Vaccination Titer Tests , Thoughts & Opinions ?
 

i have had dogs all of my adult life
and have always given required vax every 3 years. At this point i have no intention in changing that , i am just researching....
i have been reading recently about titer tests and the benefits thereof.
if you have opinions and/or experience with this issue i would be very interested in hearing it.
thank you

i have a female papillion who is very allergic to her shots except for the rabies shots// we pretreated her and so we just do a vaccination titer and so far she is doing great/ we have been doing this for the last 5 years and she still has enough immunity built up// she is 10 years old now

I'm kind of unsure on them right now. I will not be vaccinating Jackson anymore (besides rabies every 3yrs per the law). But I'm not exactly sure titers are going to be entirely worth it. A low titer does not necessarily prove that they need another booster and vice versa. I think for peace of mind, I suppose, I'll get a titer and see where his levels are at. But even if he's at a semi-low level, I don't really think I'll re-vaccinate anyways. He doesn't get boarded, or go to daycare, and his groomer comes to us, etc. So there's really no where that we would need to "prove" immunity anyways. But they may be nice to have if there's ever a situation where we do. lol. I'm full of no good info! haha...

Basically, I'll probably get him titered this year, just to see where his levels are at. But some dogs have low titer numbers and that's their norm. But you would have to vaccinate and then titer to see if that's the case. If that makes sense. I find them confusing!

Also, I knew of a dog whose distemper vax came back not incredibly high over the "protected" range. They rechecked the next year and it was sky high again. She'd obviously been exposed at some point in the year. So I'm kind of thinking since Jackson is exposed to a lot to begin with, his will be high.

Here was a article I came across recently:
Vaccine Titers: Useful Tool or Waste O’ Money?

Dori's vet believes in the core vaccines. After that, whatever the state requires (like rabies). Lepto, bordetella etc. depend on exposure. If your furkid is never boarded, groomed or in contact with other dogs, it's time for a discussion with your vet. Ours recommends a titers' test and I agree. It's another piece of information.
WA state does not have the same issues as the east coast or south. But, when Dori starts to travel in the motorhome with us, I will load her up with whatever protection is available.

Why would you "load her up" if she's already had the core vaccines? "Boosters" don't booster anything. You are either immune or you aren't.

Dogs are actually more at risk if they are 100% indoor and never outdoors and never exposed to anything.

But in the case of Dori, I don't see why loading her up would benefit anything (especially if she gets titers that come back very high/protected).

Just curious, since you seem to believe in minimal vaccines yourself. :)

Our vet is a fan of titers but we have not done it yet. I am just not convinced it provides all the information.

Brister...what I meant by "loading her up" was make sure she is protected from diseases we don't encounter in WA. When we are traveling the US in our motorhome we need to be prepared for Lepto, ticks, etc. that we wouldn't worry about in WA. Currently, Dori has core vaccines and monthly Frontline Plus. Her titers will help us decide on further vaccines, but traveling is an issue.