Vaccination Question

[Ivy]

I went to take Tynan for his last booster shots (3rd one) on Friday and the vet was saying he had to come in for another one in a month for the parvo shot. He has already gotten 3 parvo shots.

For every pup I have ever had they only needed 3 booster shots (all including parvo).

Do you think they are trying to get more money out of me or is this routine?


Also, Tynan in 16 weeks old and weighing in at a whopping 46 lbs!!!

 

[GlassOnion]

4th one is unnecessary (cue 'all shots are unnecessary' folks).

 

[FoxyWench]

i would call and remind the vet that hes already have 3 parvo shots...
pending what he says id personally politly let the vet know your not interested in giving a 4th shot as all your reaserch has show in unnessicary.

ive never heard of giving 4 parvo shots.

 

[Ivy]

I just called the vet and asked the reason for the 4th parvo shot and they told me that it's because he is a large breed dog.

They recomend a large or giant breed dog to get the parvo shot 4 times because they are more susceptible to parvo. What are your opinions on this? Is it true?

 

[Buddy'sParents]

They recomend a large or giant breed dog to get the parvo shot 4 times because they are more susceptible to parvo... Is it true?

Absolutely not. I'd find another vet if it were feasible to do so.

 

[Saeleofu]

Theoretically, a dog can need 4 parvo shots if the first one was exceedingly early, or tow were close together. But, since he's over 12 weeks of age, another booster is not necessary. Sometimes only 2 shots are needed.

At work we tell people they need to have at least two shots, and one of them needs to be after 12 weeks. So if the first shot is at 8 weeks, then 11 weeks, a 3rd is needed at 14 weeks, but if the first one is at 9 weeks and then at 12 weeks, only two are needed. If one is at 12 weeks, there still needs to be another at 15 weeks. BUT if the first was at, say 4 weeks, then another would be needed at 7 weeks, 10 weeks, and 13 weeks.

 

[release the hounds]

I just called the vet and asked the reason for the 4th parvo shot and they told me that it's because he is a large breed dog.

They recomend a large or giant breed dog to get the parvo shot 4 times because they are more susceptible to parvo. What are your opinions on this? Is it true?

your vet is full of ****

 

[FoxyWench]

i agree with the others...
find a new vet, this ones tyring to take ya!

i dont think any breed is more suspetable no matter what the size...
and smaller breeds are more at risk if there would be such a thing simply because there more delicate overall...

i would NOT get a 4th parvo shot, talk about vaccine overload.

 

[Dr.Marie]

I will generally only give three sets of shots. However, there is some research that shows that some large breed dogs are not fully protected unless they have had 4 sets of shots. The breeds that were particularly at risk were large black and tan dogs such as Rotties and Dobies.

For a while, I was giving a fourth parvo shot to these breeds when we were seeing lots of cases of parvo around.

 

[elegy]

i've always heard that rotts, dobes, and pits are more susceptible, but i have no idea whether or not that's true.

where i work, it's a minimum of two vaccines, the second one being after fifteen weeks of age. we have a lot of people around here who vaccinate at 6 weeks, so we do end up with a fair number of pups getting four vaccines. most get three. (steve got three)

 

[Saeleofu]

I've always heard that rotts, dobes, and pits are more susceptible

I've heard that too, but I've always chalked it up to the fact that people who have large black nad tan dogs are generally not taking care of them as well as the rest of the dogs. In my area there are a large number of pits coming in with parvo, but it's because 1. there are a large number of pits and 2. people don't vaccinate their dogs until it's too late

 

[corgipower]

i've always heard that rotts, dobes, and pits are more susceptible, but i have no idea whether or not that's true.

What's the source of those "more susceptible" rotts, dobes and pits?

 

[elegy]

fascinatingly, we haven't seen a single case of parvo in the 4 1/2 years that i've been working at my current practice. that's crazy to me, especially given the number of mill pups we see, the number of amish puppy farm puppies we see, and the number of people who don't vaccinate their puppies until their dogs are older puppies or adults. we don't see a lot of urban dogs, though, and i expect that's the difference.

i've got no good source for the pit/dobe/rott thing- that's just the old wives tale i've heard tell over and over.

