Neena was due for her yearly shots and typically your vet will give a 5 in 1 booster shot that covers the major canine diseases – but if your dog still has antibodies present why over vaccinate? The American Animal Hospital Association recommends some shots every 3 years instead of yearly – and the only way to know if your dog still has antibodies present is to run a blood test to test levels – known as a titer test.
A “titer” is a measurement of how much antibody to a certain antigen is circulating in the blood at that moment. The result is usually expressed in a ratio. A positive titer test result is strongly correlated with a good antibody response to either a recent infection or vaccination. A dog who has received “core” vaccines and who displays a positive antibody titer test result should be considered protected from the diseases for which he was vaccinated (meaning, he doesn’t need vaccines at that time). See WDJ blog entry, “Vaccine Titer Tests,” for more insight.
Why over vaccinating dogs can be a problem?
Vaccination can cause a wide range of health problems that range from minor fever to anaphylactic shock and cancer. So it’s vital that we vaccinate our pets only when necessary.
The 5 in 1 shot your vet recommends is Dhpp and covers:
- D – Distemper (Canine Distemper Virus)
- H – Hepatitis (CAV-1 – Canine Hepatitis and CAV-2 Canine Adenovirus)
- P – Parainfluenza (Canine Parainfluenza)
- P – Parvo (Canine Parvovirus)
My vet recommended vaccinating her for Canine Distemper, Canine Parvovirus (Parvo), rabies, Leptospirosis, Bordetella (kennel cough), and running a stool sample for parasites. Due to the Laguna Beach rabies rules we must vaccinate yearly, but distemper and Parvo I could run titer tests to check Neena’s natural antibodies still present in her blood.
I chose to run this blood test rather than over vaccinate – and guess what?! Het titer blood tests came back protective for coverage of distemper and Parvo. No need to vaccinate for those. And in a shocker her stool sample came back positive for Giardia! She showed no symptoms and we had no idea, but a simple dose of panacur dewormer and she was back to normal.
Moral of the story – titer test your dog for what you can. Get the yearly tests your vet recommends. And vaccinate for what you must.
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