Starting The Booster Debate Again...

[hellybobs]

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Right after the last discussion about boosters and whether or not to have them done or go down the Homeopathic route?????

Well after much discussion with my vet, it was decided that Inca would have the tizer test (sp??) blood test to see how her immunity is from the other booster jabs she had.

I've had the results (bearing in mind she had the full whammy last year...distemper, parvo and 2 others I can't remember the name of!!) and the only one she has full immunity from is parvo, she has zero immunity from everything else.

Now the vet is worried that she has zero immunity to all of them (apart from parvo) as she had the booster last year because it could mean she has a poor immune system.

I'm now worried sick because she could be open to catching anything thats going about...should I be so worried??

She is a dog that has had alot of sickness and diarrhoea and has been prone to illness, so does it mean she is open to any illness around???

Any advise for me???

 

[Evie]

Now, bearing in mind I have little to no experiance and there is alot more experianced people on here than me.................

I would be inclined to have the yearly booster done and have the titre test done again next year. In the mean time seek the advice of a professional herbalist about helping boost your dogs immune system. Perhaps something like echinacea would help.

Don't worry anymore than you have before now. At least you know better where you stand and that you are doing the right thing by getting the boosters done rather than overloading her system.

Good Luck. :luck:

I'm sure others on here will have more knowledgeable advice for you! :thumbsup:

 

[Janimal]

Oscar has just gone two and Ive just had the reminder to have his booster.

They have both had their yearly ones - should I proceed from here and have them every year now?? I had Chip done until he was about 5 or 6 then didnt have any more. I had the cats done at 1 year then no more.

Yes Id like to hear peoples opinions too. on the subject.

 

[Juley]

This is just my personal opinion. I have my dogs boosted every year. I feel that the risk from the vaccination is surely less than the risk from these diseases. I had the same opinion when vaccinating my children. Look at TB, that is now becoming common again ( in humans) possibly because the take up rate fror the vaccines has fallen in recent years. I do believe that the homeopathic methods are seen to work because the majority of owners vaccinate. If no-one did, I believe that theses diseases would become more prevalent. I respect anyone who chooses to use the homeophatic route and accept that there will always be a small number of animals who it maybe better to use this approach with.

 

[05whippet]

I am on the opposite end of the scale.....I don't give any boosters at all and am debating giving my puppies any innoculations at all, as there have been so many people recently whose pups have had very bad reactions to the inital innoculations (and just not in this country only either).It is a huge dilemma.

 

[hellybobs]

Well we've just come back from the vets and we saw the senior man.

Inca has had her booster and has to have the blood test next year to see what her levels are like then.

I asked him if it was unusual for the levels to be so low after having the full booster and he said, its not seen very often and he wants to keep an eye on her.

 

[kita]

It would be interesting to see, if you had the test done a month after the booster, what the results would be then? I wonder if the booster is producing any immunity at all?

I know it costs money but I really would be tempted to test the level again in a months time.

I know that some dogs can get parvo even though they have had the boosters.

I had my recent dog vaccinated as a pup and had the first booster at one year and he has not had anything since. I live in a town and he is walked on the local dockland where everyone walks their dogs. He is now 11. The local vet a year ago advised people to get their dogs vaccinated as he had seen a number of cases of parvo. I did wonder at the time if he was just trying to make money? After all it is a guaranteed easy income for him!

I had all my previous dogs vaccinated and lost them under 10 years old.

I think that their own immune system builds up a natural resistence to things they are exposed to locally.

It is a dilemma, if you don't vaccinate and your dog gets something you feel bad, if you do vaccinate and your dog has a serious reaction you feel bad - it really is a no win situation.

Some vets now accept that everything except leptro. should only need a three yearly booster, but then the leptro one can run out after 8 months!

Of course if you ever kennel your dogs you have to vaccinate to get into the kennels.

It is a very difficult one this!

Sue

 

[stormydog]

I am on the opposite end of the scale.....I don't give any boosters at all and am debating giving my puppies any innoculations at all, as there have been so many people recently whose pups have had very bad reactions to the inital innoculations (and just not in this country only either).It is a huge dilemma.

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go get them done !! outbreak of parvo in east belfast. i know of 4 litters in last 4 months decimated !! i never fail with first jabs and yearly boosters aint seen any raections.

john

 

[hellybobs]

It might be worth testing again after a month.

The vet did say tonight though, that there has been rather large discrepancies between labs who do these tests.

He's read in one of the journals that a test had been carried out that, 2 blood samples had been taken from the same dog but sent to different labs. One lab came back and said the dog had fully immunity and the other lab came back and said the dog had no immunity at all...so are we to believe that all lab result are correct??

 

[~elizabeth~]

I do believe that the homeopathic methods are seen to work because the majority of owners vaccinate. If no-one did, I believe that theses diseases would become more prevalent.

That's a really good point Juley. I remember when not many people vaccinated their dogs and people did lose them to distemper, including my next-door neighbour who lost their 6 month pup.

 

[Evie]

I am on the opposite end of the scale.....I don't give any boosters at all and am debating giving my puppies any innoculations at all, as there have been so many people recently whose pups have had very bad reactions to the inital innoculations (and just not in this country only either).It is a huge dilemma.

