Do you vaccinate (booster) your dog/cat every year?

[juwlz]

Just as in every other walk of life, there are good vets and bad vets. Now you know which one you want to see in future.

 

[buttons]

Just come across this while looking for something else..
http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/health/articles/puppy-shots-and-dog-vaccinations.html

 

[buttons]

My experience of veterinary surgeons in the last fortnight.

My puppy had already had the first vaccination when I picked her up so she needed the second stage. I present her at the vets, a woman in a her mid 40s, so I imagine she'd been a vet for a long time, she stroked her and said what a pretty puppy, that was the extent of her physical examination.

She checked the paperwork and said "Oh we don't have that brand of vaccine so we better start again. I'll give her the initial injection now and and you can come back in 3 to 4 weeks and get the second"

I said "No chance, why would you double up like that, it's so unnecessary. Please find that brand of vaccine or I'll go and find it a vet that uses it."

"Okay" she says "Just give me a moment and I'll see what I can do"

She comes back "We have another branch that has that vaccine if you bring her back in two days time we can give it her then."

Holding up Jazz's ears. I asked. "Can you check her ears, she has a lot of wax but they are not irritating her"

A cursory glance from a foot away she says "Yes she's got mites nothing to worry about probably got them from her mother. I'll prescribe this cream put it in her ears once a day for seven weeks then once a week until the tubes empty."

I left the vets with the medicine and returned two days later for the booster and met another vet. They had the correct vaccine and administered it, he then asked if the puppy was checked over in its last visit I said no not properly, he gave a nice thorough going over, looked into her ears with a scope checked her heart and breathing pads, nails, microchip etc. "she's in great shape he said"

"What about the mites" I said,

"She hasn't got any mites"

"That cream is good then, because the vet 2 days ago told me she had mites"

He checked again about a minute in each ear with Jazz struggling and trying to bite his face off, "your puppy does not have mites"

All done, went back into reception only to be presented with a bill that included the cream for the ears. told them to remove that and after much huffing and puffing from the receptionist, she eventually did, it was like I was deducting something from her wages.​

That a vet was quite willing to double up on a puppies vaccination rather than order one in or send me elsewhere is pretty unforgivable for someone who's supposed to care for animals.

Jazz under a table getting some shade this weekend
View attachment 182703

We have been a regular visitor at our vet for the past ten years. It is a big practice so we seldom see the same vet. My poor old pooch has allergies and later diagnosed with a thyroid deficiency. No two vets are the same, some years ago one vet wanted to remove his inner ears which would have left him stone deaf for what was later found to be an allergy
They all insist on two muzzles and two adults before they see him and for the first five years they knocked him out with a jab too. Most vets are really fantastic and the dog senses this and you don't get a peep out of him but some stand behind the table with a torch and ask you to lift his ear up. He has seen young male and female vets who walk in pat him on the head say hello then sit on the floor face to face with him, he absolutely loves them from the off and doesn't mutter a word.
Owning a big dog can be a chore but they are worth every cent..
Yours is a lovely looking Alsatian by the way, a real stunner..

 

[bigtree]

If you ever have to use kennels or a cattery,the animals meds have to be up to date so you have no choice.

 

[Minxy]

@Jim, ref the 'mites' vet, what's going to happy about her not checking your pup over and worse advising she had something wrong with her that she didn't? I appreciate that you now know which vet to ask to see but others will not be so fortunate.

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[Kim H]

Maybe this is a separate contentious issue, but I do think that pet insurance is manufacturing work for vets and we're all paying the price whether we insure our pets or not.

I think there could be some truth in this, however I'm so glad we have ours insured. We took him on as a 6 month old rescue pup and found out when he was 18 months that he had bi lateral HD. He's now 5 and has just had a hip replacement. The cost so far is £5,500 and he's still got X-rays, consultations and hydrotherapy to go, but he's worth it

 

[Hedgewitch]

I'm absolutely convinced that our previous dog (a rescued Bearded Collie) has immune system damage due to over-vaccination and bitterly regret that when my instinct was not to renew every year, I did not stand up to the vets and refuse the boosters.

Our current dog is only given anything if she needs it - we now have a lovely enlightened vet who is happy to run a Titer Test each year which shows the level of different antibodies present. It would be quicker and cheaper to allow her to be "jabbed" with boosters but I prefer to do the very best I can for her long-term health.

As has already been said, we (mostly) don't use boosters on humans, why should we do so for dogs? Only a cynic would say it's a con by the pharmaceutical industry and vets to get you into the surgery . . .

 

[bellabee]

Maybe this is a separate contentious issue, but I do think that pet insurance is manufacturing work for vets and we're all paying the price whether we insure our pets or not.

I agree with you, entirely.

 

[juwlz]

I did some more checking. At our practice we do now routinely only give Lepto every year, and the rest only every three years.

Lepto titres can only be checked by taking a bone marrow biopsy, which involves a general anaesthetic, so is not really a viable option. (And again, the titres would only measure antibodies, not immunity, although the correlation between the two is generally good.)

 

[Rosemary1]

At our practise I always book a particular vet as I found one of them seemed very keen to recommend expensive treatments. The final straw was when I took one in as he was skidding on his bottom and when he had done this a few years earlier had had to have his anal glands emptying. Vet takes a quick look and tells me the dog needs an operation on his bowels - could of knocked me over with a feather! When I questioned this I was told it was serious and dog was poorly and needed urgent treatment. I tried to explain Tom seemed very well and happy but vet started to sort out a date when he could operate! Vet asked suddenly was Tom insurered and when I said no he said oh well we could try antibotics and more fibre in his diet then instead. That was 3 years ago now

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[juwlz]

At our practise I always book a particular vet as I found one of them seemed very keen to recommend expensive treatments.

Yep. As in any walk of life, you'll find good vets and bad vets. The trick, as always, is to seek out the good ones, and avoid the bad.

 

[gus-lopez]

It's a shame that they force this unnecessarily onto your dogs, it can't be healthy; but then the Spanish are not known for giving a fig about most animals. I think the French are the same and they love their dogs so its surprising, they too insist on it every year when the very same vaccines given in the UK or Belguim last for 3 years. and probably in reality much longer than that.

Not likely to change in the near future after the rabies outbreak here a couple of years back due to someone returning from Morocco with forged paperwork & an infected dog