Sorry Lori, I was confused.

Just bumping back to "new posts." Good thread!

For those of you who are researching this subject and trying to make your own decisions, here are some more sites I feel are valuable and informative. As best I can tell, these are respected authorities in the field, and there are plenty of references to scientific studies. For any of you who take the time to look through these, please let me know if you have any reservations about credibility.

https://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/CanineVaccineGuidelines.pdf

http://www.wsava.org/PDF/Misc/VaccinationGuidelines2010.pdf

http://www.critteradvocacy.org/

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

http://www.eskievet.com/Articles/vaccine%20duration.pdf

Some of these may have been posted already by others, so I apologize for any duplication. The sheer volume of material out there is overwhelming, and it's hard to remember what has already been posted.

Here is one link that I know Connie has posted before, but not in this thread. It's a nice summary of the Dodds protocol:

http://weim.net/emberweims/Vaccine.html

eta: And I know Connie has posted the Caber Feidh (Christie Keith) link before. In fact, all of the links I mentioned here have probably been posted before. I just wanted to help refresh our collective memories.

Edited by Cheri Grissom (04/15/2012 04:38 PM)
Edit reason: eta

Here's one more link if you can stand it. This is one I was reading a few days ago, and it took me this long to find it again. It's by Dr. Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin, and what's interesting is he offers a minimal, moderate, and maximal approach to both core and non-core vaccines.

http://www.ariosa-swds.com/2004_Vaccination_Protocols.htm#2004Protocols

Needless to say, I've printed and/or bookmarked a lot of the info from this thread now so I can find it for future reference.

Cheri, thanks for all the links. Between that and advice from several on this board, I am definitely not going to vaccinate Kasey anymore - except for the mandatory rabies required every 3 years in CA.

Hopefully Kasey will never need to be kept at the vet overnight for any medical reasons - they will not 'board' him unless I vaccinate every 3 years. Ugh

I have had my vet, herself,(she & hubby own the practice) make a note on both my dog's charts (physical & conputer) that my dogs receive NO vaccinations of ANY kind without my WRITTEN authorization specific for vaccinations alone, regardless of any circumstances. This includes any permissions for surgery consent. Signing of this kind of consent, by me, does not include any broad authorization for any vaccinations. Just the way that I handled it.

Besides the last thing that any vet should do is vaccinate a dog that is there for any illness or surgery or any kind.

Anne, thanks.

That adds something important that I had left out but will rectify about other authorizations never "including" vax of any kind.

 Quote: Anne Jones

I have had my vet, herself,(she & hubby own the practice) make a note on both my dog's charts (physical & conputer) that my dogs receive NO vaccinations of ANY kind without my WRITTEN authorization specific for vaccinations alone, regardless of any circumstances. This includes any permissions for surgery consent. Signing of this kind of consent, by me, does not include any broad authorization for any vaccinations. Just the way that I handled it.

Besides the last thing that any vet should do is vaccinate a dog that is there for any illness or surgery or any kind.

Thanks Anne and Connie! This is an excellent idea on all fronts. I wish I had done what you suggested back a while ago.
I had taken my dog in to a vet ( I have a different vet now) for an anal gland procedure. The vet tech had popped a Capstar pill in Kodi's mouth in the lobby where we were weighing him, before I could utter the words "Stop" the pill was down his throat.

When I found out what it was, I was livid. She gave me this ridiculous reason for why they do that. Something to the effect that they don't want fleas in their office and they don't want the dog to go home with fleas, so she said this was their way of combating that problem.

She never bothered to ask me if it was ok.
I don't believe in oral flea meds, so I wasn't happy about it at all.
I think what you did is absolutely necessary to ensure that they don't take the liberty of administering anything with out your consent.
Very important for sure.

Of all the dozens of high-handed reports I've read and heard about unauthorized administration of vax (and other meds), this one is a new one on me.

What if you had administered the flea med the same day?

What if the dog had a known allergy?

What if, what if ......

I'd have been livid too.

Anne, your suggestion to have precautionary written instructions on record with your vet is a great one, and something I had not thought of but will make a point to rectify.

Joyce, what an outrageous thing for your vet to do! I am livid just hearing the story from you.

My vet appointment was yesterday, and after much consideration, I elected to do titers on my five-year-old, who had the series of three shots as a one-year-old, when she came into rescue, as her previous vax history was unknown. We then boostered her a year later, at the age of two. The titer test came back good; she has the appropriate antibodies. I will reassess in another couple years, when there may be even more research to take into consideration, but at this point, I'm pretty sure I'll stick with doing titers.

I will also do titers in the fall for my four-year-old, when he will be "due" for his three-year booster. He had the series of three as a puppy and was boostered at one year old.

Both dogs are getting rabies shots every three years per Michigan law.

I am seriously considering vaccinating for lepto. My research indicates an alarming rise in the rate of reported cases in my geographic area, and my dogs do come into contact with standing water after heavy rains (in my own backyard!), plus we have plenty of raccoons and possums around here, and I know they come up into the yard at night. Anyway, I've got a few weeks to think about that, as I did not want to give that shot at the same time as the rabies.

There is so much we have to think about and try to make good decisions, all for the love of our dogs! And, of course, I recognize and completely understand that others will make different choices.