Link has a vet appointment scheduled for the day after his birthday. It is more or less for a routine check up. His last appointment was at 6 months.

There are some situational things on my to do list at the appointment, but nothing major: eye boogers, ears, weight distribution, pads, metabolic blood work for any deficiencies. He's been in good health and he looks and feels and seems really solid and doing well.

I know vaccines will come up and boosters will be recommended. I plan to ask about antibody titer tests to determine his precise need for boosters.

Any tips on approaching the topic of titer tests?

Are there other general breed specific things I should have checked out while we are there that are good to have done at this age?

Thanks for the tips.

seattlesibe wrote:

Link has a vet appointment scheduled for the day after his birthday.  It is more or less for a routine check up. His last appointment was at 6 months.

There are some situational things on my to do list at the appointment, but nothing major: eye boogers, ears, weight distribution, pads, metabolic blood work for any deficiencies. He's been in good health and he looks and feels and seems really solid and doing well.

I know vaccines will come up and boosters will be recommended. I plan to ask about antibody titer tests to determine his precise need for boosters.

Any tips on approaching the topic of titer tests?

Are there other general breed specific things I should have checked out while we are there that are good to have done at this age?

Thanks for the tips.

I would check for teeth, too.

Breed specific things... Not that I know about.

I mentioned to my vet that I was doing a hollistic flea and heartworm routine. Not sure if you want to bring that up. My vet was fairly interested and praised it (as long as it worked). She ran a heartworm blood test and it came back negative, so she confirmed that she's fine with it so far. She knows I care for Juneau a lot.

I didn't know titer testing was controversial. Just ask her/him, "What do you think about titer tests?" You're approaching the conversation from a neutral stance, so they'll be the first one to answer honestly. Turns out, they could also have a loved animal at home and know the danger of overdosing on vaccines, and might be able to reason with you if you wanted to go that route first.

Do you want his anal glands checked out? If they need to be expressed, try not to get them done too often. If done a lot, they'll need to be taken care of more often, and you don't want that.

Hmm, good question on the titer test. I think what they're going to recommend is that he get the lepto, bordatella, rabies, and DAPP, two of the four (rabies and DAPP) will be three year vaccines. Lepto and Bord are yearly and right now, I highly recommend getting the Bordatella vaccine. There have been several cases of kennel cough at the dog parks out here recently. Rabies is obviously required, but Lepto and DAPP are optional.

Thanks Jackie.

I check his teeth often. He eats a full raw diet so he doesn't really have plaque build up at all.

From my understanding of titer tests they're controversial because they test the dog's need for vaccines, whereas most vets vaccinate over and over again because that's just what you do. The need doesn't come before the vaccine.

I was gonna get him checked for fleas and worms so that's covered.

I didn't think of the anal glands but I will have them looked at for sure. Thanks.

So those are all normally recommended boosters at 1 year Roxy?

My personal opinion on the vaccines:

Space out your vaccines. The dog will have a better immune response if given them a few weeks apart. If possible acquire the modified live version of the vaccines. Try to do a "small" combo vaccine for the Distemper/Parvo. If you read, it's usually a lot more than just those 2; more is not better. Lepto is only necessary dependent on your area.

Bordetella is a joke of a vaccine. If the dog is regularly exposed to other dogs (read: parks, walks, stores, ect.) there is no reason to vaccinate with Bordettella. It doesn't cover even a majority of the strains. I see dogs who are vaccinated with Bordetella who come in to board with us and leave with kennel cough because the dog has never been exposed to other dogs. The majority of dogs who leave our facility with KC are usually first time customers who have never boarded their dog anywhere or take it to a place where dogs interact, have young puppies who are immunosuppressed, or are geriatric dogs with a suppressed immune system. My dogs haven't had that vaccine in probably close to 4 years. No kennel cough. Even when Chevy came here, he had a horrible case which developed from animal control, none of my dogs even started hacking.

It is generally suggested to "booster" at the 1 year date since the 4 month puppy vaccines were given, the dog being 16 months at this time.

