This is scary. Rosi my two year old is fully vaccinated. Tia is three and as I got her at 18 months she had had her first vacs. The breeder said dont have boosters because she is so small. However I was scared so I did and she is fine. Both girls are due again in feb 2007, my vet said its up to me.

What do I do????

We had a puppy that came down with distemper dispite the fact that he'd been vaccinated, he was really ill. I now tend to only have the puppy vaccinations done since my one bitch developed problems that "could" be vaccine related. On the advice of my vet I chose not to booster her, and when it came to her daughter being due for a yearly booster, decided not to risk possible problems like her mum suffered, I must stress cannot be 100% sure the booster was the problem, but it was not a risk I was willing to take.

Hi everyone, I'm new here having found this discussion when I followed a link (or maybe it was links) from the K9Magazine.  This is my first post to your forum.  I live in Australia.

The issue of vaccination boosters is one that I feel very passionate about since my dog developed within 24 hours of her last booster several classic signs of canine distemper without having contracted the disease.  There was no indication that the batch of vaccine was faulty.  When returned to the vaccinating veterinarian it was suggested that the dog should have a CT scan of her brain.  Nikki had been fine leading up to and at the time of her vaccination on the previous day.  Unhappy with the suggested CT scan, I sought a second opinion from a holistic veterinarian who then treated the dog.  Nikki has since recovered apart from some lingering hyperkeratosis of the nose. 

I have a disability and Nikki is officially recognized as an Assistance Dog with Public Access rights.  She was unable to function as such for many, many months.  She was anxious, restless, whimpering, disorientated and unco-ordinated.  She was circling with her nose to the ground.  Inside the house she was using the walls - either because she needed the physical support or to guide her as she wandered aimlessly around.  When outside, she used the fenceline in the same way.  We had at that time been very closely bonded for eight years.  It was agonizing that she not only was obviously suffering a great deal, but appeared to not recognize her familiar home surroundings or even know me!

As she was recovering, I started researching - and I've never stopped.

My personal concern is that there is a great deal of information easily available on the Internet yet is not accessed because we don't think to question our veterinarians - until it's too late.  This information is extremely relevant to all owners of dogs (and other companion animals) - but the veterinarians we consult rarely if ever inform us.  As consumers of veterinary services, we surely have a legitimate right to know that, within veterinary circles, the issue of vaccination boosters is highly contentious and also that veterinary researchers have been warning against the practice for many years.  Moreover, these veterinary researchers have reported findings which show booster vaccinations are not even necessary for continued immunity against the diseases that are routinely vaccinated against.

The requirement for a dog to be 'up to date'/'current' on vaccinations in order to access boarding facilities, training clubs etc is wrong!  It is wrong because it is based on a traditional blanket recommendation dating back a few decades instead of being abreast with current scientific evidence.

What is really important here, immunity against infectious diseases - or a vaccination certificate?

My dog is now into her twelfth year, yet she looks and acts like she is 6 or 7 and her immunity is excellent.  Her adverse reaction to vaccination was not only unnecessary but was predictable based on her lifelong veterinary history of seasonal inhalant allergy.  It was reported as early as 1984 that dogs with pollen allergies have an augmented response to viral vaccines, yet how many vets either still don't know or else choose to ignore that 'warning'. 

Perhaps interesting in Nikki's case is the fact that following vaccination she developed further allergies - including food allergies.  This existed to the extent she was diagnosed as having Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).  Now, with no further exposure to vaccination, she is allergy free and her IBD has 'gone'.  Even her pre-existing atopy has disappeared. 

For me, this issue is not one of being supportive of or opposed to vaccination per se.  I'm not opposed to vaccination.  What I'm opposed to, and each available opportunity I get warn others against, is OVER-vaccination - which I define as any vaccination in excess of what is necessary to prevent disease when this also has the proven potential to cause serious adverse reactions and/or chronic health problems in our dogs.

To all those who are undecided on this issue I encourage you to do the research and weigh up the risk/benefit ratio.  If you don't, then one day witnessing your dog's unnecessary suffering may give you lingering cause to regret not doing so.

Pat

Do you mind me asking roughly how much you have to pay for titre testing?  I know cost shouldn't be an issue when it comes to the well being of our dogs but I wanted to get mine titre tested a couple of years ago and I was quoted £30 per test (for the four major diseases) that was £120 per dog and I had 12 dogs at the time. That was just too prohibitive.

Eeek! I only use on kennel. They are fab in every way, except they insist on vaccinations.

Went through my vet if you go to IDEXX labs direct they will give you some more detailed info, they are on the net; as they do all the titre testing and haemo testing for GSDs etc.

HTH
ps some vets are very anti titre testing.....................

it is a requirement at the kennels i take my dogs to. and it is better safe than sorry. it dosnt cost that much, id still do it even if i didnt use kennels.