My vet has been recommending my one year old black lab to get the round and boosters of Lyme's shots. He does not have Lyme's and we have given him nexguard.. is the Lyme's shot necessary. We live in northern Minnesota so there are ticks but what does it prevent that the nexguard doesn't?
Nexgard kils the actual ticks. The Lyme vaccine stops the dog from developing Lyme disease, if they are bitten by a tick which passes Lyme onto them - and is about 75% effective. (Ie - 25% of dogs still develop Lyme even if vaccinated.) The Lyme vaccination is a bacterial vaccine, like the leptospirosis vaccine is. As a result, just like the lepto vaccine, the Lyme vaccine has a much higher incidence of side effects than your regular core vaccines (distemper, parvo and hepatitis). And it will only be effective for 9 months to a year. Whether to give it, depends on the incidence of Lyme in your area - what % of ticks there carry it - this can vary quite dramatically, area by area. And whether you want an extra back-up plan, should your Nexgard fail or should you forget to give it. For more information, listen to this podcast by Dr Becker interviewing Dr Schultz - they talk about the Lyme vaccine, during it. Dr Schultz' opinion was that if you live in a very Lyme-infested area, then it might be worth it - something like 80% of ticks carry Lyme in some areas: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podca...-on-pet-vaccines/id1342712755?i=1000422491382