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go get them done !! outbreak of parvo in east belfast. i know of 4 litters in last 4 months decimated !! i never fail with first jabs and yearly boosters aint seen any raections.

john

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John,

I had heard that it might be a new strain of Parvo that isn't covered by the vaccine. Do you know if there is any truth in that?

 

[Strike Whippets]

It's like any illness ......the strains mutate ........I have 2 AI Whippets that my very sensible vets refuses to booster due to their bodies reaction ......I've also been told by my very experienced vet that puppy jabs followed by a booster when the dogs about 6-7 years old is all it should take to keep dogs covered ........Well this is the road we follow .........

 

[Seraphina]

I would definitely vaccinate puppies. I have an experience with both distemper and parvo, and believe me there is no comparison between the adverse reaction to vaccination and the actual disease.

There have always been some individuals, which failed to build up immunity after vaccinations. Many years ago the figure for distemper was as high as one in 10, and other 2 in 10 had only partial immunity. But that is OK if everybody is vaccinated and the disease almost eradicated, as the ones who do not have immunity have almost no chance being exposed to it. It is similar with people, as others have already mentioned.

As the dog in OP has immunity for parvo, she must have functioning immune system. There is also the possibility that the batch of vaccine used on her was faulty. So do not panic, have her tested in month or so. In any case parvo is the most important one. I have not heard of case of distemper for ages. In any case it is a puppy and very old dog disease.

 

[*Lesley*]

With vaccinations tests for immunity are probably often carried out allover the place,so over time they have been proven to cover against these deseases, what I'm wondering is do people who give homeopathic remedies have any of these tests to check their dogs immunity, how do you actually know they work or that you just have been lucky enough to avoid things and how do they work :unsure:

I'm not knocking people who use this method I'm just curious as I dont know much about it?

 

[Janimal]

I am on the opposite end of the scale.....I don't give any boosters at all and am debating giving my puppies any innoculations at all, as there have been so many people recently whose pups have had very bad reactions to the inital innoculations (and just not in this country only either).It is a huge dilemma.

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go get them done !! outbreak of parvo in east belfast. i know of 4 litters in last 4 months decimated !! i never fail with first jabs and yearly boosters aint seen any raections.

john

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Thats food for thought actually, because there has been parvo in some parts of the North east not long ago, and even dogs in our village (those that were not innocluated against it - were ill and some even died I heard) and one chap I was talking too almost lost a puppy to parvo recently - fortunately it survived.

I think I shall go ahead and carry on getting the boosters. So far Ive never had any reactions in my dogs but Ive read on here that some people have.

 

[Seraphina]

With vaccinations tests for immunity are probably often carried out allover the place,so over time they have been proven to cover against these deseases, what I'm wondering is do people who give homeopathic remedies have any of these tests to check their dogs immunity, how do you actually know they work or that you just have been lucky enough to avoid things and how do they work :unsure:  
I'm not knocking people who use this method I'm just curious as I dont know much about it?

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I would really like to see people whos dogs were never vaccinated by vet and who are using the homeopathic method to test their dogs titre. That would make it clear whether it works or not. Actually I am surprised nobody has done that, or have they???

 

[hellybobs]

With vaccinations tests for immunity are probably often carried out allover the place,so over time they have been proven to cover against these deseases, what I'm wondering is do people who give homeopathic remedies have any of these tests to check their dogs immunity, how do you actually know they work or that you just have been lucky enough to avoid things and how do they work :unsure:  
I'm not knocking people who use this method I'm just curious as I dont know much about it?

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I've been told the people who use the homeopathic method get there dogs tested each year to see what their levels are, I don't know how true this is??

I've also been told that your not meant to continually use the homeopathis remedy as the dog can become immune to the remedy and it will not work effectivly. Its suppose to be used when the dog comes in contact with a disease or its health is comprimised in some way but when do you know when your dogs has been in contact with anything or if its health is comprimised because its caught something???

 

[graciepup]

It's like any illness ......the strains mutate ........I have 2 AI Whippets that my very sensible vets refuses to booster due to their bodies reaction ......I've also been told by my very experienced vet that puppy jabs followed by a booster when the dogs about 6-7 years old is all it should take to keep dogs covered ........Well this is the road we follow .........

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Our vet has reccomended this for my whippet as well.Grace had immune problems as a youngster and the vet feels more boosters will not be good for her at the moment.

 

[Seraphina]

I've been told the people who use the homeopathic method get there dogs tested each year to see what their levels are, I don't know how true this is??

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If you do not test you do not know if they have developed immunity from the homeopathic vaccine

I've also been told that your not meant to continually use the homeopathis remedy as the dog can become immune to the remedy and it will not work effectivly.  Its suppose to be used when the dog comes in contact with a disease or its health is comprimised in some way but when do you know when your dogs has been in contact with anything or if its health is comprimised because its caught something???

Homeopathic vaccination works exactly the same way as normal vaccination. That is that the individual is exposed to certain pathogen (in harmless form) and the body's immune system develops its own protection = immunity. The difference between normal and homeopathic vaccination is that the homeopathic is very diluted.