4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Lesley]

What do you do?

 

Jazz had all her vaccinations from a few weeks old as we have mangy looking foxes around and deer at the top of the land. She had her 1 year booster and then I wasn't going to bother again. She had her 2 year booster as I took her to the Vet to ask about taking her to France and the next thing I knew she's been vaccinated

 

We have just had a reminder for this year..........not sure whether to bother or not.......

[Olly]

I don't know with dogs, but I know there is a lot of debate about whether or not they are necessary for cats every year. There's a school of thought that says the vaccine remains in the body for a lot longer than just a year, but obviously it's not in the manufacturers' interests to say so .... nor is it really in the vets' interest to promote this idea!

 

I have always had my cats done, mainly because I like to get an 'MoT check' on them annually, and also because at one time I used to use a cattery and they wouldn't accept a cat without vaccinations. I'm not convinced that it's necessary now though.

 

My friend has four cats, and the cost of getting them done was astronomical. She loves animals and she's the sort of person who would go without food herself to make sure the cats were ok, but she did some research on the internet and decided that it wasn't necessary. Her cats have all been fine, but I guess dog diseases are different.

 

I'll ask her where she looked for information but I bet there's quite a bit on the internet about this.

[Redwing]

I havent bothered with the cats this year as one is very old and her kidneys are failing and the vet said not to bother and the other is a house cat anyway so doesnt go out

 

I would always get the dog done but then I am pretty paranoid, I just think they are more prone to pick stuff up than cats

 

I am also worried about invalidating the pet insurance

 

There are plenty of people who never get any of their pets vaccinated though

[Gamebird]

In the past my dogs have had booster injections until they were about 6 or 7. I don't know why I've picked on that age to stop.

 

Oliver (4 years old) mixes with a lot of dogs on a regular basis and I know there is parvovirus in the South East so I am carrying on with his boosters for a while yet.

[Lydia]

I too am wondering whether to bother with my 2 cats. I've always had them done up to now but they're nearly 12 and hardly ever go out these days.

 

Like Olly I do like them to have an annual MOT though.

[Aunty e]

I don't because I don't think it's necessary and I read some research which suggested it could well be harmful. Here is one of the articles I read (although it's not proven, so please don't take it as gospel).

 

http://www.holisticat.com/vaccinations.html

 

Here is another one which recommends less regular boosters.

 

http://www.2ndchance.info/vaccat.htm

 

I have five cats, so yearly boosters would be cripplyingly expensive, but worth it if I thought it would protect them. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't. Dilly for example, wasn't vaccinated at ALL for a year, because she was too underweight, and never got cat flu, or any of the other nasties. She is vaccinated now, but I would never boost her and I've told my mum (who she lives with now, very contentedly) not to give her booster shots. Saffy was vaccinated against cat flu and everything else before she came to live with us, and nearly died from a catflu virus that the vaccine didn't cover.

 

That's just me though, and how I treat my cats, and shouldn't unduly influence anyone else

[Space Chick]

I always get boosters for my dog and cat, my logic is better safe than sorry.

 

I wouldn't forgive myself if they contracted a disease that could have been prevented by a booster jab.

[chickencam]

I have very mixed feelings too. I have just taken my 2 cats to have their jabs this morning but only really because we have family living a fair way away and go away a few times a year. We have to have them boosted to get them into the cattery so that is the only reason that we do it.

[Seagazer]

Hmm this is a tricky one. I normally get the dog and cats done every year. I suddenly realised this year that Sophie hadn't been done since 2006. This was because my dog Sally and cat Molly died that year and the following year we got Cookie and Dave, I think Sophie got lost in the mix of getting them, getting the vaccinations for them sorted out. Then because she hadn't been to the vets she wasn't called in for the booster.

 

I was in two minds about whether to vaccinate or not. My SIL had two cats who didn't have any jabs after the first two. They lived a lot of the time outside. They lived until they were 20 and 21.

 

I always had mine vaccinated. The first two cats lasted until they were 6 and then 7 Smudge was full of tumours and Oscar developed a wasting disease that they couldn't find a cure for. Then I had molly and she died when she was 6 as well (heart attack) . I have to say that Sophie is now 11 and I feel that she is ok although beginning to look a little thin. I did have her vaccinations redone this year mainly because Dave came to us with cat flu and I just wouldn't want her to get it. But deep down I do wonder if I've done the right thing.

 

I get a dog magazine and they often have a debate on whether we need to booster each year or not. I think I would always get the dog done as they tend to get up close and more personal.

[Lesley]

I think I need to read a bit more about it

 

I never even thought about invalidating the insurance. We've already been able to claim back over £300 because Jazz had to spend a day having skin tests for allergy so the insurance has already been worth it.

[Raina]

We don't bother vaccinating our pets (only ever had bad luck with it, Our border Collie became that bad we were thinking about getting her PTS and our cats suffered with really bad hair loss)

 

 

My uncle has a 20 yr old Border Terrier X That has never been vaccinated

 

and my nans 17 yr old westie had never been vaccinated (The westie sadly died this year)

 

When we were in wales we got talking to our neighbor, who turned out to be a vet and he said he only vaccinated his dogs every 3 years

[victoriabunny]

I get my dog done because his insurance requires it and because he goes into kennels at least once a year, and they insist on it. I would probably always get him done even if these factors weren't there to be honest - I saw one of those Animal Hospital-type programmes once which featured a dog which had distemper. The poor dog was really suffering and I wouldn't risk that for my dog.

