3 years is enough?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I just got this newsletter and found that most of the vaccines that my dogs get yearly are now recommended to be given every three years. Before my next batch of annual shots I plan to talk to the vet about this. Sadly, the doodles get Lyme vaccines, still a yearly recommendation, next month. My vet's office is not recommending the flu vaccine.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/10/27...

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

So are the vets on board with this or are they still just trying to make money? We heard something similar and when we casually asked our vet about it he gave us a crazy look and a shrug! So what to do???

[F, Calla & Luca]

Copy the article and bring it in. There is no law, other than for rabies, that covers vaccinations so we all do it voluntarily. Some vaccines are recommended more often but now it seems three years covers many of them. My vet would have to give me really good reasons to vaccinate more often than the guidelines.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I agree with what you said about the guidelines. Dh said to print it also and talk to them. We are looking into a different vet so we can take it in then. Thanks for sharing!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

My vet recommended the three year vaccines for DHP for Jackdoodle this year. We were already doing the three year rabies vaccine.

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

My issue is much less my vet than my boarding kennel. My vet is more of a you are the owner parent and you decide. He does not use 3 year vaccines (except Rabies), but it shouldn't matter becaue they should have sufficient immunity from the one year vaccines. This year we are doing titers - which my kennel will accept, and if the titers are high, my vet will stand behind them for 2 years. This is not a cheaper option. I want my dogs immunized just not over immunized. I do core vaccines only and Bordatella before boarding as needed.

[F, Calla & Luca]

Maybe you need to show the guidelines to your boarding kennel.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

We do titers for Tacky and he has only had to have the rabies and another (can't remember) the past 2 years. He has had immunity from two others for the past 2 years.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I'm hoping these new guidelines will allow us to avoid the titers too.

[Jennifer and Jack]

do you mean avoid having to have the titer testing done every year to show proof of vaccination? If so I agree, it is expensive, though I most likely will still do it to be sure since Jack is in the public and in a dog park that is home to over 400 dogs on a regular basis.

[F, Calla & Luca]

It seems to me that the vaccinations are good for three years but I'm not sure about 1 year versus 3 year vaccines. I need to do some more reading. also, I might conduct a little survey here. I know some people on DK get titers on their dogs. It would be interesting  to get some idea of what rough percentage show immunity and whether 1 or 3 year vaccines have been used on those dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

JD had been given the vaccination cocktails every year for his first three years. In early 2009, when he was four years old, I did a titer instead. He showed full immunity. (He also got a three year rabies shot instead of the yearly one he had gotten previously.)

This past year, when it had been three years since his last DHP vaccination and two years since his last titer, I was given the option of doing the three year DHP vaccine.

So now he'll get a rabies shot in 2012 and no other shots until 2014, when he'll get the DHP again.

I like that he gets to skip years for vaccines and shots. He gets enough shots, lol.

He gets the bordatella and parainfluenza vaccines intranasally every year.

I have read that there is no difference between the one year rabies shot and the three year rabies shot, it's just labelling. I don't know if that's true.

[F, Calla & Luca]

The plot thickens. But apparently some of the other vaccines have 3 year versions too as Jane said below.