yearly vaccination really necessary ?

[Winnie]

hi there everyone ! long time no "see"!

it's time again to take my dog for his annual re-vaccination.

i know the holistic approach is to avoid it, or just to take the core ones

as they say it may be cancer inducing or lead to other adverse effects

if i ask a conventional vet, i'm sure s/he would say the safest way is to do it

my previous dog probably had it not more than 3 times in her life and she lived up to ripe age of 16 years

would like to have your opinion. thanks !

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Yearly vax are like buying insurance. There are some dogs who live their entire lives without ever seeing a vet for anything.
When I foster, not only do my fosters get vax in my kitchen, but quarantine until I can examine their stools and observe overall health.
I use my son's b-day as my yearly reminder. His day came and went, and I hadn't pulled out the first needle. Vax'd late, but all pups were fine. Possum, however, got every vax & test as she was going to doc every 3 weeks.
Depends on contagion issues, home and yard 'health' and proximity to dogs who may be carrying. I will always recommend yearly vax. It would be irresponsible of me not to. And of course, rabies is required by state law. If you don't have utd rabies tag or receipt, your dog could be confiscated.

[critters]

It's pretty widely accepted that "the other" vaxes, like distemper, parvo, etc. are good for 3 years. Rabies, of course, may be another story and is determined by law in a good bit of the world. I'm happy with the 3 year plan as being a happy medium between the annual view and the lifetime view (which I don't believe).

I may dig up the refs endorsing the 3 year plan later, but I can't now.

edit: Whether the 3 year plan would be appropriate for Hong Kong is something you'd have to research; I have NO idea about that.

[puremutt]

Winnie what a cute dog!

I was told if they are seniors to be careful with vax.
It depends ofcourse where you live and what the dangers are, rabies and such.

[Bobbie]

The 3 year plan is a better way to go. And don't do rabies at the same time- schedule visits a few weeks apart or better yet on an off year do rabies.

I don't do puppies so don't deal with puppy vaccines, but when I get a new dog they get vaccinated, then again in three years, in three more, and that's it. If the rescue was young (around a year) I might consider a rabies if they were healthy in the 9th year, otherwise my vet writes a letter stating my dog is too fragile to have one. For a puppy I'd make sure a vaccination was given after 6 months, then go 3 years and 3 years, then probably stop.

Having said that, the only time any dog I've had has had what might be a vaccine-related problem (and no evidence to that exists) is Janine, who is only six and would be getting a vaccine if she hadn't developed an autoimmune disorder. But mine usually have something "wrong" by age 9 so the third set would not get done.

If your vet wants to push for an annual vaccine, you can ask for a titer instead (measure the antibodies in his blood) to show he is protected.

[CarolC]

Hi, Winnie! Here you have no choice, rabies is annual whether you like it or not, though your pet can be excused by the vet due to age. I have heard of other states where they do annual titers to see if re-vaccination is needed yet. I guess if the blood level proves there is current protection, then you don't need to do it, no experience there.

We had an awful story here, it is so sad, and excuse me if I tell it third-hand. My co-worker's daughter got an adorable Japanese Chin puppy, cutest dog you could ask for. She got the dog all the right shots at the right ages, and one day she took it to PetsMart for something and not long after that it came down with parvo. The dog was vaccinated for parvo like it was supposed to be. They tried everything but lost the dog to parvo. The vet explained that parvo is a series and your dog is not really protected until the end of the series (third shot?) which would be like a year old(?) So they thought the dog was vaccinated because they'd done everything right, but it was still unprotected.

[Winnie]

THANK YOU EVERYONE !! Been buzzzzzy .....

Rabies shot is a must in Hong Kong and is good for 3 years.

Owners here are free to give their dogs annual vaccinations for distemper and parvo etc. A pet nutritionist also advised doing titers. However, it is going to be a costly exercise cos the blood samples have to be sent to the UK and each titer could cost US$250, and I would need to do several to see which vaccine is necessary.

Anyway, I need to take Frappy to the vet for his annual body check and I will discuss with him further whether a bi-annual shot for distemper etc (mid way between annually and every 3 years ) is acceptable.