Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

From The Dr.'s Mouth…Day Three Hundred, Thirty Three

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Last night was Sampson’s yearly vet check-up and I promised I would get back to you about vaccinations.

But before we get to that I want to let you know that Sampson weighed in at 86.5 pounds!  He is down just about 20 pounds from his last annual appointment.  Our vet is super excited about his weight and though she would like him to lose a few more pounds, she says “I can live with this.”

We discussed vaccines. In CT they must have Rabies every three years and Sampson was due for it.  Leptospirosis is on the rise and we have a lot of “wild” life in the area so Leptos was really a no-brainer.

I then asked about Distemper and this is the answer I got.

When a puppy has had the Distemper series and had the booster at one year, my vet is very comfortable doing a booster every three years.  Research shows that MOST dogs that have had the puppy series and the first year booster are safe from Distemper.

BUT roughly four percent of dogs that have had that protocol, can contract Distemper.  Because there is no way of predicting WHICH four percent are susceptible they go with the three year booster, until the dog’s age hits the double digits.

FROM HER MOUTH

She went on to add, by following the three-year booster series they have seen very little vaccine related cancers.  Dogs are still getting cancer, but it is not the kind that comes from OVER VACCINATING.

Sampson got the Distemper booster because it has been four years since his last booster.  As he has just turned seven, it is more than likely his last Distemper shot.

Last night he had three shots, one in his upper back and one right around each hip area.  The vet said he may be drowsy and have a little discomfort.

After dinner I let him out while I did dishes.  After about 10 minutes I realized he was still outside and I grew a bit concerned since we had a bit of snow Thursday night and the temperatures have really dropped.  I went outside and called and called, but I couldn’t hear him and it was dark so I couldn’t see him.  I decided to go in and get a jacket and flashlight.

That’s when I saw him……

Hubby let him in. 🙂

This is the Saturday Morning Blog Hop hosted by Two Little Cavaliers and Life With Dogs….you can get your code here.……well don’t just sit there.  HOP.

 

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Comments

  1. Awww! He’s trying to take up as little room as possible… ‘Shhh. Just lie there and act like a cushion’!

    H and Flo

  2. Aww, little baby all curled up on the couch, he is adorable! I used to have a lovely lab that looked just like him and she never realized that she grew up into a big dog, according to her mind, she was a lap dog.

  3. I so freak out when I don’t know where the dog is. Every so often he climbs into the Middle Child’s bed and won’t come when called. I think he finds comfort in her– she’s his security blanket, even when she’s not physically there.

    • It really frightens me at times, because there are some weird and unscrupulous people out there!

      So he likes the middle child? I bet the middle child takes comfort in that.

  4. Aww he looks so cute all curled up 🙂

    I believe that is the protocol we are on for vaccines and I believe it ends up that the parvo and distemper rotate opposite of each other atlhough this is just from memory I would have to check my records to confirm for sure.

    Don’t you just love being freaked out when you can’t find them…NOT!

  6. I’m glad I’m not the only one to call and call for my pups only to find out they were snuggled up somewhere toasty while I was out freezing! 🙂

    I’m right there with you on the vaccines. They are hard and personal choices to make for our pups. For the puppy, I’ve had to make some of those same choices, and just have to hope I’ve made the right ones. For the older dogs, I’ve been doing limited ones for about the last 12 years. You probably know that you can do ‘titers’ to see if they have immunity for distemper and re-vaccinate if not. So far, I’ve not had to do it. But over the age of about 10 I won’t vaccinate for anything other than rabies and after 14, I won’t vaccinate for anything…But don’t tell anyone! 😉

    • Your secret is safe with me. 🙂 I’m not sure what choices I would make for a puppy but I know you put a lot of thought into it and made your choice based on that.

  7. I am impressed that you took 20 pounds off Sampson in a year. 🙂 Good job. That is not always easy to do. I am also glad he had a good check up.

    See it is that 4% which freaks me out. Vaccines are safe, effective and don’t cost much. We plan to continue with our yearly protocol unless a health issue would prevent it. 🙂

  8. Hi there! Ya know, I knew some recommended vaccines only every 3 years, but I didn’t know cancers were related to over-vaccination. It’s yet another one of those things that I think I SHOULD have known about, but if I don’t know, then alot of others probably don’t either.

    Anyway, thanks so much for posting because you’ve certainly taught me something valuable!