tell the truth...do you vaccinate your animals

Shoshannah

Long one, just my two cents!

I would definitely recommend giving the initial vaccination course for a puppy or kitten, followed by the first annual booster. Remember that we give the puppy/kitten vaccinations soon after weaning, when they still have some residual immunity from their mother; in some cases this will interfere with both jabs and prevent sufficient immunity from building up, which is why that first annual booster is so important to enure good immunity.

Distemper - we don't see a lot of it now, because vaccination has been so successful. But the disease has not been eliminated completely, so we still vaccinate. I believe most cases are seen in urban areas nowadays. Most manufacturers state that immunity from the vaccine lasts three years; there is evidence to suggest that it in fact lasts a lot longer, possibly for the life of the dog.

Parvovirus - there are a lot of strange myths going around about the prevalence of parvo. The fact is, dogs DO still die from parvo. I have seen a fair few die and it is not pretty. While young dogs are most at risk (hence vaccination for younger dogs is more important), be aware that it is still possible for older dogs to catch it too.

Leptospirosis - unlike parvo and distemper, which are caused by viruses, lepto is caused by a bacterium which is spread in the urine of rats. We know that rats are pretty much everywhere, but certain areas do seem to have a higher incidence of cases than others. As a rule of thumb, bacterial vaccines do not last as long as viral vaccines, which is why the booster intervals for lepto are 1 year (as opposed to 3 years for distemper, hepatitis and parvo). I was told by the rep for one major vaccine brand that their lepto vaccine gives up to 13 months' immunity, which is the reasoning behind restarting the course of vaccinations if your dog is overdue. However, duration of immunity to lepto may be as short as six or seven months, and in areas with a lot of lepto twice-yearly vaccinations are recommended. Your dog is more at risk if they have access to water which may be contaminated with rat urine, ie dogs that drink from puddles, dogs that enjoy swimming in rivers etc.

Kennel cough - the biggest misconception here is that your dog will only contract the disease if they are in kennels. In fact, as mentioned above, they can catch it from any other dog they meet. Kennel cough is very contagious, and we see a lot of it (3-4 cases a week at the moment around here), but dogs have to be in fairly close contact with other dogs to catch it. So dogs that attend training classes or just sniff a lot of other dogs on walks are at risk. The vaccine does not completely protect against KC (there are so many different strains of viruses and bacteria which can cause this complex disease), but it does reduce the chances of catching it, and generally limits the duration and severity of symptoms if they do get it. In most cases, KC is self-limiting and not serious BUT in some cases it can spread into the lungs and cause serious complications. A bit like some people with 'flu can become dangerously ill with pneumonia etc.

Cat 'flu - there are several viruses and bacteria which can cause the cat 'flu complex. Herpesvirus, calicivirus and chlamydia (different strain to the human form, don't panic) are all long-term infections which stay in the cat's system for a very long period (often for life), flaring up during periods of stress or other illness. A variety of manifestations can occur, ranging from sneezing and eye infections to painful mouth ulceration.

Feline leukaemia (FeLV) - this one of the two 'retroviruses' that affect cats (the other being FIV, which we have no vaccine for in this country). This is spread by contact between cats so if your cat goes outdoors or you have lots of cats going in or out of your household then it is definitely recommended. Once infected, a cat is infected for life and the virus suppresses the immune system, making them very vulnerable to infection and illness. It is usually younger cats who are at risk; once older adults I have read that vaccination is less important, certainly not annually, although this differs to what KVet has said above. I will do a bit of reading. There is an association between an additive in the FeLV vaccine and a certain type of tumour (fibrosarcoma) which can be worrying. It is up to owners to make their choice, but please make sure it is informed and don't believe everything you read on the internet.

Any vaccine can cause any reaction in any animal, rarely. Just like any other drug can cause any random reaction in any animal. It is not always easy to predict. As for the alleged long-term damage caused by vaccines, I'm not sure, I try to keep an open mind. I think it is a matter of weighing up the benefits vs the risks, and I for one try to avoid over-vaccinating.

At our practice we give the full DHPPiL vaccine (distemper, hepatitis, parvo, parainfluenza and lepto) vaccine to dogs every three years, with a lepto only in the years in between. We are starting to bring in a similar regime for cats, with a full vaccination every three years and smaller one in between. While I still think the cat 'flu vaccine is beneficial for indoor cats (the causal agents can be brought indoors on shoes etc), the FeLV vaccine is not always necessary. In any case, FeLV is mainly a disease caught as a young cat and I am less worried about older cats. My ten-year-old cat was given all her jabs for the first few years, but not any more. If someone doesn't want to vaccinate yearly then I am always happy to discuss it with them, and sometimes we decide not to vaccinate (although I always recommend the puppy/kitten course and first booster).

That said, as others above have mentioned, vets are genuinely bound by vaccine manufacturer's directions and if someone chooses to vaccinate outside the protocol laid down by them, I always make sure they are aware of this and make a record of it.

