I'm looking for advise on whether vaccinating pets at home is a good or bad idea. And by home vaccination, I'm talking about buying the vaccines online and administering them without "vet supervision". It seems legal, from what I've research. The only risk I know of is vaccine reaction.

The reason I'm interested is because I'm tired of paying the vet $40+ to tell me my pet is healthy. I was a vet tech, and I know what a healthy dog and cat looks like, and I know how to give vaccines.

How would you handle proof of vaccination when boarding a pet?

Hi Michele,

Vaccines are a hotly debated topic for some of us here.
If you have not yet read this, I would suggest that you do, just for your information.
http://leerburg.com/vaccinosis.htm

It is an entirely personal decision, and you have to weigh the pros and cons of this yourself.
That said, I know there are members here who do chose to vaccinate themselves at home.
If you have the knowledge of how to give the shots, then I assume you could do this with no problem.

Currently, I don't board any of my animals. I would say one way of avoiding this dilemma would be to hire someone you know to house sit the dogs/pets while you are gone.

Setting aside the debate, I say that if you are comfortable giving the vaccine yourself and order from a reputable company where they are shipped in a proper manner, go for it (we can buy them at co-op here, but I'm not very confident in *their* consistency in properly storing the vaccines).

The main reason I personally believe one might take their dog to the vet for at least a bi-annual exam (minus vax if you choose) is to keep that relationship with your vet, so when you need him or her at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning, you won't have trouble getting someone to reply to your calls. If you live near an emergency clinic that's probably not an issue, but in a rural area like ours where the one vet clinic is all there is around, you better hope the vet likes you if you call at 3 a.m.! Not that they won't treat your dog, but they'll charge you "out the wazoo" for every little thing they do.

If you've got a good, ongoing relationship you've got a good chance of getting info over the phone and avoiding the emergency trip if at all possible. BTDT!

Additionally, here we can still purchase the vaccine directly from the vet and administer ourselves.

Home vaccination is legal for most vaccines. Rabies vaccinations must be given by a vet to be legal in most states.

For boarding, I'd just keep your receipts and the packaging for proof.

I do annual check-ups and HW testing with my dogs even though I do minimal vaccinations. I'll be adding blood work to that for my senior dog. It was an annual visit that picked up my dog's heart murmur which led to her diagnosis and medication for mitral valve regurgitation. She still looks and acts perfectly healthy so without the vet picking up on it, I'd have never known about it.

I vaccinate my own dogs. It allows me to pick the protocol, I know my vaccine was stored correctly, and it saves me alot of money to do my own. I simple pull the label just like the vet would and keep it on the records page I have for the pups.

Honestly I wish they would let me do rabies myself. It's a vet only vaccine by law here. I know it's one of the shots with the greatest reaction possibility but doing it myself would make it easier to know if the dog was really out of sorts or just stressed from travel. Then there is the markup on a rabies vaccine which is should be criminal.

Puppy shot at the vet $25-$40, puppy shot at home $4-$6
Rabies shot at the Vet $20-$35 rabies shot at home $2-$4

In South Africa we have the same issues. I have access to both the rabies and 3-in-1 vaccines, but if I vaccinated my dogs and then sold the puppies, there would be biiiig trouble if it was found out that vaccinated them myself. So I have to pay between 5 and 10 times more at the vet. They barely look at the pups anyway, but I make them do a proper examination on each since I am paying the full price!
Here, it is totally unheard of to sell registered pups unvaccinated, and very few people would buy from me if I didn't vaccinate.

Thanks everyone for the reply. I like the idea of a co-op type deal. I'm definitely believe in giving my dog and cat the minimum vaccines. The indoor only cat hasn't had any vaccines, and the dog just has rabies. But I'm moving from rural upstate NY to the suburbs of Mobile, Al. So I think the risk is too great for me not to start giving my dog distemper and lyme vac., HW pills, and frontline.