I got that tee-shirt at the Blog Paws Conference this past May and I absolutely love it!!
Siriusly you guys, Leptos is the only vaccine I voluntarily give my dogs.
I’m not anti-vaccine by any means, but I do question certain ‘protocols.’
Vaccine Doses
I’m uncomfortable that an 8 pound Maltese would get the same amount of vaccine as a 90 pound lab and that a 90 pound lab gets the same dose as a 130 pound Newfoundland.
Frequency
I also question the frequency of vaccines and if our pets (and we) are protected longer than we think we are as well as what immunities are passed down through parents who have been vaccinated.
Combination vaccines
Merriam Webster defines a vaccine as such, “a preparation of killed microorganisms, living attenuated organisms, or living fully virulent organisms that is administered to produce or artificially increase immunity to a particular disease.”
These organisms work with your immune system to develop antibodies to help fight off that particular disease. Personally, I think combination vaccines are too much for one little immune system to handle. And if my dog is already working their immune system fighting off an infection, I pass on the vaccine until (s)he is feeling better.
And next year, when both of my dogs are scheduled for Leptos and Rabies, I will space their shots about two weeks apart. It may seem radical to some people, but I feel very strongly that their immune system should be able to focus on one thing and one thing only.
Leptospirosis is a Zoonotic Disease
Washington State Department of Health defines Zoonotic, “A zoonotic disease or zoonosis (plural is zoonoses) is any disease of animals that can be transmitted to people.” And Leptos qualifies as a zoonotic disease.
Newer vaccines vs established ones
Leptospirosis is a fairly new vaccine, at least in my area. Relatively new as compared to say Rabies. I had read an article written by a vet who felt the vaccine didn’t last for a year and that the vaccine might in fact lessen symptoms so I wanted to be sure I mentioned this to my vet.
Dr. Soutter says the vaccine covers four strands of the Leptos virus and two of the strands are the ones we see in this area. She feels the vaccine may last a little less than a year or perhaps even a little longer than a year, but she is very comfortable giving the vaccine.
It’s been a bad year for ticks
I always ask about Lyme. We have a lot of ticks and although we use a natural tick preventive, we still get the occasional dog tick. Normally I find and remove them before too long, but the little deer ticks that traditionally spread the Lyme are very hard to find.
Dr. Soutter said the Lyme vaccine has gotten better in terms of protection, but she still sees a lot of reactions to it, reactions such as lumps, painful injection sites, etc. We passed on the Lyme vaccine.
We did have blood drawn for the Four Way Snap Test, which tests for Heartworm Disease, Lyme Disease, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis. Dr. Soutter says with this test, no news is good news. Fingers and paws crossed we don’t get a call.
Heart Like a Dog
So what was Sampson doing while he was being poked, prodded and pricked?
He was getting rubbies, lovies and treats from Chris.
Sampson lives in the now. He is not worried about what he did yesterday or what will happen tomorrow. He embraces each moment for what it is.
In my opinion, that’s a great attitude to have and something I’m striving for in my life. What about you?
Is Sampson a black belt in karate now? 🙂 Just curious as to what the black belt around his midsection is for.
I’m also striving to be more like Callie, Shadow, and Ducky by learning to live in the now. Sometimes I do much better than others. Last night I was horrible at it; but awoke this morning feeling much better having let go of last night’s issue. Now it’s time to put the Kindle away and take Callie and Shadow to the park for a midday walk.
We space rabies and lepto too. Of course since rabies is a three year vaccine, that is simple. We are on the three year protocol for other vaccines. We may do titers for Thunder next time he is due for vaccines. My vet is not opposed to that at all, but he is careful to explain that the cost of the titer and the vaccines are about the same. Sometimes people don’t want to pay for the vaccines if they have paid for the test. He is careful to explain that there is a possibility a vaccine may be needed depending on the titer results.
There are good treatments for Lymes now and usually less difficult than the vaccine, imo. Hope the blood tests are clear. 🙂
Luckily we don’t have to worry about too many vaccines here. Have a marvellous Monday.
Best wishes Molly
We always get the LEPTO thingy… mostly beclaws there are so many DEER in our area and they really spread it.
Mom will not allow us to be given more than ONE thingy a WEEK… If we need more than One at the time… She will DRIVE the long way to our Dogtor to get the Second one the NEXT week.