 

[Bigpoodleperson]

I dont have a source for the pit/rott/dobe thing either, but i too was preached that in school and its in all of my medical books also.

We have only seen like 2 parvo cases at my clinic also in the 7 years ive been there, but i think it has more to do with our higher clientell as other clinics in my town see a Ton of cases (1 has a special parvo wing).

 

[release the hounds]

I know everyone will get on me because I just flat out don't really think vaccinating does a whole heck of a lot of good for somethings, but so be it.

Anecdotal evidence for me, 3 of the 4 decent sized breeders of GSD's and Mal's where I get dogs from don NOT vaccinate for anything. They all used to at one point, but no longer do. I remember helping with a litter almost 10 years ago, it was their second litter of the year and half the litter came down with Parvo after vacination. This was the 2nd litter in a row that this happened. They never vaccinated again after that. I can't give an exact number of litters since then between gsd's and Mal's, but it's probably been on average 3-4 litters, sometimes more, per year so for 30 or 40 litters and not a single case again. Just lucky?

I have had at least 4 dogs come from those various kennels as pups and they went everywhere from the time they got here at a couple months old. Training fields, kennels, public parks, hardware stores, everywhere. I know that's a terribly small sample and not really relevant, but those were just mine. I know the owners, or at one time handlers of lots of those other dogs, and none ever got parvo.

I'm strange I guess and keep strange company but most of the people i associate with do not vaccinate for anything other than rabies ever. Some will do one round of puppy shots and then none, but most do none. They actively look for breeders that do NOT give vaccinations to their puppies before they get them. My other breeder friends think they're nuts, but I gotta say they do have more longevity in their dogs overall and better health, but maybe that's just my biased eye, but every case of Parvo that i've known about has been from a puppy that has been vaccinated. I'm sure those working in vet offices have more exposure to those sorts of things than me, but my past experience really has me wondering why we even do them sometimes.

 

[GlassOnion]

Every parvo case I've seen has been those who haven't been vaccinated. I have literally never seen a parvo dog who had been up to date on vax.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Every parvo case I've seen has been those who haven't been vaccinated. I have literally never seen a parvo dog who had been up to date on vax.

Buddy had parvo and he was vaccinated. You can't "see" him but it happened.

 

[elegy]

most of the people i associate with do not vaccinate for anything other than rabies ever. Some will do one round of puppy shots and then none, but most do none. They actively look for breeders that do NOT give vaccinations to their puppies before they get them. My other breeder friends think they're nuts, but I gotta say they do have more longevity in their dogs overall and better health, but maybe that's just my biased eye, but every case of Parvo that i've known about has been from a puppy that has been vaccinated. I'm sure those working in vet offices have more exposure to those sorts of things than me, but my past experience really has me wondering why we even do them sometimes.

why we do them? because they have been absolutely devastating diseases. talk to some old timer vets sometime about what distemper used to be like. talk to people who've lost entire litters to parvo. we don't see these diseases so much anymore *because* so many people vaccinate.

in not vaccinating, you're relying on herd immunity- you're relying on the idea that others are vaccinating. it's a risky thing, imo.

 

[release the hounds]

I've seen entire litters whiped out with vaccination, or would have been without intensive IV"s and round the clock care. Thankfully very few were lost. But all were vaccinated, in some cases on their 2nd round. and none that haven't been vaccinated.

I don't know many old time vets, but no quite a few old time breeders and they seem split on what to do really. Some are adamant about vaccination, some think it's a waste of time and has caused more trouble for them than any benefit they found.

my dogs all titer just fine to parvo, so exposure is there, probably from puppyhood on, yet they don't get it. Because of herd immunity? that could be a plausible explanation, yet they've obviously been exposed, so it's still out there in lots of places.

 

[Saeleofu]

Buddy had parvo and he was vaccinated. You can't "see" him but it happened.

How long was it from the time he received his last vaccine and the time he got parvo? It does take time for a vaccine to actually work.