What are your thoughts on vaccinating dogs 12+ years old?
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What are your thoughts on vaccinating dogs 12+ years old?
Depending on the prospective lifespan of the dog Sharon. ....my big boys the life span is 8 yrs (average) my neighbours Shih Tzu is something like 16 yrs I think....
I know what your driving at thought and personally, I wouldn't bother, at least the expensive ones, after they have hit the 3/4 mark. especially if they aren't likely to be exposed anyway (heartworm for house dogs). I'd drop that vaccination.
I've been called a lot of things but never that, lol.Quote:
Originally Posted by MikePal
My 13 year old terrier is living the cushy life of leisure now so I'm opting out on the vaccines. I've always been conscious about over vaccinating, and now that he's an old man I'm hyper conscious about putting anything into his body that he may react negatively to.
if $ isn't your motivation to skip vaccinations, I couldn't see why you would not want to vaccinate your dog.Quote:
Originally Posted by terrierman41
Sorry I was going by the Avatar pic and got confused..:ashamed: ..fixed...Quote:
Originally Posted by terrierman41
Most dogs need to be vaccinated once or twice when young and then again once or twice when they get older, perhaps around 8.
If the 14 yo dog was vaccinated after age 8, I wouldn't do anymore.
I am talking about 5-way here - DAPPV, anything else is a different story.
In the past , the only shots my pups got were from the original vets visit....after that, they were farm dogs, no vet visits unless they were injured...most lived out their lives just fine.
It's only been with the past couple dogs my wife insists they get the gamit of stuff the vets push under the wellness plan.
I've always believed dogs and cats are over vaccinated to begin with. And after having multiple lengthy conversations with someone who recently retired from the vet med field my opinion will never change.Quote:
Originally Posted by Waftrudnir
Believing is what people do when they don't know...Quote:
Originally Posted by terrierman41
Don't take offence, cause it's not meant that way: You ask an honest question, but given a topic like this I bet people will read into it whatever supports their believes.
Vaccines cost money, but on a grand scheme, they are by far the cheapest healthcare intervention known to mankind. They are at least a safe as any other drug, because they are given to a healthy individual and not a terminal ill patient. And, this is what brings us to the risk/benefit/cost/exposure equation.
Yes, if you don't know what you need, a vet will likely sell you what is safe for your dog (pretty much everything) and what he can bill you for. So, if your elderly dog stays indoors 99.5% of the time and has no contact to any other dog and does not chase any critters, I'd say the risk of exposure is extremely low and may not justify the cost
I only vaccinated every 3 or 4 years unless i was competing with the dogs and would update everything just in case. An old house dog or cat I wouldn't bother especially the cat. :)
You should be so lucky! LOLQuote:
Originally Posted by terrierman41
I trust my vet and go with the vet's plan.
13 year old is not due until 2017 and I'd be very surprised if she lives that long.
There is absolutely no way I'm getting my 12 year old setter vaccinated - haven't for a couple of years. Most Vets will tell you the same. It's not about the $$$. It's about wasting $$$ on non-required vaccination and the risks that can come from over-vaccinating.
x2 Ugo other than rabies and heartworm med for an active field dog there is no reason to over vaccinate.
“over-vaccinating”?
I’m not paying anybody’s vet bill, so I’m not going to tell what you should or shouldn’t. I just think that this discussion is quite financially motivated (just as feed discussions most often are) and has nothing to do with risking a dog’s life because of giving him a vaccine.
The only factual discussion where one would use the expression “over-vaccinating” is in the context of potential exposure. For example, regardless if your dog is 6 months or 15 years old, if it spends its entire life in solitude on the sofa plus 5min/day in the same corner of a small backyard, well it becomes evident what vaccine preventable risks your dog is going to be exposed to…
However, if your dog potentially comes in contact with other dogs, perhaps you should talk to your vet about DHPPV (or at least read up on it on some legitimate www) and when you there just ask about Leptospirosis, Coronavirus, Bordetella bronchiseptica etc.
Compared to treatment, vaccines are really cheap. So unless you don’t care about herd immunity and you will shoot your dog before you even think of calling a vet, perhaps we should have a more discerning discussion on what and why.
Keep in mind some regions do have bylaws about rabies vaccination. Personally if it was a pet that didn't interact with wildlife I likely would leave the old bugger to his comfy couch and give him treats instead.
Which is the real point. If my old girl(13 1/2) is still going to the bush /woods I want her to be vaccinated for leptospirosis which is contracted from water /soil where and an infected animal has peed .... very common in ON
When she dies I don't want it to be from lepto .
(I'm not a vet, but from what I read Coronavirus, and Bordetella bronchiseptica cause such minor symptoms that I'm not concerned about them.)
I have kind of a similar view as Sharon on Leptospirosis and Coronavirus (i.e. yes and perhaps not really). My vet is pretty passionate regarding Bordetella vaccine and it's hard to argue given the spread of the disease and how contagious it is (although it's not all that life threatening as far as I'm aware). The other question is if it actually poses a risk to humans.
The other vaccines I want my dog to have is distemper, adenovirus hepatitis and parvovirus (which often come in some sort of combination vaccine).
