Hi, I have just had coffee with a pal and his cockerpoo puppy . He was just moaning about vets fees for his jabs. He said it cost £70 for routine jabs plus a blood test to see if the parvo jab worked. Then he got a call saying he needed anther parvo jab as the other one didn't work. Another £70. We don't have parvo in the area. I have had dogs for years and currently still have 2. I have never heard of routine blood tests for parvo vaccines ? Seems rather OTT to me and not very fair on the dog ! Anyone else had this ? Am in the uk. Emma
Juno had her vaccinations in France and we certainly never needed a blood test to check whether the parvo vaccination had been effective. The vaccine used in France is the same as that used by vets in the UK. I know vaccines have changed over the years but never needed a blood test for my spinone either back in the 1990s. Have to say £70 sounds a bit expensive for the vaccination and having to pay again I would be wanting to know why the vaccine hadn't worked in the first place, perhaps a faulty batch or poor storage by the vet?. It is such a routine vaccine nowadays I wouldn't expect a failure.
I didn't know there even was a test to see if the vaccine worked. Is it a titre test? My puppy was fully vaccinated but she got Parvo anyway. However that was in 1993. I am pro titre instead of vaccination once the first set of boosters are complete and as per our Vet. We have immune response so did not have to repeat any vaccinations. Some dogs will not mount a response so another vaccination might be required. If Parvo isn't required by law then I would guess a discussion with the Vet is in order. WE do not vaccinate for a couple of things, ever, that some people do here. Ourselves included.
None of the vets around here do that, sounds a bit OTT to me. I do remember reading somewhere that the Parvo jab sometimes doesn't work for Rottie's though, will have to go and google now.
I would guess there is no guarantee of sero-conversion after a second parvo vaccination either. My colleague has had 2 courses of Hep B (as in 2 sets of 3 vaccines) and he still hasn't developed any immunity at all!
I had to have that vaccination when I worked as a dental nurse, it didn't work for me either, zero immunity , just a horrific sheet of info about what to do in the event of an accidental exposure So , I guess its the same for dogs , no guarantee that a second one will work .
Yes all a bit odd. I am a public health nurse so used to immunisations and sero conversion. I guess my question was more about this as routine practice in dogs. I have never heard of it. It's seems OTT to take blood off a puppy without really good reason. I feel it's a bit of a money spinner for the vets...but I could be wrong. Emma.
Never been mentioned by my vets. Just wondering if confirmation of immunity is needed for a pet passport or something @Edp ??
When the first Parva vaccinations came out many years ago, my GSP pup was tested (at drug company's expense) to see if it had provided immunity, it hadn't so we had it again at no expense to us. I had my Lab boosted a week ago and the cost was £42, nowhere near £70!
Parvo is a horrible, disease, and if contracted a lot of pups don't survive. I would understand this level of cover if you were in a high risk area. Maybe there has been concern over the level of immunisation the vaccine has given or an increase of pups testing positive to parvo. Would be interesting to know if the surgery are advising titres for the other vaccines or is it just the parvo vaccine?
Only vaccination required for pet passport is rabies and they have done away with the need for the blood test to confirm level of immunity
Titers are usually done to avoid over-vaccination. Yes, they are more expensive than vaccination itself, but over-vaccination may have some (serious) side-effects. How old is your dog and when was he vaccinated?
Hi it's not my dog. I currently have 2 and never had this done. It's my friends dog and for routine puppy jabs. I would have challenged the vet but they thought it was normal so went along with it. I will ask my vet though when I see him next month for Megs boosters !!
With a pup I'd do all the puppy boosters, then again after a year, and after that I'd consider titers.
For those of you who use titres (I can't, it's a legal requirement to have my dogs vaccinated yearly), are they accepted by kennels / day care etc, or do you not use that type of facility?
I haven't found a kennels, in France or the UK, that will accept without a current vaccination on a dogs health card.
I could not find a place to board Oban last year because no boarding place near me would accept titres. Mind you, he was out of date on his Rabies (medical exemption) and that might have been the main reason. One training facility used to put right in her website that she would not accept titres. Where we train no one ever asked me to show vaccinations, not for training or for trials. Some will ask to see the titre response. Oban was done by a local Vet and she said his numbers were too low and he needed to be boostered. That's the problem, a lot of people don't understand it and this one was just trying to make money on me. Dr. Jean Dodds and my own Vet said his response was fine. Ironically that Vet who did the titres was doing them at a doggy health day put on at our training facility where, as I said above, they don't ask to see anything.
