tell the truth...do you vaccinate your animals

tanith

No never and I have been keeping cats since I was 10 and I'm now collecting my pension.. I have never had any of them innoculated and apart from one that was knocked down by a car they have all lived to be 20yrs at least.. and have died from various cancers (been put to sleep ) and have only ever been to the vet for things like teeth checks, or if they had an accident they have all been healthy all their lives.. we have one old lady who is 21 and healthy apart from arthritis and we lost her friend last year at 20 from an eye tumour...

Paradigm

KVet wrote: »

I'd always vaccinate every animal I have. Honestly, we have to go by what the drug companies say. If we go against their advice we could easily get sued. Don't blame the vets, blame the drug companies. There is evidence that some vaccinations last longer than ayear hence why some companies are advocating every 2-3 years a full vaccine and just parainfluenza + lepto in the intervening years. No drug company is willing to pay for research into vaccines that will probably lose money at the end of it so we'll have to wait a while yet before concrete evidence re yearly vaccs is available.

I agree with virtually all of the above! There is no motivation for the drug co's to study the effects, why spend money that may cost you a fortune in the long term if it's found that regular boosters are not required?

I'm more interested in the (growing) possibility that over vaccinating is doing more damage than good & in this respect the US seems to be far ahead of us with the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Animal Hospital Association having published changes in their vaccination guidelines some time ago.

The BSAVA on the other hand has stuck rigidly to annual boosters without, it seems, taking any account of the contradictive evidence.

mellymeep

The cats I grew up with were all never vaccinated, they were outdoors quite often and one of them died at the grand age of 19 and the other 2 are still fine. I'm not taking that as concrete evidence that they aren't needed but so far we've not really made plans to vaccinate Lily.

hethmar

The dogs are vaccinated every year. Worm tabs I give every 3 months or so. Fleas I havent done for 3 years as neither dog have had any, which is great.

Welshwoofs

I vaccinate my dog religiously so we can kennel him when going away.

For those not vaccinating, but who have their pets insured, I'd really advise you to check the Terms of your insurance. Certainly mine stipulates that vaccinations have to be up to date or the insurance is invalidated.

For those not insured I'd suggest thinking again. As an example, my 3yr old dog recent ruptured a cruciate ligament - total cost of treatment and surgery a few quid shy of £3,000. Luckly we are insured.

Sequeena

Welshwoofs wrote: »

I vaccinate my dog religiously so we can kennel him when going away.

For those not vaccinating, but who have their pets insured, I'd really advise you to check the Terms of your insurance. Certainly mine stipulates that vaccinations have to be up to date or the insurance is invalidated.

For those not insured I'd suggest thinking again. As an example, my 3yr old dog recent ruptured a cruciate ligament - total cost of treatment and surgery a few quid shy of £3,000. Luckly we are insured.

Ouch poor dog How is he now? Is he able to go for walks yet?

hayley11

My dog is nearly 8 months old and he's had all the recommended vaccinations, he's not had the kennel cough one because it's very unlikely he'll ever be put in kennels but if he is, he will have it then.

He gets a worm and flea tablet as advised by the vets, think it's every 3 months for now and then it's reduced? Not entirely sure, he's not due it againt til July, will check after that.

We do have insurance and I wouldn't be without it. There's no way we could afford massive vet bills if something happened to him.

Sequeena

hayley11 wrote: »

My dog is nearly 8 months old and he's had all the recommended vaccinations, he's not had the kennel cough one because it's very unlikely he'll ever be put in kennels but if he is, he will have it then.

He gets a worm and flea tablet as advised by the vets, think it's every 3 months for now and then it's reduced? Not entirely sure, he's not due it againt til July, will check after that.

We do have insurance and I wouldn't be without it. There's no way we could afford massive vet bills if something happened to him.

You don't just catch kennel cough in kennels Your dog could get it from a dog on the street.

Oldernotwiser

Rev wrote: »

And in all honesty, I don't know why you'd not vaccinate

At a rough cost of £60 per cat it would cost me £300 pa to vaccinate my feline crowd. For that money I could feed 2 more rescue cats for a year and that, in fact, is what I have done.

hayley11

Sequeena wrote: »

You don't just catch kennel cough in kennels Your dog could get it from a dog on the street.

I know but if I wanted him to stay in kennels, he'd need it. That's why i'd get it then.

Out of interest, how much does the kennel cough jab cost roughly?