Yearly jabs

Janey's latest post made me think - and remember - and wonder what you think?

Of course, we all get our puppies protected from all the nasties that we can - distemper, parvo, etc etc.

Our vets, as we all know, encourage yearly booster jabs to protect against these same diseases.

What I wonder is - how necessary are these yearly jabs for our dogs? After all, we as humans get jabbed in our early years against diptheria, polio etc - even mumps and measles for the younger ones amongst us, but we humans don't have to have yearly boosters do we?

Does anyone know why dogs should have yearly boosters?

There are certain vaccines that last 3 years, and will only be administered when needed, there are certain jabs that are needed to be boosted yearly.

Moo had her jabs and it consisted of 3 needles and 2 weeks later (tomorrow) another 3 needles. Where as boosters is just 1 needle, once a year.

It does depend on what viruses that are a risk present where you are and I have always been, if she doesn't need it then why have it. But after her having 6 needles in 2 weeks as opposed to 1 every year I know what I prefer.

Some don't have them at all, but moo loves to hunt and catch things and it makes me feel safer knowing she is up to date.

I know some people don't think they're needed, and some people think every three years is right. Personally, I'd rather just go with the yearly boosters as recommended. It may not be right, but I feel safer with it.

I also wounder about this when wild dogs/wolves don't get injected ever year they seem to be ok.

According to my vet and many vets worldwide yearly vaccines are not needed. Everybody should get the puppy ones done & the 1st yearly booster. Then it's every three years unless there is evidence of a high occurrence of a certain illness in your area. Parvo, for example, only lasts for 1 year, but it's only against one strain of parvo (parvo is a virus & therefore mutates regularly) but unless there is a specific problem you probably don't need it yearly. Distemper and Leptospirosis jabs last 3 years.

Janey, why did you need to get Moo's done from scratch?

Billybunter wrote:I also wounder about this when wild dogs/wolves don't get injected ever year they seem to be ok.

I dont think you can compare the imune systems of wild animals to domestic dogs tbh ... Max hasnt had his booster this year cus he had an ear infection at the time it was due and I cant make my mind up whether of not to bother at all ... Zac (last staffy) never had any boosters all his life

Rolo will be getting his first boosters next week, (he's 14mths) he mixes with so many dogs and attends kennels occasionaly so for him it's a given, and I trust my vets advice on what's needed when. My old Collie i stopped vaccinating him 3 years ago. He doesn't go to kennels and I figure by now he has built up a fair immune system, he also used to get sick after some of the jabs and at 14 years old now he just has regular check ups and kennel cough.

Andy wrote:

Billybunter wrote:I also wounder about this when wild dogs/wolves don't get injected ever year they seem to be ok.

I dont think you can compare the imune systems of wild animals to domestic dogs tbh ... Max hasnt had his booster this year cus he had an ear infection at the time it was due and I cant make my mind up whether of not to bother at all ... Zac (last staffy) never had any boosters all his life

No, you can't compare wild dogs/wolves to domesticated dogs. For a start, if a wild dog/wolf falls ill it either survives or dies, there are no vets to intervene. If it survives it might be permanently damaged & so will die afterwards. There have been cases where whole packs of wolves have been wiped out by epidemics of distemper, for example, so they are as prone to these diseases as domestic dogs are. It's just that you don't see it or hear about it because they are not somebody's pet.

kelpie wrote:Rolo will be getting his first boosters next week, (he's 14mths) he mixes with so many dogs and attends kennels occasionaly so for him it's a given, and I trust my vets advice on what's needed when. My old Collie i stopped vaccinating him 3 years ago. He doesn't go to kennels and I figure by now he has built up a fair immune system, he also used to get sick after some of the jabs and at 14 years old now he just has regular check ups and kennel cough.

After Rolo's 1st booster he shouldn't need the whole lot again for another 3 years. If you want, you can have the Parvo jab yearly, but that's up to you & what levels there are of Parvo in the community.

I give the intitial vaccines, then a booster at 12 months. Then just get a booster every 2 or 3 years unless the vets confirm there is a high parvo risk. Like this year everyone had a top-up and Kali-mist had an extra booster vaccine on top of her puppy jabs.

