Do you vaccinate your dog?

[Astrid]

We vaccinate when we first get them, and really only if required by the boarding kennels, or if they happen to be at the vet for something else.

We were ontop of it with our current dog, as she was underfed and abused when we first got her, so we wanted to make sure she was fully covered till she was 100%.

[Heaven]

Yeah, we vaccinate our dog. Mainly because I don't know much about it with dogs and just do what the vet tells me, lol. Don't worry, I'm the opposite with my kids though, haha.

[Shanti]

Thanks for all of your replies

Yeah I know how serious the Parvo virus can be, it's pretty scary.

Our dog we've had for nearly 7yrs now, she's always had her vaxx to schedule EVEN though she never leaves the house the last 3yrs due to her bad legs (arthritis ) and she did her crucial ligament in a while back so she isn't supposed to run around hard or anything. We just let her use the yard space we have which is plenty for her. If we take her out she runs crazy and her leg goes bad again so I suppose we could cut her vaccinations from yearly down to once every 3yrs perhaps...... something to think about.

As for our new little pup, I'm thinking because we want to take her out to the beach etc soon, we'll probably get her vaccinated but just every 3yrs......

Apparently the vaccinations (not sure which one's particularly?) DO last for more than 1yr but vets just advice getting it yearly to get people in the door more often for their annual checkups. I find that sad, that if that is the truth, these dogs are getting injections for something they are already immunised against for the next few years, instead they could be getting far less injections..... and dog owners would save $$$.

Someone told me the vaccinations only cost them like $2 and yet they charge us what $60 or so???? (can't' remember exactly but its expensive). It's wrong IMO.

[Astrolady]

We definitely do. Yearly when she was due. (in the case of our old dog, our new pup is only 7mths old but has had all her current vaccinations)

I read that Parvo can even be brought into the home on the soles of your shoes.

[~ Mylitta ~]

Apparently the vaccinations (not sure which one's particularly?) DO last for more than 1yr but vets just advice getting it yearly to get people in the door more often for their annual checkups. I find that sad, that if that is the truth, these dogs are getting injections for something they are already immunised against for the next few years, instead they could be getting far less injections..... and dog owners would save $$$.

Someone told me the vaccinations only cost them like $2 and yet they charge us what $60 or so???? (can't' remember exactly but its expensive). It's wrong IMO.

The tri-annual vaccines that are available are the only ones that have been studied and proven to be effective for at least three years. The annual vaccine has only been studied and proven to be effective for at least a year. In both cases the vaccines may actually last significantly longer than that but the drug companies can't make that claim because it hasn't been studied and proven. It also depends on the individual immune system as to how long it "remembers" how to fight each particular disease. It's similar to some human vaccines (like tetanus and chickenpox) where at some point the immune system "forgets" and you lose immunity.

In regards to the cost, no vet should ever vaccinate a pet without a health check first, and that is probably the majority of the fee you are paying. I know it seems like Vets make a lot of money because their fees seem so expensive, but healthcare in general is expensive and we are just lucky that for us humans we have medicare to take care of some of the costs. Vets actually make less money on average than a first year people nurse. Two of my bosses (of which there are three) that own the clinic have second jobs just to make ends meet. You don't even want to know what the pay rate for a nurse is, lol. I was a Senior Surgical Vet Nurse and I made less an hour than I could have at Coles.

[krysalyss]

I used to work in an animal shelter and one month we euthanised at least 20 dogs with parvo. It is very infectious and an extremely painful way to die. Plus kennel cough is still always around and just goes on and on. I vaccinate my dog up to a C5, but there is some overlap of time so I don't do it strictly each year. I would vaccinate according to the schedule for puppies though.