Pets don't need shots every year

Houston Chronicle ^ | April 22, 2002, 12:32AM | LEIGH HOPPER, Houston Chronicle Medical Writer

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Maxwell was lucky to have someone so caring. It's hard to lose a pet. My Dad had black labs, very gentle animals.

[steve-b]

My vet suggested on his own initiative that my indoor cat should get feline leukemia shots every other year instead of every year.

[HairOfTheDog]

My 15 year old dog may have that. She needs to go back for a urine sample this week to know for sure. Some sign of it is suspected from a blood panel taken prior to putting her under for a dental and lump removal (non-mailignant mammary)

I am familiar with Cushings in horses, having seen it in a friend's horse. The manifestations of it in dogs appears to be entirely different. Any insight you would give on dealing with it in my dog would be appreciated. No question that I would try the treatment plan. It was effective in your dog for a long time it seems, that is encouraging... What did you see in your dog as it progressed? And are there options I should ask about?

[RightFin]

I just wanted to post my baby-boy, Kramer. (Yes, his teeth are permanently that way, but his daddy and I love him!)

[HairOfTheDog]

And sorry for asking you these questions before telling you how sorry I am for your loss... I jumped too quick to ask questions before it sank it that this has only been a week.

I am sorry for your loss.

[StockAyatollah]

I went thru several vets in two states looking for one that could help my golden retreiver's skin problems. They all said she had "allergies" then prescribed Prednisone pils and Cortisone injections. These treatments never significantly helped the problem.

It seems to me that most veterinarians are not doctors but glofified techs. Come to them with a problem and they regurgitate some standard treatment. Especially, a treatment that will bring a good, continuous revenue stream to them. If the treatment doesn't work they run more tests and prescribe the same treatment. Vets seem to be in serious need of analytical skills.

[StockAyatollah]

pils=pills glofified=glorified

[Geezerette]

Every time I take my 11-year-old Pom in for her shots, I get lectured and threatened about the condition of her teeth and the need for a $300 cleaning procedure! Her last cleaning was seven years ago.

I listened to a radio pet call-in program yesterday, and they spent the entire hour on heartworm and how awful it is!! They said that if a dog (or cat?) has these worms, that the treatment may be the death of them or worse than the actual infestation because of the dead worms ... no, I'm not going to go there.

I live in AZ, and the program was local. Callers said, "This is AZ, we shouldn't have a mosquito problem here, should we??" You guessed it! The answer is "Oh, yes! Swimming pools, fountains, irrigation and our modern way of life are bringing them here."

They really made me depressed, since we don't do the HeartGuard thing. After reading this thread, I am certainly going to reconsider annual shots, and just do them and the rabies every three years!!

g

[HairOfTheDog]

No offense, but if your dog has bad tarter/pario/tooth decay, in addition to probable pain she can't tell you about, she is constantly fighting infection, which wears her down. You can call it a guilt trip, or you can call it a treatment recommendation. The infection will be harder for her to fight the older she gets...

[mafree]

Kramer is cute!

[mafree]

Sorry for your loss. I still feel pain over the death of my favorite dog who died almost 31 years ago. If another pet will bring you comfort go get one, but I'm sure you'll always hold on to the memories of this one.

[Harrison Bergeron]

You missed the point. Parvo/distemper/rabies shots are absolutely necessary, just not annually. The evidence is that annual shots do more harm thatn good.

The new vet that I started our two Shelty pups with just happened to be into homeopathic veterinary medicine. While we don't use his homeopathic treatments, he claims to get good results. He gave us a stack of literature on the recent vacination controversy, and advises strongly against annual re-vaccination. In response to papers presented by national veterinarian groups, many jurisdictions are beginning to accept blood titre documents indicating a pet's vaccine blood level in place of vaccination certificates. This is an excellent compromise.

[Harrison Bergeron]

"My vet suggested on his own initiative that my indoor cat should get feline leukemia shots every other year instead of every year."

Every vet we've ever used has told us not to bother with feline leukemia shots for an indoor cat.

[lowbridge]

bump

[PoisedWoman]

Maisey Jane, age nine, gets shots every few years, not annually. Last year, we had a bad flea season so I got Advantage at the vet's office. She totally lost her voice for three days. Croaked rather than meowed. Both the vet and the manufacturer swore up and down that Advantage would not cause such a problem, but it definitely did. I actually used less than the standard dose, which killed fleas instantly. BTW, I adopted Maisey from the shelter one hour before her time was up. Lucky for both of us! She's a splendid animal!

[Geezerette]

No offense taken. My little one is in the best of health! She gets NO table food, only dry food with a sprinkling of Barley Dog on top. No one suspects she is 11 and thinks she is a young dog.

Her daughter, on the other hand (does not live with me ... she's with friends), is two years younger than my Bea, has a yearly dental cleaning, HeartGuard and the whole program. Her coat is bad, she wheezes and coughs, and aside from being a lovely, affectionate little dog, seems older than mine.

Best regards,

g and bea

[Indiana Girl]

Your puppy is adorable!

[HairOfTheDog]

OK - your second post seems to conflict with the first one... I thought she had bad teeth. She either has bad teeth or doesn't... and I assume you know which is true.

Just FYI, the tendency to develop tarter/pario is based more on the chemistry of their mouth than what they eat... (this is true for people also) My 14 year old Labrador has perfectly white tarter free teeth and healthy gums, and has never had a cleaning... My little cocker mix that is 15 has had terrible teeth (tendency for tarter buildup and red/swollen gums) her whole life, and has needed cleaning. My two year old dalmation mix appears to be between the two. she has a little tarter already, but not bad yet. They all eat the same quality dry food.

My little dog was due for another cleaning when the possibility of Cushings disease has now put that on hold until we figure it out... more than likely she will still be better off with the cleaning, as the red gums and associated disease are a constant source of infection and she is an otherwise healthy but aging dog.

[PoisedWoman]

Hi G...did you see my kittie girl in post #115? "QMJ," Queen Maisey Jane, is the other delight of my life...That's my back yard, surrounded by tall, tall cedars.

[tictoc]

Does anyone happen to know if veterinary science in the U.S. has developed a cure for Leishmaniosis?

I live in Europe, and my Ibizan Hound spent the first year of his life in Spain where the disease is common. It has a very long incubation period.

When I asked my vet about it, she said that current treatment is almost worse than the disease.

While a test exists to see if a dog carries Leishmaniosis, she recommended against it because "what good would it do you to know?"

I think she's right and decided not to test my dog, but would like to know if anything new has come out in the U.S.