Flea treatments - lots of different products, lots of different regimes. Most veterinary products protect against fleas for 2-3 months and ticks for 1 month. Some people treat religiously every 2 months throughout the year. I don't think there is a right or a wrong; I tend to recommend monthly spot-ons during summer when the ticks are out and about, especially for dogs that go on walks in grassy areas. We can see the odd nasty infection from tick bites (I know from experience, my mum's dog was very ill last year from a tick bite). Often, you won't have to treat against fleas at all over winter, but bear in mind that we do live in centrally-heated houses and fleas can still breed indoors in the winter. Some people don't treat unless they see evidence of fleas in the house or on the pet - that's fine, but remember you will need to treat your house as well if this happens.

Worming - the blanket recommendation is every 3 months, but it is so variable. Again, no right or wrong. All the wormers (spot-on or tablets) only actually last about 24-48 hours in the body. There is no residual effect as there is with flea treatments. The treatment interval will depend on how long it takes for worms to build up again in the body. Definitely worm your puppy or kitten monthly at first, as they will be quite prone to suffering the ill-effects from worms. Once they reach adulthood, their immune system will be able to withstand the worms much better and it is usually only animals with heavy burdens, or who are ill for some other reason, who suffer badly. We worm adult dogs and cats mainly to protect the humans around us, and it is very dependent on lifestyle.

For example, cats that hunt or dogs that pick up dead wildlife will need worming more often than every three months. If you have small children in contact with the pet, then you may want to worm monthly to protect them (certain roundworms and tapeworms can infect humans). On the other hand, a little dog who is owned by adults with no children who only goes on walks around the neighbourhood may only need worming once or twice a year.

Hope all this made sense, sorry it's so long. And it's only my take on things, I don't think everything about routine healthcare is as black-and-white as it could be! And remember, even if you don't have vaccinations done, it is definitely worth an annual health check in any case. Last week I found two heart murmurs and a painful broken tooth during routine vaccine visits, and the owners hadn't known there was a problem until they came in.

KVet

There are a few brands of cat vaccines out there that don't have the additives for the Felv vaccine that have been shown to be a possible cause for Fibrosarcomas. Think Purevax is one maybe? And aye, Felv is more common in younger cats.

vl2588

Thanks for taking the time to post all that Shoshannah! Also, yay for old Fords!

cyberbob

Not saying that all your information is incorrect Shoshannah but I would caution people from taking veterinary advice from random people on a discussion board even if they do claim to be qualified. Your first port of call should be your own vet.

Oldernotwiser

Rev wrote: »

I applaud anyone who takes on rescue cats.

And I genuinely hope one of the rescue cats doesn't bring a disease into your home that your cats may catch.

I don't normally take cats from rescue associations but when I hear of people needing to rehome them directly. With several other cats and two large dogs I need to know about a cat's background to know whether it'll fit in.

cyberbob

Rev wrote: »

I applaud anyone who takes on rescue cats.

And I genuinely hope one of the rescue cats doesn't bring a disease into your home that your cats may catch.

Most people who foster rescue cats keep them quarantined from there own animals to avoid any disease transmission. When we used to fister we would have totally separate areas, food bowls etc to avoid any cross contamination. Its just basic common sense to do this.

wannabepennypincher

Because we have indoor cats we only got the kittens vaccinated as kitten flu can really be quite deadly in kittens according to everything we read. We also just started a booster course for my older cat who turns 8 next year and my diabetic cat who spends a lot of time back and forward from the vets so we feel would be more likely to catch the flu. Like kittens older cats can have a pretty tough time with cat flu and infection can (according to my vet at least) make Charley's blood sugar go haywire as sometimes insulin isn't as effective when they are sick so we decided it was for the best to get the 2 older ones done just in case. We don't do the leukemenia one as they are indoor and our vet agreed that as indoor only they would only need the flu one.

We wormed all the boys when the wee ones arrived for 6 months as one was an ex-feral and we knew he had probaly been hunting (he was fully checked by the vet) and same for fleas. The rescue told us they had been done but I worry so they got done. Since then we haven't but it's something we check for.

uolypool

I worm and flea my rottie every month (he is 20 months) amd he has his injections too.Love him way to much to concider even putting him at additional risk by not doing so.People have said including the vet we see that he only needs to be wormed every three months now but I do it at same time as do flea treatment find it much easier. Also have now seemed to have "adopted" a pup that we were only meant to have for a week whilst owner had a op done but she seems to have staid :eek::eek: so if we do keep her then she'll get the same treatment.

Moody_Mare

Yes all the dogs and horses get their yearly vacs. the horses and dogs are wormed without fail. Never had to use a flea treatmet on a dog yet in 30 odd years.

Jellicat

At the risk of getting shot down in flames I have actually read that yearly vaccination is not always necessary. Some people do think its an exercise in getting money off responsible pet owners, much like the vets pushing vet-approved food (invariably Science Plan) on the customers. Most of the injections we get as humans last a fairly long time (except perhaps flu) we don't have to get tetanus etc jabs every year. I don't have dogs or cats but I would possibly vaccinate them every other year if I did. As for my ferrets, they are prone to getting seizures and fatal bad reactions to vaccinations, so I chose to get them jabbed as babies and not again for a while at least, a lot of ferret owners do this. Its a bit of a catch 22 with ferrets. BF's bunnies get their jabs due to where they live, lots of wildlife so myx would be a big risk for them.