Who here titers and why?

[barry581]

I'm seriously thinking about no more shots for my beasts. A lot of what I'm finding on the web it conflicting to say the least. I've always vaccinated as recommended/required, but I'm seriously starting to think vaccinations are excessive and un-needed.

I'd like to know what you all think about this.

[Meeps83]

I think it's that after the initial shot and a booster their immunity is going to fight the diseases and further vaccinations won't help them...or something similar. I'm on the fence, but because we do board Maverick I think we'll do the vaccinations because the boarding facilities around here require it.

[janedoe]

We titer. It's just too hard on their systems and the titers determine whether or not they still have enough of it. We don't want to stress them if it's not necessary.

[Maxx&Emma]

I do the puppy series and booster at 16 mos. I do not vaccinate for Lepto or kennel cough. Rabies is done every 3 years as required by law for Maxx, Emma has an exception certificate because of her cancerous tumor that was removed last year.

I do it like this for the same reason as above. I do not see any benefit in what I consider over-vaccinating.

[Annette47]

I dunno ... We follow our vets advice which includes regular vaccinations up until age 12 or so and have had the 2 that we raised from puppies make it to 15+ and our foster who we took in at 11 make it until a month or so shy of 15. Not that I'm saying the vaccines were the reason for their longevity but they certainly don't seem to have hurt them any.

[Snowshoe]

Mine, cats and dogs, have all been perfectly healthy and long lived with yearly or recommended shots. But I did start to titre Oban. I believe all the things in the media about over vaccinating and decided not to go with my own personal small number sample. I have had reactions in cats and a friend has had vaccinosis cancer (Vet's guess) in one cat.

Rabies is required by law, here, and you may have read my thread about Oban getting his recently, after having a medical exemption. If he bit someone (or someone said he did) the titre would not have been accepted.

I don't give Bordatella, Lymes or Lepto anyway. So I titred the DH2PP through a pet health seminar locally and the Vet herself did the titres. The blood did not have to be sent away, she did it herself in her clinic. All Oban's titres came back one serial dilution below what she said was considered a protective level and she said he needed to be vaccinated again. Since Dr. Jean Dodds said those same levels were protective I have to wonder what the first Vet was thinking? Maybe I would need a certain level to board Oban but not to really provide health protection?

Also, from Dr. Dodds, Distemper is rare most places now, Parvo is a serious threat to mostly puppies and there hasn't been a case of Canine Hepatitis at all in years. Sorry, I don't remember the actual numbers for these things.

[JenC]

Jean Dodds is the expert and here is her info on proper vaccination protocols https://drjeandoddspethealthresource....4#.VlHGoBfn-zl

I stop vaccinations after the 1 year booster. I don't titer. I do rabies as prescribed by state law. Last one is at age 10.

[barry581]

Thanks for all the input, gives me a lot to think about.

[Shelley]

Because I breed, and show, I vaccinate my Labs through the puppy series, the 14 month booster, and every 3 years until they are 7, which also happens to be my cut off age for breeding. I have a friend in another breed that had an outbreak of Distemper, and she lost an adult(!) and an entire litter to it, and another friend that lost an older (up-to-date on vaccinations) puppy to Parvo, so I now add another Parvo only around 6 months, between the last puppy vaccine and the 14 month booster, just to be sure I catch the window. Depending on the time of year, I may add a Neopar for a litter and give it around 5-6 weeks.

This is what I am comfortable with, and you will get almost as many answers, as people you ask. :-)

[3ChocMom]

I do the puppy series (just distemper/parvo) and a booster one year later, plus rabies every 3 years as required by law. I titer 3 years after the one year booster, when they would be due again. For rabies, I think I will probably stop that around age 10 or so. I only have one dog who is a senior, she's 10, almost 11, and I stopped vaccinating her for rabies already. She had her last rabies 5 years ago. The only reason I haven't updated it is because she developed severe allergic reactions about 3 years ago. I have worked hard over the last several years to keep her as healthy as possible so that her immune system can handle whatever allergens come at her (I have never figured out exactly what causes her reactions), so I am not willing to vaccinate her at this time and risk messing up all of her progress. I titered her for rabies earlier this year, just to be sure she is still protected, and her number was fine. There is a risk to not vaccinating for rabies. If she were to ever come in contact with rabid wildlife, she could be quarantined, but IMO, that risk is much smaller than the risk to her health if I do vaccinate her. I have discussed this at length with my both my regular vet and my holistic vet, and they are both in agreement (after they lectured me about the risks of course). However, this is only because of a health issue, it wouldn't be my normal protocol with a healthy dog.