Leptosprirosis

[F, Calla & Luca]

I have my dogs vaccinated for leptospirosis. My vet had a dog die from it a year or two ago, so when I asked her about it a couple of years ago she agreed it was a good idea. A breeder just posed this on another forum. It's about a 16 week old puppy she had sold to a family at 8 weeks , who had been extremely ill recently.
"Contacted it right in this woman's back yard. She lives in the city, has a fenced in backyard, but has many squirrels and wildlife there too.
Louie is on two different antibiotics, has to have titers done now to
check his kidneys and is going to be a close watch for a few weeks
still. Something to consider whether or not having your puppies
vaccinated for Lepto..."

[F, Calla & Luca]

How does that work out cost wise? Do you only do the titers every few years?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes; we did it in 2009, and this year he only had an exam & the bordatella at his yearly check-up. It was the least expensive annual check-up bill I've ever had. Although I haven't done the math, I believe that if I averaged the two years, it wouldn't be any more than if I'd done the regular exam with shots each year, although that first year's bill was a killer. I think they want to do the titer again next year, but I've heard of people going three years in between, which would result in a savings over all.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Oh, I like that. The last visit for my two was $500. That was for checkups and shots and they are due for Lyme, I think it is, in the fall.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Thanks for bringing it to my attention. I will check with my vet and my records to see if my guys have had this immunization.

[Natasha]

My friend's dog had a horrible reaction to this vaccine earlier this year. It was at a Banfield so I don't know if it was the new or old vaccine.

Within a few minutes, she started trembling, shaking, slamming her head into the ground (violently), her eyes swelled up and she started having respiratory problems. The good news was that they hadn't left the parking lot so they were able to quickly get her back into the vet.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Not a fan of Banfield.

[shelly]

That's terrible! Tori's reaction didn't start until we were home about 1/2 hour after she received it... it was real close to closing time, so I was thankful we made it back, or else it would have been a costly visit to the ER...Glad everything turned out ok for your friend's dog? Just out of curiosity, what breed was the dog? Maybe some react more than others????

[Natasha]

She's a cross most likely between a german shephard and perhaps a collie? They rescued her. She's great - a rescue - and she's been healthy aside from that reaction. Agree on the Banfield comment.

The vets said that some dogs just can't tolerate the shot. They didn't indicate that it was breed specific.

[shelly]

When I discussed this with those breeders, and even a bit w/ my vet... they all agreed that the 'white-footed' breeds (that would include the collie and aussies) have more reactions to that as well as using Hartguard as opposed to interceptor... BTW ~ Tori gets sick from Hartgard too.

[F, Calla & Luca]

White footed breeds? Why would that be I wonder.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I don't know about "white-footed" breeds, but collies and related herding breeds including Australian shepherds can have a genetic predisposition to ivermectin sensitivity, and other drugs as well. Here's a good article about it:
http://www.mwcr.org/be_aware.htm
Natasha's friend's dog is a mix of two of the breeds known to be affected by mult-drug sensitivities.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Interesting. Maybe the white feet have nothing to do with it.