Vaccinations.........

[Moli]

Rather than put this in Farthings thread thought I would start a new one....
I personally stop vaccinating once my animals get to a certain age...My Gyp is now 9.5, and have told the vet I no longer want her boostered....
I had stopped doing Leo, but as one of my cats is a virus carrier have started him again...
Opinions please??

[angieh]

It's certainly a tricky question Moli. Of course, if you need to put your animals in kennels or a cattery you need to have their vaccinations record up to date. I know that doesn't affect you personally, but it may be a consideration for others.

[Moli]

Never ever leave my animals in Kennels Angie, so it does not apply to me

[angieh]

No, you are lucky to have family to care for your lovely "brood".

[Moli]

Originally Posted by angieh

No, you are lucky to have family to care for your lovely "brood".

Quite honestly, I would not go away if I had to kennel them....

[angieh]

After Merlin and Smudge's first few years (back in the 80's and I can't remember exactly) I stopped having them vaccinated. I do think it is important to have the initial vaccinations - but for how long ideally I wonder? They never went into a cattery, so we didn't have to worry about that aspect of the matter. I do wish that there was an unbiased professional opinion that could be given. I expect there are probably pros and cons to both sides of the argument.

[angieh]

I wonder whether there is an insurance issue too?

[pcspik]

Originally Posted by angieh

I wonder whether there is an insurance issue too?

Most policies say that in order for the policy to be valid, that the cat must be fully vaccinated. This includes FeLV, so if your cat is not already vaccinated against it, then you need to arrange for it to be done.

Mine are all vaccinated, but this is due to the fact that they go away to the cattery over Christmas. I go to my parents house for 10 days, but I cant take my two to the house, as there is an non FIV cat there (my two are FIV+).

[borderdawn]

The vaccine debate is a long running one and has certainly changed in recent years. There is absolutely no way at all I would "routinely" vaccine my pets anymore.

Let me explain. We were always told every year, yes? Whats changed? Its now every third year for Parvo, Distemper, Hardpad etc.. and only lepto and PPi (kennel cough) every year. The only reasaon lepto is yearly is because they cannot measure its length of immunity in a dog.

I have a Border that was vacced as a pup, then at 15mths should of had a booster, I asked for a "titre test" which measured the dogs immunity and would tell me if the dog needed a booster. She came back as low Parvo and borderline Distemper, they cannot test for Lepto as the disease does not illicit titres. OK she needed a booster, which the Vet was ready to give. I rang the Uni that did the tests (Glasgow I think from memory) they said that a low titre count does NOT mean the dog has low immunity and does NOT mean it needs a booster. It means only that the circulating antibodies had not been triggered by memory cells (the things that mount an immune response) to increase in the body, as the dog had had no contact with the diseases it was vaccinated against. They told me and it is still the case, memory cells cannot be measured. So, I would probably of over vaccinated my dog on the basis of a test that wasnt conclusive, yet the Vet was happy to do it and was happy to re vaccinate on its results. Over vaccination?

In recent years, pets have been massively over vaccinated, immune meditated diseases in dogs and cats are at an all time high, of course your vet would never ever say a vaccination was to blame, but as I said, question your vet when your pet is on meds and they are "happy" to vaccinate, they shouldnt, ALL vaccination protocol guidelines state that ONLY healthy animals should be vaccinated, who is right?

Vaccination and neutering is a Vets life, is it any wonder they drum it into pet owners?

When the vaccination length was changed, most vets were unwilling to say the least, however, most do it now but many do not, vaccinating against all diseases each year, ignoring guidelines, not all of course but we have checked with animals coming in and the relevant manufacturers guidlines, we KNOW many Vets still over vaccinate. Like I said, how many Vets charge for 2 vaccines two years running, then all of them for the third? I think you will find most charge the same price for 2 as they do the lot!! See pet owners wouldnt realise that!

I personally know many dogs and cats with immune meditated diseases that are still vaccinated just so an owner can go on holiday and they can board it, thats just selfish and wrong, but hey some folk HAVE to have a holiday, at any cost! There is masses of evidence to support and unrefuted proof that pets are over vaccinated and that this does in fact cause diseases in them.

I do not vaccinate any of my pets after puppy/kitten vaccs any more.

[farthing]

I suspect I am in a minority, but I vaccinate yearly, up to any age. It may be over vaccinating, but until scientific studies have been done, I won't risk doing anything else. We take in animals regularly and can't risk opening up the ones already here to disease. As I said in the other thread, the vaccination programme has controlled a lot of diseases- and although some may like to think it may be something else, what wiped out these diseases otherwise, we have practically wiped out smallpox in humans thanks to vaccines. I get really annoyed that vets are blamed IF there is a case of over vaccination- they must advise as to how things are licensed and most are s**t scared they will get sued if something was to happen to an animal they had advised something else to.
I don't have access or time to look into every little written thing on vaccines and suspect many people look into the cons and ignore the pros about them, I do know my rabbits would be at high risk to myxi if they weren't vaccinated, they may still catch a form of the disease, but would die if not vaccinated- and they need to be done 6 monthly. VHD is another rabbit disease and if a rabbit is not vaccinated it will die in about 8-12 hours, with a vaccine they are protected.