 

I would never let the kennel cough vaccine lapse either - Charlie had it when we brought him home from the rescue centre, and he was really poorly with it til it went. It's not just dogs in rescue centres or kennels that are at risk either - it's a very infectious illness and they can pick it up from other dogs at the park or in the street, so that's definitely worth vaccinating against.

[The Dogmother]

I've talked to some people who only have theirs vaccinated every 3 years, with Lepto being done every year.

[Chucky Mama]

Parvo is a truly horrible, I have nursed 100's of dogs with it and I would not take any risks. This was in an area of Birmingham where vaccination take up was not as high as it should have been. It got so that I could spot a dog with Parvo just by looking at the expression on it's face - ' a parvo face' - very depressing to see. Those that survive can die suddenly in later life. Many areas are pretty free of 'nasties' but only because of vaccination. You may well get away with it but only because others are essentially protecting your pets by keeping their animals vaccinated. I also know 2 puppies that caught Parvo last year, both had received 'homoepathic vaccines', 1 of which died. I had one of my old dogs (no longer with me) blood tested some years back to see what her level of protection was against Parvo as I didn't want her put at risk bringing the virus home. She was after 6 years of vaccinations immune. This didn't mean that she was immune against everything else though such as lepto so I did continue to vaccinate. There was nothing to be gained from missing the Parvo vacc out as they are usually combined anyway.

[Lesley]

That's very interesting - thank you.

[The Dogmother]

Thanks for that CM

 

My mother's friend had a dog who died of Parvo; it was very quick and devastating.

 

Personally, I have always kept my furries vaccinated. Especially the hounds (past and present); they've all been attracted to fox poo, in fact Ruby rolled in a load last night I was hosing it off when I noticed that she had what looked like a few tick bites... no ticks present though... shame as I love getting them out then burning them! The bites are clean and don't seem to be bothering her, so I'll leave them be for now.

[Nutmeg]

Thanks for that CM

 

they've all been attracted to fox poo, in fact Ruby rolled in a load last night I was hosing it off .

 

Aaaah good old Fox Poo! Always a favourite!

 

Do you know the very useful tip of rubbing in Tomato Ketchup first before washing off?

[The Dogmother]

Yup, and one I always use.

[Yorkshire Pudding]

Thanks Chucky Mama - I had wondered how important herd immunity was and decided to keep up the vaccinations to ensure I wasn't responsible for letting it decline, as well as making sure I protected my own pet. If we keep up the immunity in the animals who tolerate the immunisations well, then those who can't be immunised are less likely to be infected as the 'pool' of non-immune animals will be so small.

 

I had a good discussion about it last year with our vet, when we decided to let Marmite's vaccinations lapse as TBH she wasn't likely to live much longer and was not going out at all. We stuck to annual jabs apart from that last time, and will be doing the same with our new cat when he arrives in a couple of weeks.

 

He thought that every two years would be more than adequate to maintain the herd immunity, but yearly is endorsed by the vaccine companies and places like insurance companies and catteries. In addition, the surgery tries to keep patients reasonably up-to-date to reduce the chances of infection on their own premises.

 

 

 

Incidentally I heard that ketchup is also good for removing skunk smell if you're unlucky enough to get sprayed (not that it happens often in Leeds.... )... magic stuff!

[Chucky Mama]

All makes perfectly good sense Yorkshire Pudding. We need to look at pet vaccinations in the same way that we would Small Pox which was the one of the great human mass vaccination sucesses. I know many vets that have seen Parvo virus but have never seen Distemper and some of the over viruses that we vaccinate for. This doesn't mean that we should stop, it means that we are doing the right thing. I am tending to talk about dogs here but the same applies for cats. It is tricky as of course cats can still get strains of cat flu that the vaccines don't cover but it is still worth while.

[Lewis]

I'd get boosters done because I've seen cases that could have been avoided with boosters. I should be at the vets next week so will ask what he thinks about 2/3 years.

 

You could phone the vet and see what he/she thinks

[Lesley]

I think Vets will always say it needs doing - because it makes money and also they need to cover themselves

 

I will check Jazz's insurance - and then probably take her along for a check up and see what they say. It's about time Jazz got on the scales anyway..........possible as long as there are no dogs in the waiting room

 

.......is Jazz the only one who always piddles on the waiting room floor from excitement?? She loves going to the Vets.

[The Dogmother]

Aaaawww, bless her!

 

Ruby doesn't mind it at all and loves being weighed so that she can show off her sit and stay... it's one fo the few times that she actually does keep her bottom still

[Nutmeg]

Not quite, but Maisy does get all excited and pulls towards the consulting room door and THEN realises once the door is shut, where she actually is!

 

Our vet advised to keep up with boosters as she swims/drinks in the canal and pond!

[Blackrocksrock]

I would also have my dog done every year for Lepto for rats on the farm especially and also depending of where you walk her I would get it done for parvo. The vaccination programme for Intervet is now 1st year large vaccination, 2nd year large vaccination and then lepto for 2 years and then the third year the large vaccination which has Distemper, Hepatitis, Lepto, Parvo virus and Parainfluenza, and so on with 2 years of just the Lepto.