Do They Need These 2nd Vacinations?

[Juicy]

Juicy, I can't tell you what to do for your dogs, I can only tell you what I do and/or plan to do and share what I've read.

I no longer vaccinate my dogs and do not give heartworm medications. Any treatments/preventions for fleas and heartworm are natural at this point.

If you classify yourself as a bad dog owner because you don't give bottled water, I suppose my name should be added to the list. I change the water in my dogs bowls regularly- it gets dirty, they are dogs! lol Don't be so hard on yourself.

Oh okay thanks. I might just follow that. I never got any prevention treatments as far as fleas/ticks go, since my dogs rarely get them. Heartworm I mgiht just do once. And all the adult dogs have atleast ONE yearly shot of boosters [Pepe has two] so I think that would be good for them. When I had Didi she never received any boosters and she did pretty well. Or any dogs prior to her, that we never took to the vet. Didi we started to take to the vet to get the rabies shot, which is needed by law. But I think dogs do need atleast one year of vaccines. My belief anywho. I've read a little bit before about overvaccination and dogs. My worry though is how much with the pups now.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

AAHA's Vacc Guidelines. http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/VaccineGuidelines06Revised.pdf

I'm hoping they are working on the update to have out for next year. I'm hoping for a longer rabies and dhpp time period, but 3 years on each is a start.. Not all vet clinics here care even if you bring in the guidelines and push for yearly everything.

Both my dogs got all three puppy shots, a reboost of dhpp and rabies at a year, and I'm following three year protocol at least for now.

 

[happyhound]

Out of curiosity, why would you only do the HW prevention once? I'd assume there are plenty of skeeters in FL.. at least enough to warrant monthly prevention.

 

[Juicy]

Buddy had his parvo shot and still got parvo. Nothing is ever certain, unfortunately.

As for the water thing... some water in some places is pretty bad. My dogs don't get filtered water, but they do have stainless steel bowls and no plastics. Small steps, though, small steps...



I would say little contact. Parvo can survive for a very, very, long time, in the most extreme of weather conditions. And I would NOT take the pups out in public when they are so young.

Thank you for the insight. How can I make my backyard safe? Sorry but wee wee pads are not for me Ewww no stinky room for me.

How old you think before I could start taking them out in public again?

 

[MafiaPrincess]

I would assume hw prevention once would do little good really.. It kills the previous month worth of hw issues. The shot that was good for 6 months or a year or whatever it was was pulled off the market. That was the only one time treatment I'm familiar with.

We don't do flea and tick, but we do do hw.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Thank you for the insight. How can I make my backyard safe? Sorry but wee wee pads are not for me Ewww no stinky room for me.

How old you think before I could start taking them out in public again?

Have you had parvo in your home before? Why would your backyard not be safe? Is it not confined?

 

[Juicy]

I would assume hw prevention once would do little good really.. It kills the previous month worth of hw issues. The shot that was good for 6 months or a year or whatever it was was pulled off the market. That was the only one time treatment I'm familiar with.

We don't do flea and tick, but we do do hw.

Isn't it that too much doses of flea and tick treatment can kill a dog as well? Thats why I never got into the whole flea/tick thing. also then there's frontline doesn't work for others, advantage doesn't for some, ect, ect.

 

[Juicy]

Have you had parvo in your home before? Why would your backyard not be safe? Is it not confined?

No we never had a problem, so okay I guess I don't have to worry.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Here is a list of readings that a yahoo group I belong to suggests:

The Nature of Animal Healing by Dr. Martin Goldstein
Vaccine Guide for Dogs & Cats by Catherine Diodati
Natural Immunity by Pat McKay
Homeopathic Care for Dogs and Cats: Small Doses for Small Animals by Don Hamilton

 

[Juicy]

Here is a list of readings that a yahoo group I belong to suggests:

The Nature of Animal Healing by Dr. Martin Goldstein
Vaccine Guide for Dogs & Cats by Catherine Diodati
Natural Immunity by Pat McKay
Homeopathic Care for Dogs and Cats: Small Doses for Small Animals by Don Hamilton

Thank you. Not that I don't trust my vet, but sometimes you do have to question, afterall they do offer Science Diet dog food, yuck.

 

[Babyblue5290]

Honestly, I for one would get the boosters in a young puppy like that. Because a titer doesn't prevent anything, it just tells you when your dog is sick.

