What are your thoughts about the flu vaccine for dogs? She doesn't ever go to a boarding facility but does get groomed every 6 weeks.

Yes, a common theme in pet vaccines. Ask to get a blood titer tests done to see if the dog/cat really needs that vaccine.

I have a friend that has had cats and dogs that live to be 17-18 with very good quality of life. She only does minimal vet visits/vaccinations and feeds them home cooked food.

@chispa - The cost of having titers run is often much more money than just doing the vaccine and isn't necessary.

When did you last have titers run on yourself or your children to determine if you need another vaccine. Most of us just have faith that we have immunity based on the vaccines we received. We also assume we have long term protection from most vaccines. (Flu is annual because it is protecting against different strains each year). We don't keep getting vaccinated for mumps and measles every year. We assume our immune system was responsive, built antibodies and has enough cell memory to protect us if we are exposed to whatever we were vaccinated against. Why do we feel like we have to keep vaccinating out pets year in year out and if we don't vaccinate we should run expensive tests to see how much protection they have. Their immune system works pretty much the same way a human immune system works.

Their immune system works pretty much the same way a human immune system works.

Is this true

I started having the vax convo with our vet 20+ years ago. I was told the expert Auburn vet, also a professor there, was "nuts," since the vet had studied under him. We moved soon after, and I changed vets. Years later, a holistic vet came to the area, but it was a very small office and she was extremely busy. I had four cats and three dogs, so not always easy to get into see her when someone needed more urgent care.

My current, only inside pet, is my 17yo Shorkie. I've been minimal with her vax schedule for at least a decade. She is never boarded, never walked on a leash and is only in our yard (no random dogs, other than my sister's tiny one). Just a few years ago, she had a reaction to a rabies shot. I tried to get her an exemption when we moved to Florida. Even called the home visit vet we used prior to out of state move to ask her opinion. She expressed the same protocol as our current vet, and the one used here prior to them. I was not happy about that, and was worried about her that day, but she did fine.

What is your thought on the 1yr vs 3yr rabies? I've been told they are the same, only the 3yr costs more. But then I've also read they are not the same vax.

My sister's new 4mth old puppy is a (now) 3.5lb long haired Chihuaua. The breeder advised that IF the parvo/distemper combo vax is needed/required to get one that does not include the Corona virus or Leptospirosis. Also to ask for mercury/thermisrol free vaccine to lower reactions. My sister is following this advice, but not opting to get the Corona or Lepto.

On the Parvo/Distemper, she agrees with you - not annually. My sister is planning to follow her advice/schedule of 8, 12 and 16 weeks. Then again at 16 months. Only every 3yrs afterwards.

Rabies, one at 4mths (she got this week), and a year after that. After the second rabies shot, do the 3yr ratherthan the 1yr. I am not clear on why she suggested the second rabies shot after only 1yr. Thoughts?

@Stax - Yes, we both have the same core mechanism for creating antibodies that protect us from disease.

I have often wondered about this, after reading this web site years ago, though this is about cats: Vaccines for Cats: We Need to Stop Overvaccinating

I always double check for when rabies vaccines are due to make sure they're not rushing the schedule, and the only time our vet lets me temporarily skip them is if the cat is unwell - though I suspect if titer tested, they'd still have some rabies immunity, too. I haven't gotten distemper or anything else for them in years, even though they're always suggested. I'm not anti-vax, just anti-OVER vax.

@Bluebell66 - that is a great article. Again, we have known that cats were getting vaccine/injection site sarcomas from the early 1990s.

I think it is a sin that veterinarians are selling vaccines like beauty products, giving our pets far more vaccines than needed, stealing money from their clients, and potentially causing harm to our pets through over vaccination.

@Bluebell66, what do you mean when you say "the only time our vets let me temporarily skip them..."? Don't you have a say as to what will be done to your animals? The vet and I always have a conversation about vaccines, and then I make my own decision. At the end of the day, he is not adament about continued vaccinations except for rabies, but I don't think he would have volunteered not to give the shots unless I brought it up with him first..

I don't do the FVRCP vaccine for our cats after their first couple of years. We live near a woods and have had animals in our house, so I do follow a rabies schedule, but do the 3-year shots. I have read a bunch about overvaccination, including the article you cited, which was very compelling to me and has informed my feelings about cat vaccination over the years.