OMD OMD OMD OMD THE DOGS of Blogville 2014 Calendars JUST ARRIVED and they are BEAUTIFUL WONDERFUL FANGTASTIC.
THANK you so very VERY much fur doing this fur us!! WOW the colors are all so BRIGHT and the PICTURES look FABULOUS. BRAVO !!!
I see the post office found you. 😉 I’m glad you like them. I think they turned out beautifully!!
The vet talked to us about lepto in case we travel w/ Rita, but we don’t have it here so didn’t need to get the shot.
Ticks are not too bad here either, as long as you don’t go off-trail when hiking. (What is the natural treatment you use for that?)
Oh… I see the calendars have been sent out – can’t wait to get ours!
When I was giving Honey the lepto vaccine, we also spaced it out from the other vaccines. What’s another short walk to the vet if it gives her body less to deal with at one time?
Since we’ve given up the car, however, and spend less time with Honey at the lake, we don’t find lepto worth while. She’s most likely to be exposed to lepto in places we can no longer get to.
I’m glad my vet is always wiling to have discussions each year about what vaccines are worth giving her.
My guys are due for the lepto…just so unsure of it…we have alot of wildlife in pa…so still making up my mind..lyme i think i will skip.but…lepto could be deadly. I never, ever gave my other dogs these shots…but seems like its on the ris
Just got my Blogville calendar – looks awesome! We only get the most necessary vaccines. As far as lymes goes, the vaccination is not even 100% so why bother? We use the tick stuff when we have to and leave it at that. So many vets just vaccinate for the money, we are lucky to have found one that puts health before cash!
My old vet recently started recommending Lepto because studies have shown 10% of our rodent population is infected. But the vet couldn’t give me any info on the rate of infection in our pets so I passed. My rule of thumb is that if my vet can’t give me statistics on infection of actual dogs, then the problem isn’t wide spread enough to warrant the risks of vaccination. And we are now entering the titer phase of our vaccination protocol with the girls – I decided years ago to continue with the parvo/distemper vaccinations until they were 8 and then start titering. My views on vaccines were cemented in the less is more philosophy a few years back when I asked my vet about titering and length of vaccine protection to which his answer was “it’s 3 years because the manufacturer says so” and could provide no independent scientific evidence supporting what the manufacturer said and we all know big pharm is motivated solely by profits. That’s also when I decided to start taking the dogs to a holistic vet who doesn’t think I’m crazy for questioning the status quo.
My vet said the Lepto and Rabies vaccines used to be 2-in-1. Now they’re separate. Cupcake gets them both about a month apart.
We talked a little on Facebook already, but I just wanted to add one thing – thanks for the info/thoughts about Lyme. We have a lot of ticks around here, and I know people and dogs who have contracted Lyme. But we passed on it for Cricket, even though I was unsure about it. The other dogs got theirs. Sheba being a golden retriever is just so hard to check for ticks, but Cricket is just a little short haired beagle so it’s easier. But I still wasn’t sure we were doing the right thing, so I was glad to hear what your vet said about it (and what Emma said too). Our vet recommended it but we did not bring Cricket back to get it.
Lepto is a serious disease if your pet gets it and like you mentioned it can be spread to humans so need to keep up with that vaccination. We space our vaccines out as the pet gets older. Norman is 13 and has all vaccinations each year of his life until about 8 then dhpp and rabies was spaced out by 3 years and bord, lepto, lymes is still yearly. None of my dogs have ever had any problems with vaccinations but I do see dogs that do have reactions and dogs do come down with issues but not convinced that they were all vaccine related. Have to do what you and your vet feel is right for you and your dog and your environment.
We’re careful, too, with all our critters. Since we live in the country, we do the lepto, but so far we’ve passed on the Lyme. We’ve also had conversations with our vet about older dogs and just how much they need various vaccines. It’s a tricky path to navigate.
It never occurred to me that vaccines should be spaced apart. It makes sense, though. Our vet gives rabies and DHLPPC every three years instead of annually, which is what my previous vet had done.
I don’t currently get the lepto vaccine for my crew, but it is the one I always am not sure if I’m doing the right thing with. As for the others, I get them the three year rabies and I titer for parvo and distemper. If there was a titer for lepto it sure would make my decision a lot easier!
It seems Toby and Sampson agree about how fun the vet is, regardless of shots, bloodwork and the like. 🙂