Rabies is not really a choice (and as my dog does not keep a daily log what critters she was chasing, she'd get it regardless).
On the other hand, I'm really not a believer in the cost/benefit of the heartworm test - at least for a dog that was treated during the previous summer.
Now I want that heartworm test every year. :)
While the preventatives are excellent, and extremely effective (nearly 100 percent), they are not perfect. More likely than product failure is human error. People may forget to give the product (even if you don’t). Or the chewable may not be swallowed, and instead dropped behind the sofa. Also, people don’t always apply the topical product correctly. It happens, it really doesStill, why have veterinarians become so adamant about the heartworm test?
It’s possible that if a heartworm preventative is given to a dog with heartworm disease, there could be a serious reaction due to the rapid killing of circulating baby heartworm in the blood stream. Also, a dog with heartworm must be treated, and early identification makes it easier to treat (with fewer side affects), less expensive to treat, and there’s less suffering for the dog." quote
https://www.google.ca/search?sourcei...+every+year%3f
Just realized this was some off topic. Back to vaccinations and senior dogs
not saying there wouldn't be any value in the test, but if money is tight (again this and having a complete couch potato are the only reasons not to vaccinate a dog IMHO) the test is one thing I would start thinking about it.
the reason (and that is my very personal opinion and there will be many that disagree) is that for a dog that has been treated continuously during the summer months are
a) heartworm is not (yet) as prevalent here as in the southern USA
b) the antigen test will only detect adult female particulates in the blood
c) there is a 5-7 month migration time after infection
d) most vets will end up not prescribe milbemycin due to cost, because the owner is often not willing to pay for it...
e) they might use ivermecin (same as what is used in preventative drugs, which will kill larvae and microfilaria, but only sterilize the adult worms) instead.
this might work if it is given over a very long period in sufficient doses. the problem is that this way we will eventually end up with invermecin resistant heartworms (think of penicillin resistance, because we abused it for so long)
Again, I'm not recommending to take any shortcuts (regardless of the age of the dog), but if you think about not doing what your vet recommends, you better start looking into a lot of details.
Most likely you'll start to agree with your vet's recommendation or at the very least you will be able to have an educated discussion with them thereafter.
not bylaws, it's the health care and promotions act and below is the list where rabies vaccination is mandatory for dogs and catsQuote:
Originally Posted by terrym
Name of Health Unit Effective Date 1. Revoked: O. Reg. 331/00, s. 1 (1). 2. Haldimand-Norfolk Regional Health Unit April 1, 1986 3. Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit September 1, 1986 4. Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox and Addington Health Unit June 2, 1986 5. Peterborough County City Health Unit May 15, 1986 6. Perth County Health Unit October 1, 1986 7. Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit September 13, 1986 8. Middlesex-London District Health Unit November 1, 1986 9. Oxford County March 1, 1987 10. York Regional Health Unit March 1, 1987 11. Huron County Health Unit March 1, 1987 12. Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit April 1, 1994 13. Eastern Ontario Health Unit July 20, 1987 14. Revoked: O. Reg. 331/00, s. 1 (1). 15. Kent-Chatham Health Unit June 1, 1988 16. Leeds, Grenville and Lanark District Health Unit June 1, 1988 17. Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound Health Unit December 1, 1989 18. Windsor-Essex County Health Unit February 1, 1991 19. Sudbury and District Health Unit April 1, 1991 20. Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit July 1, 1992 21. Revoked: O. Reg. 331/00, s. 1 (1). 22. Revoked: O. Reg. 331/00, s. 1 (1). 23. Niagara Regional Area Health Unit July 1, 1994 24. Brant County Health Unit September 1, 1994 25. Lambton Health Unit November 1, 1994 26. Halton Regional Health Unit January 1, 1995 27. Elgin-St. Thomas Health Unit January 31, 1995 28. Ottawa-Carleton Regional Health Unit November 30, 1996 29. Revoked: O. Reg. 66/05, s. 1 (2). 30. Renfrew County and District Health Unit July 1, 2000 31. City of Toronto Health Unit July 1, 2000 32. Peel Regional Health Unit July 1, 2000 33. Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Health Unit July 1, 2000 34. Durham Regional Health Unit July 1, 2000 35. Waterloo Health Unit July 1, 2000 36. North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit September 30, 2001
Ivermectin is used mainly by large kennel owners due to low cost . A kennel of 10 to 60 dogs cannot afford to do the blood test on every Young or Senior dog in a mushing kennel. Ivermectin is the main preferred drug used. In all my years being around these huge kennels not one died of heartworm living in mosquito infested parts of the country. Vets opinions can really vary depending on experience and when I say experience I don't necessarily mean years of experience. Find yourself a vet that is involved in dog sports such as hunting, mushing, skijoring, agility etc. These vets seem and are more in tune with what vaccinations, wormers are really needed because they are around huge numbers of dogs because of these dog sport events. Many famous dog vets involved in dog sports over the years that have made big contributions to the care and health . I searched for a new vet since moving to Sarnia and personally met with four of them before I found the right one for my dogs and my future breeding plans. Not all vets are equal and have walked out on a few over the years because of lack of knowledge or trying to talk me into test or test's that were not necessary.Quote:
Originally Posted by Waftrudnir