Vaccines and Vets
Aug 8, 2019 Tracey Aston Vaccinations
Most pet parents believe their veterinarian to be the utmost
reference for knowledge on their pets, and most cases this is true.
Veterinarians do what they do because they love animals. To see if your
veterinarian is right for you, our blog post Is Your Vet Right for You and Your Pet provides an expansive lists of questions you should be asking your vet,
what you should be looking for and possible red flags you should be avoiding.
The hot button topic lately with pet parents is over
vaccinating a pet and the risks that come with that. While it's true more and
more veterinarians are opening up to the possibility of titer testing not all are on board or even share all the possible information with their clients.
A titer test is a blood test that measures the level of
immune system proteins called antibodies. When your dog gets a vaccination,
their immune system responds by producing antibodies which the body can use to
fight off future infections. The titer test determines how many antibodies are
still in your dog's blood after one or more years from the time of vaccination.
Vaccines are important because they inject a replicated part
of a virus or bacteria that is dead or weakened, which allows your dog to build
up immunity without getting sick. Yes,
that's exactly how it sounds; we are giving them that disease. Your pet can
suffer from the disease or symptoms of the disease. If their body can't fight
it, they can die from the disease. Lyme is a
live vaccine meaning the pet can show signs and symptoms of that disease while
their whole body has to fight it.
Some dogs have allergic reactions to vaccines, which can
rarely be extreme and result in anaphylaxis. Some dogs can develop a sarcoma,
which is a mass that grows around the site of the vaccination due to
inflammation. This mass can become malignant and spread cancer to other parts
of the body.
Dr. Jean Dodds of Hemopet
suggests that dogs should be titer tested for distemper and parvovirus every
three years to ensure immunity is maintained against these viruses. If a dog
had been recently vaccinated with the DPV (distemper, parvovirus vaccine) shot,
she suggests waiting three weeks to perform the test. Puppies, too, should be
measured at least three weeks after the last vaccination and not before 16
weeks of age.
With all of this information available, many vets are still
advocating for vaccinations, some even stating cost. Titer testing costs vary
widely from practice to practice, some vets do in-house testing, others use
outside labs and some markup tests and services a little while others markup a lot. Rabies
tests, on the other hand, can cost considerably more, in large part because
they are sent overnight to a lab. The cost of vaccinations is much less than
the cost of a titer test and doesn't require a wait period or sending out
samples, and for this reason vets will recommend it over titer testing.
When considering cost, imagine the costs incurred with an
immune mediated dog. Pet parents love their furry family members and will
support them; these diseases require medication, blood work, and lifelong
treatment. Is the treatment worth it?
Yes, but it's not cheap!
Consider contacting Hemopet, Dr.
Jean Dodd's nonprofit organization, for their pricing and her excellent reading
of results. When comparative shopping, make sure pricing includes blood
draw and shipping and read out of numbers!
Before jumping to the conclusion that
vaccinating is much cheaper than testing, remember that testing can be a
one-time (or at least rare) expense and is no riskier than any simple blood
draw. Vaccinating, on the other hand, can potentially cause side effects and
have risks. As a pet parent make sure you are weighting the risks vs benefits
of vaccinating and not just basing it on money
