Just wondering what others think about annual boosters ? We lived in France for 10 years and during our time there, the Pet Passport Scheme was launched and so we had to have our dogs vaccinated every year for rabies and also all the usual diseases . Our French Vet was appalled , he told us that his view was that once every three years was more than enough but he understood that it was beyond our control and that we had to comply in order to return to the UK . Once back , I began to research and discovered that tests carried out had showed that dogs have immunity three years after a booster and that this period could indeed be much longer than three years and so I made the conscious decision not to have annual boosters for the dogs . Now my own Vet is saying that every three years is sufficient, my pet insurance is ok with this as long as we dont try to claim for an illness that we would have had them vaccinated against and as I dont put my dogs in boarding kennels , its not a problem . I do believe firmly in the puppy vaccinations, but as my two are due their first booster in about 2 months time , I am pondering about this one and whether it is necessary . I wouldnt ever try to sway anyone from what they feel is right , its a personal issue, as long as its an informed decision , it does concern me that many people are getting very wealthy on the back of annual vaccinations . What do others feel about them ?
Re: Vaccination Boosters Please don't think about vaccinations giving wealth to the vet and manufacturers. I remember the time when dogs died from distemper and also died from parvovirus. My vet does the distemper every three years but it is essential (in my view and hers) to do Leptospirosis every year, this is caught from rats' urine and is invariably fatal, I would also have my dogs done yearly for parvo. We don't see these dreadful diseases around these days due to vaccination, so people tend to think it isn't necessary. Stacia
Re: Vaccination Boosters Hi Kate, Most vaccination programmes need one or two boosters to complete the initial cover. These would be more important than the later 'top up' boosters. So I would worry about missing the very first booster of the programme... Have you tried asking your vet about it? Most vets are pretty reasonable, if you quote the studies that you feel are relevant, he should be able to give you his justification for disagreeing, if he is not following the same protocol. Does anyone know if there is an equivalent of NICE for veterinary medicine?
Re: Vaccination Boosters Interesting that this came up today - I got an email on this topic from my dog food suppliers. There is a document here about annual vaccines not being necessary as immunity can last for many years - I must admit so far I've only read the executive summary .pdf]http://www.canine-health-concern.org.uk/WSAVA%20VaccinationGuidelines2010[1].pdf I struggled for ages with the vaccine issue as a Holistic therapist I've read more information than most, in the end my personal choice was to have Rusty immunised as a puppy but not since.
Re: Vaccination Boosters The link Carole posted doesn't work for me and I have tried to fix it and failed. I think that the forum software does not recognise the pdf at the end. So you will need to copy and paste the url into your browser, it works fine it you do that. Pippa
Re: Vaccination Boosters I think I will have the one year boosters carried out, as you say Stacia, they are part of the puppy programme, but I wont have them done the following year . My own Vets view is that the puppy ones are vital but that, as adult dogs , every three years is adequate so I`m happy to go with this . I remember years ago , reading an article written by John Burns, of the JB dog food company, himself a Vet . It made for interesting reading , he concluded that annual boosters to adult dogs were not necessary, I guess its down to personal choice in the end .
Re: Vaccination Boosters Gosh that's interesting, I've never even considered not having the dogs vaccinated annually! I always understood it was imperative, especially here in Germany where rabies can be an issue. My vet has never even mentioned that it might not be necessary... I will definitely ask her when we go next week for Poppy's booster!
Re: Vaccination Boosters I haven't boostered my animals annually for years, in fact the only one I did, was my Siamese and that was because she used to have to go into a cattery once or twice a year. Unfortunately, I firmly believe her being over vaccinated caused the chronic health problems which led to her early demise. I just didn't realise this could be a problem at the time and it's only since reading many reports about over vaccination I could see the link. Now I have their puppy/kitten jabs done, then if that last jab is done before 14-16 weeks, I have their first annual booster and that's it. I wouldn't have annual boosters myself and wouldn't annually booster my children, so I won't do so for my animals either. Jules.