Each vet is different. Some employ the scare tactic, others let you be the judge. But don't feel forced into vaccinating your dog for anything. If they are pushing you, walk away.

^^I had wandered about that because two of the dogs that got kennel cough at my vet were employee dogs that were up to date on their vaccs (one of our boarders came in with it). Definitely discuss it with your vet and see what they say.

Agree 100% that the Bordatella shot is a joke and completely unnecessary. Don't need it.

In my are, titers are very controversial because only a handful of people around here use them. I remember when Sheba was coming up on her year birthday, I price shopped titers. I called about 15 clinics. 6-8 of them told me they didn't do titers. 1 clinic got very rude with me, told me it was going to be cheaper to just vaccinate my pet, and told me they charged TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS for a titer test. The rest gave me price points but were obviously shaken up by it.

Stand your ground when the vaccine topic comes up. Unless you have a "turn of the century" vet, they will probably be hard fast to change your mind.

2013 and 2014 Vaccination Protocol
Note: The following vaccine protocol is offered for those dogs where minimal vaccinations are advisable or desirable. The schedule is one Dr. Dodds recommends and should not be interpreted to mean that other protocols recommended by a veterinarian would be less satisfactory. It’s a matter of professional judgment and choice.

9-10 Weeks Old:
Distemper + Parvovirus, MLV (e.g. Merck Nobivac [Intervet Progard] Puppy DPV)
14-16 Weeks:
Same as above
20 Weeks or Older (if allowable by law):
Rabies
1 Year:
Distemper + Parvovirus, MLV (optional = titer)
1 Year:
Rabies, killed 3-year product (give 3-4 weeks apart from distemper/parvovirus booster)
Perform vaccine antibody titers for distemper and parvovirus every three years thereafter, or more often, if desired. Vaccinate for rabies virus according to the law, except where circumstances indicate that a written waiver needs to be obtained from the primary care veterinarian. In that case, a rabies antibody titer can also be performed to accompany the waiver request. See the Rabies Challenge Fund website.
W. Jean Dodds, DVM
Hemopet / NutriScan
11561 Salinaz Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92843


The schedule we generally follow.

Since it is sort of on subject, what about the six month heart worm injection instead of the once a month oral treatment? and what is it?

Hughie wrote:

Since it is sort of on subject, what about the six month heart worm injection instead of the once a month oral treatment? and what is it?

I actually just heard of this last week. A vet I contacted suggested Proheart which is a 6 month injection. I haven't done any research on it, as I just use Iverheart for mine.

Ok well thanks everyone. This is a lot of information to consider and I am gonna do some more investigating.

Thanks for the food for thought.

Jeff,

Just be up front about what you want. You aren't required to give anything but rabies. If they don't do titers, get a blood test done and send it into Hemopet.

If I were you, I'd search out a CERF clinic and check that. As far as the breed goes, that is something you should keep up with, breeding or not. It makes catching things early much easier.

On another note, I would steer very clear of the 6 month injection. I have heard nothing but horrible things about it.

What is the 6 month injection?

My biggest concerns, both required and my own interests, are asking about rabies, parvo, heartworms and fleas, bloodwork for metabolic analysis, anal glands (just check on them), and ears (just check on them/cleaning demo).

I'm not sold on the need for anything concerning bordatella or ticks.

My vet here says that WA dogs don't require heartworm meds because we don't have that issue out here. He only recommends it for dogs from out of state. Rabies and Distemper (what the parvo vacc is part of) should become three year vaccines this time around (it does for Karli this next month).

As for the anal glands, has Link been scooting recently? If not, they're probably fine and I would caution getting them expressed, because the more its done the more the pet will have to have it done for them (we have dogs come in specifically for this all the time, I always feel really bad doing this and apologize for not buying them dinner first lol.) Definitely second getting his teeth looked at, peridontal disease is one of the worst but easiest things to prevent in canines (and can get pricey.) Hmmm, what else am I forgetting? They will automatically check his ears and the vet should sell ear cleaning products (if they don't, I can get some for you, with a 20% discount if you want.) I'll be really interested to hear what your vet has to say!

Nope, he's never scooted at all. Just a general "while we're here have a look".