TaraBear's Titer Tests

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I thought I would update you with the results of Tara's titer testing in case some of you have an interest in or questions about titer testing in lieu of vaccinations. Tara is the first dog that I am doing titer testing on instead of doing scheduled vaccinations for Parvo and Distemper.

So far she has had the following vaccinations for these two diseases:

1 Distemper/ Paro at 9 weeks

1 Parvo-12 weeks

1 Parvo-15 weeks

When she was due for her 1 year booster I had her titers tested instead and they were strong meaning her body was still producing  a large number of antibodies against those illnesses.

She is now 3 years old and I had her tested again last week.  I was pleased to find out that she is still showing strong immunity against the Parvo and Distemper viruses.

At this point I plan to have her titers tested again in 3 years.It is certainly raising questions in my mind about the frequency of vaccinations that are recommended for our pets.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I will talk to my vet about this soon. But I still will likely get some of the vaccines. Lepto is around here and it is so easily missed and fatal. I would love to see some definitive, scientific evidence that vaccinations cause autoimmune disease and what the likelihood is etc. As to rabies, dogs here cannot be licensed without 3 year rabies. I think the liability of not vaccinating would be great. I'm also not sure if my town would look into a non renewed license and to top it all off, I'm on the board of health : )

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Sounds like there might be a conflict of interest....LOL!

I agree it would be nice to have more research done in the area of autoimmune disease/vaccinations. There is no way to really know at this point but for me, once a titer shows immunity is present, what is the point of another vaccination?

Yeah, rabies is a big issue because of it being transferable to humans. I think the laws are all pretty similar between states. Oregon has started cracking down on rabies exposed animals and if your animal has never had a rabies vaccination and has been exposed it is euthanized.  If you have evidence of your animal having had one rabies shot, even if it is outdated, they will quarantine.

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I plan on doing Coopers titers this year (she is almost 3). I am very concerned about over vaccinating, especially as she has had a sensitive tummy since the vet gave her a second DA2PP vaccination only a few months after she had it at her last check up

Good to get feedback - all the vets I have spoken to say its a waste of money

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

LOL! I think what they mean is it's money you could be giving THEM instead of the lab! LOL!

Glad to hear you are trying the titers! I'm interested in knowing how strong Cooper's are since she is the same age as Tara. Maybe you can do a post?

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

does anyone know if pet insurance companies will accept titers?

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

I'm pretty sure that my PetPlan would not cover it because they only cover illness or injury. Nothing preventative or checkups or dental maintenance related.  Plus the cost is less than my deductible. :(

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

sorry, I dont mean paying for the titers, I mean accepting titers instead of vaccines - my insurance says cooper needs to upto date on vaccines

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Kaytlin, this is a good question! I wonder about this too. Let me know if you find out, since we have the same insurance plan.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

Sorry,Kaytlin I don't know about that. PetPlan has never mentioned anything about vaccinations to me in regard to Tara. Now I know not to bring it up though! LOL!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Thanks for posting these results. When I first glanced at the title of the discussion, I thought, "oh boy, what is Ricki up to now...LOL!" Glad to see, at second glance, it said "titer." Way to go, Ricki!!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

LOL! Laurie you crack me up! Time for an eye exam!!! LOL

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

OK, so this is all new to me although I have seen it mentioned here before. So stupid question #1 If you get the titers instead of the shots, do they take awhile to get the results? If they are not considered "good" you have to get the shots anyway?? And pay for both? #2 Do only certain vets do this and can you demand it even if they don't recommend it? UGH-both girls are due in April and I can pretty much guess that the vet will be against it. Just took my cat in for his yearly Rabies and distemper and he stays upstairs away from the dogs so he should be safe anyway a waste of $93.00??? #3 How often do you have to get teh titers to make sure they are still safe???

So glad Tara is good to go and healthy!