaccine except rabies in 25 yrs...of course, they had puppy shots and a one year booster...nothing after that...and no rabies after 7..the 7 yr rabies shot is a 3 yr vaccine...and no way I am giving a 10 yr old anything.
I may have to eat my words tomorrow, but with my 4 girls..in the 11mo to 6 yr range...none have seen the vet for anything except spaying, dental and rabies, heartworm...no sick visits in 6 yrs.

I thought he had received DHLPP as a pup, but looking through his records, it was just DHPP....and I remember my vet saying they should not get Lepto until at least 6-months old....?!?!
She did want to give him the canin influenza, which I said No to. She said if I changed my mind...I could just drop him by, at anytime.

She also gave him the Rabies Shot and his last DHPP shot the same day. I am now hearing that shots should be broken up, at least 3 - 4 weeks apart.

I made an appointment with a new vet down where my parents are for end of August and am looking forward to it. He came highly recommended. ;)

Ellie had a severe reaction to the lepto vaccine, so never again for her.

It is a major problem in Michigan, so I would likely choose to give it if there was no history of reaction. My other small breed is getting it...

That said, I did not know Schultz had made a position about this public and will be looking into it. He and my vet are the people I listen to when it comes to vaccines.

Great Info.!!!! Thaniks! :)

I lived in southern MD for 35 yrs when I was breeding and showing...been gone 7 yrs..so I am not up on lepto in MD today.

My vets office follows the every 3yr protocol. When Jackson got his 1 year booster of rabies and DHPP, they told me both were good for 3yrs. However I am not sure if I will be getting the DHPP again or not. I haven't decided. Rabies is a must simply because of the law. I am thinking I MAY get one more round of DHPP when he turns 4, which would have been the 3yr mark since last getting them, and then be done with them for the rest of his life. But have not made a decision yet.

I know of at least two owners whose dogs are on year round tick prevention AND have had the lyme vaccine -- AND, both dogs got lyme disease anyway. It's so prevalent here that I think one statistic I heard was that 90% of dogs are lyme positive. Not sure if that statistic is accurate. The adult deer tick population is up 52% from last year here due to the weather.

If lepto is prevalent in your area I would get the shot. We have raccoons, oppossums and even some rats in our area so Im glad mine get it

I know it is crazy!! Jackson was on Frontline when he got it actually but it was at the end of his month so I am thinking it didn't last as long as it should maybe. So we use K9 Advantix in the hot months where ticks are out more.

The only reason we found out about the lymes is because he came up limping due to sore joints. But we re-tested again earlier this year and the lyme came up negative. So I am just trying to keep up with it. as I do not see one tick when he's on the advantix.

I was just about to ask how you realized Jackson had it. If he tested positive or if symptoms arose.

I have been reading where a lot of the vets in DC vaccinate their owns dogs for it. Here is just one.

http://www.thedcladies.com/2011/03/talk-with-your-veterinarian-about-lepto.html

My Vet, wouldn't give Bella the Lepto until she was 6 mos old...I refused it the first time, but when I took her & Harley back this past april... for Harleys 1 year rabies vac & Bordetella and Bella for her 3 yr Rabies & Bordetella...I do Bordetella cause I take my kids to the groomers...I talked with my Vet about lepto cause I have seen raccoons, oppossums, rats around my home and I have 2 cats who can also carry it...and here where I work, cause I bring my babies to work with me I have seen a few coyotes...so I decided to get the Lepto for both my babies...I didn't have Ivy Lou yet, at that time...but when I got her I noticed on her records, she didn't get it...so when I took her in a few days after I got her I had her vac's for lepto too....All 3 did real well, but they did have a lump at the injection area for a few days I called my Vet..they said that is normal and that I could massage it and it would help it go away, by day 5 the lump was gone...But I did the Lepto to be on the safe side...and I did have to take all 3 back, 2 weeks later for a booster....something about if I didn't get the boosters, the lepto vac alone would protect them from lepto...so the booster after getting the lepto is VERY important.

oopsy I meant wouldn't.:rolleyes:

Is is "ok" to get the Lepto when Yorkies are older?

Does Lepto require boosters or is it a one time shot?

My vets tech's Yorkie puppy that is the same age as Mickey "crashed" at the vets a few days before I brought Mickey in for the first time so I decided not a good shot for my baby.
If my vet did not give vacinations one a week and if his puppy had not been at work she would have died. No doubt. She flat-lined.

Once again I did not get this shot for my Mickey due to it's poor reputation with small dogs and Yorkies.

Lepto must be done annually at the very least, and probably more often to be effective, every 6-8 months.

The info in this post covers my understanding and concerns about lepto: http://www.yorkietalk.com/forums/3614539-post3.html

Lepto scares me because it can be shed in the urine of any animal infected, including pets. For example, if a neighbor's dog has it and pees in a spot, then my boys come along and sniff the spot, my boys could potentially pick up Lepto shed in the urine.

The vaccs for it concern me too. I cannot imagine doing this every 6-8 months, worrying about my dogs going into shock. The vaccs only cover certain strains, so that is another concern.

This is a tough choice.

I wanted to give you a positive story about Lepto, because I think we too often share our negative experiences and that leads to a little bit of fear.

After reading posts on here I was terrified to give Sophie the Lepto vaccine. My vet supported my decision, but did recommend the shot because she has seen increasing cases in our area. Plus, if we take Sophie camping she for sure needs it. Our vet said that her and the other vets could count on one hand the number of true Lepto reactions they've seen in any breed.

However, I waited until Sophie was 6 months to give her the Lepto vaccine and she got it seperately from her other shots. That way if there was a reaction we would know what it was from. It costs a little more to do it this way because you have to pay two separate office visits, but I was happy with my decision.

Hope this helps!!

Wow... My vet only charges for one exam and then gives each shot separately over a few weeks.
* Each shot is charged just for the shot price. No exam fee.
They take my dog in back and give it a shot. I wait in the waiting area for 30 min after with my dog and then I can leave.

I'm too scared to get the Lepto for my boys.

You should not have to pay an office visit twice....
I confirmed this with the vets office I am taking Riley t
o for his 1-year boosters.
They said they would definitely separate the shots out, if I wanted with no extra
fee for an office visit. I will just pay for the shot.

I am going to have rabies done the first visit and then take him back for the DHPP.
Trying to decide whether I will then take him back again, for the Lepto.
Lepto is really high in the DC area....so I am leaning more toward having it done.