Logan had his first annual booster on Monday. I will always get him them, he is serious for picking things up when out of walks and licking etc so I feel safer with them. However, my last dog rarely went to the vets in general and she was a as fit and strong as any dog and lived until 14/15.

With our Taz, we did the normal puppy injections and then the booster at 12 months and the Kennel cough Vaccine. We didn't do anything after that though apart from Worming etc.

He lived a happy healthy life with no problems until his sudden death at age 11.

We only ever boarded him in Kennels once , I was told if they are with other dogs unknown to you often or are inclined to eat things from the floor, to do the top up boosters every 3 yrs as well as the 12 month one.

I'm actually one of the who do not vaccinate my dogs. I will be titre testing when the time comes as my vets does it

I also will not be giving future pups any vacs unless the titre shows low immunity

patch dhad his puppy ones and is due 12 month in may

Caryll wrote:
Janey, why did you need to get Moo's done from scratch?

I had a very lengthy chat with my vet, who I trust, and I asked straight out about how long they last etc (your name came up lol), and I came to the decision that after everything Moo has been through recently if she ever picked up something that could have been avoided I wouldn't be able to forgive myself.

Her last vacs where 3 years ago and now I want to go by what my vet recommends so we have started again, now with just 1 yearly booster

my dog only gets the puppy jab

For £24 a year to just be on the safe side, I am sure we can all afford that for our babies.

wimpy wrote:For £24 a year to just be on the safe side, I am sure we can all afford that for our babies.

it's not about being able to afford them, many of us do not believe in giving jabs if our dog already has immunity

Thank you everyone, you have all been most helpful.

Kuchar is due his first booster next month, and I will get that done. I was wondering about whether it was really necessary year after year after that, and I must admit that I did not do it with my dobermanns after they reached maturity and they were fine. Maybe it's because I am getting older and more cautious, or whether it's because the dobes were "mine" and Kuchar is "my son's dog" I don't know, but whilst I want him to be protected, I don't want him subjected to unnecessary injections.

Kuchar was signed in to our vet's Puppy Club, which for £10 monthly covered the jabs, monthly Advocate, micro-chipping, and 10% off Science plan food and neutering. I know when I go back for his booster I will be urged to join their "Fit for Life" plan at £14 per month, again to cover the above. I don't use Science plan, can't see the need to get him neutered, he has been chipped, so that just leaves the booster jabs and Advocate and I'm thinking that on balance I'd be better off financially not joining that plan.

Once again, thank you all for your advice.

wimpy wrote:For £24 a year to just be on the safe side, I am sure we can all afford that for our babies.

It isn't about the money. My vet, along with many others, believe that we, in the UK (and possibly worldwide) over vaccinate our dogs. Why pump vaccines into them when the previous one han't anywhere near stopped working yet?

Mind you, I wish my vet only charged £24!

It isn't about the money. My vet, along with many others, believe that we, in the UK (and possibly worldwide) over vaccinate our dogs. Why pump vaccines into them when the previous one han't anywhere near stopped working yet?

Mind you, I wish my vet only charged £24!
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Me too!! Over here they are $86 EACH and booster is $99 per year

There are many research articles on the over-immunisation of dogs and cats; just Google it. It's a minefield. The drug companies make millions each year and they ensure that they have reps who are constantly speaking to the vets. Without vets to administer these vaccines then the drug companies make nothing, of course your vet will tell you they are essential.
It's all personal preference but I do think the drug companies play on guilt of doting pet owners. My puppy has had his first injections but I will be doing some serious research before just taking him to the vets to have an injection every year.

I find a jab once a year more reassuring and easier Xx

If Moo caught something that could have been prevented I wouldn't forgive myself. Sorry to repeat Xx

I got the puppy jabs as I already had dogs who's background I didn't know but for 90% of lexis life she didn't get booster jabs, I don't think they are necessary.

She got a parvo one this year because there were some confirmed cases in the area but I don't know how long that lasts so will have to ask.