I drew blood for titer level testing last week for my 14 month old Leerburg dog Linck ( Sitor vom Leerburg ) when I had him at work with me. (I run a grooming business out of a vet's office)

He had 1/2 of a parvo vaccine at 10 weeks and no other vaccines (at my request). I ran a Parvo/distemper titer and got the results today.. he is showing greater than adequate levels for parvo and distemper...

After doing lots of research on raw feeding and minimal vaccines I wanted to raise a puppy with few or no vacs and a raw diet for myself and see the results. while ONE dog is certainly not a "study" it is confirmation to me that dogs can and DO have their own natural defenses to disease if raised on a healthy diet and with common sense. Many vets will lead you to believe that if you don't have your puppy vaccinated every 3 or 4 weeks that you are a BAD puppy owner and your puppy is doomed. Everyone has to do their own research and make their own decisions but I wanted to share my experience with Linck so far.. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Interesting....You didn't vaccinate for anything else? Not even Rabies?
I only did the puppy vaccines, and just did all the titers last week.I was told his titers show him protected. I did allow the 3 year Rabies booster.
Do you think it isn't necessary?I never thought to ask for a rabies titer...

oh, BTW, Nero will be 2 in January.

Rabies is required by law in all states as far as I know....

If you can go with the 3 year in your state that would be (and has been for me) the route to go. I think some vets may write an "exemption" for your dog getting repeated rabies vaccines and suggest titers in replacement for the vaccine. Not all vets will do this and your dog probably has to have a medical issue in order for them to warrant this legally (i.e. thyroid problem, IBD, seizures, etc...) This is something I plan to look into for my dogs though.... IMO repeating vaccinations over and over without checking for immunity is not necessary and could be dangerous!

Linck has only been vaccinated for parvo (once at half the recommended 1cc injection) and 3 year rabies (which is the same injection as the 1 year, just a different label on the vial)... I did not check a rabies titer at this time but may do that in 3 years when he is due for revaccination. He has had NO other vaccines and if his titer levels in the future show he is protected I will never vaccinate him again. My vet thinks I am goofy for not vaccinating him but just scratched his head when the distemper levels were greater than adequate on a dog never vaccinated for it! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> .....I think he thought he was going to get to say "Told you so" when the lab work came back. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Cindy,
do you have any links explaining the titer levels? Reason why: Had to go to our gov't vet to get a rabies shot for my dog (required for travel) (will have to have a blood test to check for titers in 2 weeks) At least no other vaccinations were required.

We talked about required vaccinations and titer levels. He stated that not all the measured antibodies shown in the titer are the protective antibodies required for proper immunity. In essence the titer could test high, but lack the required antibodies for protection. (of course we went round and round on why I needed to get a blood test anyway!)(Gov't requirements, beyond our control)

I agree w/you, if the dog is fed a good diet and maintained in good health, then he should have a strong immunity. (also good genetics)

My vet also stated that he doesn't believe in Parvo vacs for adult dogs. He has never seen Parvo in an adult dog. However, extremely important for puppies. (he practices in areas endemic in parvo.)

http://www.usaha.org/speeches/rtest97.html

http://www.caberfeidh.com/Titers.htm

Here are a couple links that may be interesting to you Maggie.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Thanks!

Hmmm, I just posted a reply, but it semed to have disappeared???

ok, I'll try again....
So, from what I got out of that 2nd article was that titers, whether high or low show measurable antibodies therefore: protection due to presence of memory cells.
No measurable antibodies in the blood at all mean no response system in place, invading pathogen not recognized.
Yes? No?

I am going to hijack Cindy's thread...

Blitz also has had ONE vaccination, a Distemper Parvo shot at 7 weeks of age. Today we had blood drawn (13months old) and he has high titers on both.

The vet asked when he last had a vaccination. I said 7 weeks... he asked what he had "7 weeks ago" ummm nooooo... the last vaccination he had was at 7 weeks of age.

Off to the waiting room for a while and when he came out with my results he was scratching his head a bit <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I asked to draw a titer at 6 months for my own piece of mind and ended up not doing it because the vet tech verbally beat me up over not vaccinating. I didn't fold, and gee, I sure wish that twit would have been there today!