But that's just me.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

I think I've truly stumped my vet lately. A couple months ago, after doing some research of my own, I walked in and asked for testing and offered my ideas of what was wrong with Buddy. The vet jumped on the bandwagon and even admitted it was wise to do the testing. The tests came back in normal ranges, but I still went ahead with what I thought was best versus medications.

So, I went to a holistic vet and we have since made our own choices in Buddy's care. In a little over a month since, he has improved significantly. It's amazing what can happen when you take your dogs care into your own hands. This is not to say, however, that we do not still value our vet and what he can do for Buddy, but he's just not always right.

Good luck, Juicy!

 

[Juicy]

I think I've truly stumped my vet lately. A couple months ago, after doing some research of my own, I walked in and asked for testing and offered my ideas of what was wrong with Buddy. The vet jumped on the bandwagon and even admitted it was wise to do the testing. The tests came back in normal ranges, but I still went ahead with what I thought was best versus medications.

So, I went to a holistic vet and we have since made our own choices in Buddy's care. In a little over a month since, he has improved significantly. It's amazing what can happen when you take your dogs care into your own hands. This is not to say, however, that we do not still value our vet and what he can do for Buddy, but he's just not always right.

Good luck, Juicy!

Thanks, I've learned alot today. I'm glad Buddy found an alternative way to get him back to health. I'm an alterntive person myself, I don't see why my pets can't be too. I hope I can find a holistic vet around here, that'll be neat. But for emergencies, having a vet down the block is great! She's been great with helping out with the puppies and has lots of low-cost packages/discounts for them and my dogs. She was very supportive and caring when I had to pts Didi.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Much agreed on that. ^

 

[Psyfalcon]

So... who's titered a puppy? While I agree about older dogs, ie after 1 year, I haven't found mention of puppies. It is entirely possible that most dogs do not receive full immunity until after the 2nd or 3rd round.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Clarification on my behalf: I believe, if vaccinations are to be done on puppies, that they need to be minimal, no combos, and only parvo and distemper, and rabies as required by law. Once adults, titers should be done. Not all dogs NEED vaccines which is why I believe in titer testing. If there is no need for a dog to have a vaccine for parvo, why give it? Vaccines, in some cases, do more harm than good. People need to think before they act.

 

[MafiaPrincess]

Isn't it that too much doses of flea and tick treatment can kill a dog as well? Thats why I never got into the whole flea/tick thing. also then there's frontline doesn't work for others, advantage doesn't for some, ect, ect.

I said i do hw prevention.. I don't do flea and tick. We don't have ticks here, fleas were only and issue once. My issue was a single dose of heartworm prevention was fairly useless... and you mentioned using hw prevention once..

 

[milos_mommy]

Mine get tap water!

My guess is Nikki doesn't plan on vaccinating her future children, either.

Personally, I don't know enough about the topic of vaccines to say. Milo got his the way GO listed, and he was fine.

 

[GlassOnion]

One dose of HW prevention isn't going to do much good.

Buddy had his parvo shot and still got parvo. Nothing is ever certain, unfortunately.

Could've been a different strain than what he was vaccinated against. There are a lot of strains out there and they can't be vaccinated for every single one of them.

Also did you get just one shot or the regimen? He could've just not taken to the vaccination.

Isn't it that too much doses of flea and tick treatment can kill a dog as well? Thats why I never got into the whole flea/tick thing. also then there's frontline doesn't work for others, advantage doesn't for some, ect, ect.

Uhm...a large enough dose of ANYTHING will kill, but if you give the proper dose then it will leave their system by the months end when it's time for another dose. Both of my dogs have been on flea meds their entire life and are still doing fine.


Also I would think a titer in a puppy would be somewhat useless. You'd be getting what their mother gave them antibody wise and not what the puppy itself has built up an immunity to. The half-life of an IgG protein is only 2-3 months. That's why we like to have them fully vaccinated by 4 months. It's not so we can screw ya'll out of more money, there's reasoning behind it. Their mother's antibodies will NOT protect them forever, they need to have immunity of their own by the time the mother's antibodies degrade, which is about the 4-5 month period.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

There are a lot of strains out there and they can't be vaccinated for every single one of them.

Exactly. ^