tell the truth...do you vaccinate your animals

Hectors_House

Sweepy has just been in for her yearly booster and I tend to ask the vet to worm her at the same time as she's nightmare to give anything to at home.

I used to be on the ball with flea treatment until another vet (where we were living at the time) convinced me to change to another product and she's had a couple of cases of weeping eyes the day afterwards so I'm giving her a break from that.

I'm saving my pennies this month to get her teeth done. The vet said that animals react differently to pain so it could wait but I've noticed she's been a bit quiet of late and want the best for her - although I'm sure she wont thank me for taking her to the vet again so soon!!

andywhu

When i was younger we had a cat and a dog, as far as i can remember neither were given any vaccinations and would only have had flea or worm treatment if needed, neither had any problems, my two jacks now though are vaccinated every year, we could be stricter when it comes to the worm and flea treatment though.

jax66

can you tell if a dog has worms apart from the obvious rolling bum on the ground. Would you see it through their faeces?

Bunny

2 x cats always have their vaccinations, don't worm and flea monthly though, probably around 3 monthly for them.
Any previous dogs my parents had were always vaccinated as well

maggiej_2

Our 3 Springers (all resucues) always have their annual boosters. All are from the working strain and as such are very 'busy' when out for their exercise in the fields, woods etc. They are constantly in and out of drainage ditches with stagnant water etc not to mentiion rummaging in the undergrowth for rats, mice, voles and birds!! Yes, the innoculations are expensive but in my opinion necessary for this type of dog. We stagger the boosters so the expense is not all at once.

On the other hand, we also have 4 cats. All are innoculated as kittens and that is it - no boosters. 3 are 'house' cats and 1 goes out rarely (he's 20). In the past I've had cats, all as above, just the initial innoculation. Without fail every cat lived well into their twilight years of 15 - 17 years.

All our animals, are regularly treated with frontline for fleas and wormed.

spugzbunny

I have one cat and he is vaccinated yearly and I have pet insurance for him. He's only a 20 months old and already had a £250 vet bill because he got in a fight so I do think it's worth the money for insurance for him. If I get another one though, I will probably put money in a pot instead - I'm definately 50/50 on which is best.

I flea / worm on an irregular basis. He should be flea'd soon actually as he loves hunting he's just not very good!

Interesting people say that they boost because of insurance invalidation for treatable diseases. I do the same BUT how many people get a yearly dental for the same reason. I don't and I suspect tooth decay is a more likely problem than the immunised diseases.

vl2588

jax66 wrote: »

can you tell if a dog has worms apart from the obvious rolling bum on the ground. Would you see it through their faeces?

Sometimes but not necessarily.

mum26

Yes, our cat had all his kitten jabs and we signed up to the jabs for life scheme as we had time to set the money aside and then we don't have to worry if we forget each year, it's still paid for and doesn't have to come out of the budget.

Wormed and deflead as recommended as he is allowed out, has little catty friends and catches the odd mouse,lol. He is also chipped, insured and neaturedx

thriftytracey

Changing insurers and one of cats had the Feline Leukaemia jab a few years back, the other didn't (we did this at the vet's recommendation as Roly had had cancer). He never went back for boosters. I never thought about this before until I read the T&C's that Feline Leukaemia isn't covered if the cat hasn't had the vaccine (don't know if this means annual boosters as well). As I say Roly had it once, Daisy not at all. It is £40 each at our practice and as we have had to tighten our belts as my OH is unemployed it is £80 we would find hard to afford. I still work but things are tight. They still get their usual vacs just not the Feline Leukaemia. I read that with older cats there is less of a risk not sure what "older" is defined as?

vl2588

I am not sure how much older but from distant memory think it is not very old (i.e. 3 or 4 maybe?), and even then it isn't 0% chance. More importantly though, it will be a complete waste of money getting them vaccinated without testing them for FeLV first IMO as they may have contracted it already. It will cost more getting the test done as well as the vaccination but at least you know it isn't wasted money then.