Are boosters really necessary?

mummysnoo Tue Jun 07, 2011 9:36 am

Vaccinate (but don't over-vaccinate!)

There are mixed feelings in the Veterinary world about the benefits of vaccinating annually, other than as a puppy or kitten, which is essential (see this report on the BBC website and on the 'anti vaccination side' these comments). Vaccination is about stimulating a pet's immune system to protect it against infectious organisms that can cause death in many cases (parvovirus) or are highly infectious, causing widespread disease when outbreaks occur (cat flu) and needs informed and scientific opinion. If in doubt talk to your veterinary surgeon. If you're not happy with his response ask another!

On the subject of vaccination Veterinary Surgeon John Burns of Burns Pet Nutrition says

'My policy is that a puppy/kitten should be vaccinated by conventional methods in the usual way. Distemper, parvovirus and leptospirosis are too dangerous to be treated lightly and I do not have sufficient confidence in Homeopathic vaccination......

'In the USA and in the UK some veterinary practitioners now recommend distemper vaccination every three years with an annual parvovirus and leptospirosis booster. Many years ago I stopped recommending annual booster vaccinations. I believe they are unnecessary and may be harmful in that they may over-stimulate the immune system.

This is only my opinion, which I am unable to back with solid evidence but I am sure many dogs with skin disease suffer flare-ups after being given boosters. Also, I do not recall a single case where a dog which was vaccinated as a puppy but had no boosters ever caught distemper or parvovirus.'

Here's an interesting comment from a Veterinary Practice (Park Pets based in the South East of the UK)

'Evidence is now available that suggests protection may be longer lived than annually. Accordingly there have been accusations from some quarters that vets and vaccine companies are place their profits before the well being of pets. The vested interests that need to be declared are:

* Some veterinary practices unfortunately are heavily dependant on income from vaccinations
* It would be very costly to vaccine companies if the policy of annual vaccination were changed to once every five years for example.

Thankfully attitudes do appear to be changing and certainly it is now widely acknowledged that less frequent vaccinations against some of the diseases is possible.'

They have a good article on Vaccination with sensible advice

maggieh Tue Jun 07, 2011 6:33 pm

I never vaccinated my cats after their first couple of years and quite honestly wouldn't bother with the dogs except for the fact that we use Barking Mad for holiday care and along with most kennels they insist that we provide evidence of annual boosters.
Maggie

witchy Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:00 am

Interestingly this topic (vaccination) was the one I was covering with grandson to-day for his science course. I'd need to know the vaccine content to comment technically but in brief: some vaccines give lifelong protection but others do not. Immunity can be tested with blood samples so it would be worth testing an adult dog once and if immune leave off.
Previously I had a vet who swore thatvaccination wasn't necessary over a certain age. Our current vet advised me that a couple of years agho there was a spate of disease in unvaccinated older dogs locally and suggested we revaccinate ours. I did but am a bit sceptical.

witchy Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:02 am

Cats. I once lost a cat I adored because he wasn't vaccinated. He never needed to be as he was a house cat but just once I had to put him in a cattery for a few days. He died shortly afterward from disease he could have been vaccinated against.

Charlie Sat Jun 11, 2011 8:09 am

None of my dogs ever gat boosters and all live to a good age with no skin problems and touch wood, unless t's a deep cut or something internally wrong I don't go to vets either.

So many people I know (from the past or recently) have thier dog injected and seem forever to be at the vets for one reason or another. A lady I once knew had te boosters for Roscoe regularly and poor Roscoe suffered so badly with itchy skin between his toes and feet and his body was always itchy.
It was costingher a fortune in vets fees just to walk in the door, I bet they rub thier hands together when they knew she was coming so times her money by a few hundred clients per surgery and thats a nice Ferrari per vet.

mamfa Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:36 am

This has come at the perfect time as Pippin is due her boosters, I always thought that they were a necessity as even the PDSA urges people to have them and I don't think they make a profit from them (although from what I've been told they charge about £30) My vet wants £50 to do Pippins.
I am going to look into this further now before I decide if Pippin really needs to have them

Sponsored content

Are boosters really necessary?

Are boosters really necessary?

Re: Are boosters really necessary?

Re: Are boosters really necessary?

Re: Are boosters really necessary?

Re: Are boosters really necessary?

Re: Are boosters really necessary?

Re: Are boosters really necessary?