My vet tried to get me to give our Lab, Otto, the Lepto vaccine, since he's a hunting dog and goes into water where animals deficate(sp?), right after we found out he had hypothyroidism. I told the vet I needed to talk to my hubby about it first. I talked to him, but I also asked here, and did my own research on it as well and the info I found on it was enough for me to tell the vet the next time we went in that I wasn't going to have him get it.

The many serious side effects (including death) FAR outweigh the positive. And as Anne said, very limited protection time.
IMO, I'd tell the vet no on the vaccine, because Connie is right, there are other things besides Lepto that can cause runny stool.

My dogs sometimes get a runny stool after drinking water from the river, lakes or whatever other water source we are by (camping, hiking, etc.). Most of the time I make sure to bring enough water for all of them, but when swimming, it's almost inevitable that the dogs are going to get water in their mouth.

Thanks Mike! Fortunately I didn't have to! She was awesome. I misunderstood her on the phone when I thought she was saying the loose stools could be a sign of lepto. She didn't think - she was just making sure that I understood the vaccine was available and that if you are going to water they highly recommend it. I told her I didn't want to take the risk of the vaccine, and I even got brave and told her I didn't want to do any further vaccines for distemper and parvo. We discussed titers and I'm in the process of researching those to see if they are really accurate or not - I've heard conflicting opinions.

She hadn't seen Kasey in a year because he just hasn't been sick, and when she saw him today she was amazed at his coat and his skin, his ears, teeth, everything. She's the one who sent me to the derma vet because of Kasey's allergies and couldn't believe that an allergy dog could look as good as he does! She said to keep doing what I'm doing - that I've obviously done a lot of research and know my stuff! She's 100% supportive of the raw feeding now.

As far as the loose stools, she gave me the choice, but said that because he's had them for 1 1/2 weeks, and because they are covered in mucous and very smelly, she would recommend the antibiotic they give for giardia. She said it would also be good in case it was some other bacteria that he picked up from the creeks and mud and stuff he was in. The Elisa giardia test came back negative, but she said that doesn't mean he doesn't have it. So I decided to go ahead and do the antibiotic just to be sure that there isn't something bad in there he picked up on our trip. We live in the city, so his system is not used to 'pond scum'!

So all in all, I was very happy with how it went and she was so impressed with Kasey's health! Thanks to everyone who replied and gave me advice - and the pep talk to go in steadfast in my convictions!

 Quote: melissa thom

Interceder is the best title ever....

Its official then.

"The Interceder".

Sounds intimidating to me.:smile:

Lori, I'm glad it was a misunderstanding.

It is tough to find a vet, or even a doctor, that will work with you.

Good for you that you walked in there knowing what you wanted and came out satisfied.:smile: