Its now next week that my 1yr old border terrier is due her booster. I'm rather nervous at the prospect, so can anyone advise what the current policies are on revaccination. Is it a full booster or a limited one. Thanks
I know I've asked this before but I just want to clarify.

The first year's booster is a full one. Next year and the year after (depending on the vaccine - there's a shortage of some at the moment) it will just be the lepto part, and then the full booster again.

I was advised to titre test when the 1st year booster was due and also titre yearly after that.  Once dogs have immunity they don't need boostering each year.   If the titre results come back and your dog does not have immunity to a certain disease, then vaccinate for that disease only, not the whole combination.

perry
Will they do the titre test at the vets if ask for the test

Nessa

Nessa, yes but you have to request it, it costs around £30 but some vets charge less some more as with vaccinations.  The titre test is the same as the titre test that is used to establish levels of antibodies in the rabies vaccinatioin.

thanks perry
For your reply will defiantly be asking when its time for boosters
Thanks again

Nessa

I personally do not vaccine every twelve months. When your puppy is fully vaccined it should last 3-5 years.
In my opinion and many professional's over vaccination can be as dangerous as no vaccine.

Just remember that if your dog suffers from any disease that could have been prevented with the appropriate booster the insurance will not pay out.

My vet quoted me £80!!!! :(

> My vet quoted me £80!!!!

Mine too :-(

Just remember to check with kennels if you need to kennel your dog. They will have to check with their insurance company as to if they accept dogs that have been titre tested and not vaccinated.
Lea :) :)

My vet quoted me £80!!!!

Your vet is reading the form wrong.  It looks like on the form you pay for each thing seperatly to have the levels tested.  If you look further down the form there is a block price to test for everything, your vet should then add £10-15 on that for taking the blood and sending it off.
You can download and print off the form yourself so the vet knows you then know the charges and they can't rip you off that way.   Just go onto Glasgows website and get it.  You can also check and see what Idexx charge too as they also do the test and they test for lepto there too.

Thats useful to know my vet was ging to charge me something ridulous and for each individual titre test
Could you put in a link for me to print of form and does it matter where the vet is sending the bloods to test is it the same form ?

Thanks for the info bevb, I'm going back to my vets tomorrow with this! :)

HI there, I now I'm tagging on to this convo but I am new to this and not sure where to ask my question? ... We recently gotten a greyhoundxlurcher pup, she is now almost 20 weeks old and has had all her vaccs. We are planning on taking her with us to Switzerland for the winter so have had 2 rabies vacs and are now awaiting the blood test result. However, after reading up a bit I am slightly concerned she may fail the first test, unfortunately we do not have time to wait for another. Could someone advise as to the likelihood of her failing/passing the test after having two rabies vacs? Of coure each dog differs but if she has had two vaccs would this increase her chances of having enough antibodies?

We would be devastated if we could not take her with us!!

Any comments would be greatly appreciated :)

You need to get your info regarding pet passport I think it is the DEFRA website.  I believe one rabies vaccination is all that is necessary and then a blood test the week after and then if the titre shows immunity, then the dog will get a passport, however, you need to wait for 6 months before traveling as this is the required time after the titre result when the dog can be brought back into the UK.

I'm surprised that a vet has actually give a rabies vaccine to such a young dog :( are you sure the dog has had 2 of these without a titre test to establish immunity?

My vet too!

The only time I've had titre testing done is for the pet passport scheme (rabies) and my vets charge £81.20 'lab fees' plus the cost of drawing the blood.  I've had several done over the years (at our vets and our previous vets where we used to live) and the cost has always been similar.

Realistically I know the approx. cost to the vet for each lab test they send away to outside labs as the cost to the vet is generally on the report, however they add a substantial mark up (as many vets do) to the cost when they charge the client.  This is based on (I assume) "you want the test, the labs won't deal direct with you so we have to send the blood to the lab, so you pay our rates not what we pay to the labs".

Seems to apply to most things in my experience.  For example, one of our cats was PTS in 2006, we were charged for the consultation, charged for the euthanasia, charged for the drugs etc. but as we asked for private cremation, we were charged an extra £120 for this service. 

Just recently, one of our cats was sadly knocked down and killed.  The lady who runs the animal funeral services (same people our vet uses) came to our house (on a Sunday), collected our poor cat and returned him to us 3 days later (in the same quality casket) for a charge of £45!

Don't get me wrong, I love my vets and they are fair to me charging wise in many ways, however it is a shame that their 'mark up' on various things is perhaps a tad excessive.  But, and it's a big but, if we want them to perform a task for us that we ordinarily can't perform ourselves then we have no choice but to pay what we are asked to pay.

I know they have a business to run and don't begrudge the need to add their profit to the services they provide but the % they add does seem steep. In the case of the cat cremation the mark up was 166.7% (for which they kept the cat for three hours after PTS before the funeral home collected her for cremation!)

> Your vet is reading the form wrong

I don't think it is anything to do with them reading it wrong.  All vets charge a mark up, not the price that they are charged.

My vet charges £80 too.  I have boosters as I couldn't afford to have all my dogs titre tested.

Yes I am sure. According to the vet they administer two in order to increase the chances of having immunity. The pup had to be minimum of 3 months old to have her first vacc, after reading up a bit I thought this age was normal?
However I must also add that the vaccs cost £55, the test £75 and the passport a further £25 if she passes.

Are puppies normally required to only have 1 Vaccine for rabies?

>The pup had to be minimum of 3 months old to have her first vacc,

Yes, that's correct; rabies vaccines are given from 3 months of age. For the pet passport a blood sample is taken 3 weeks later to test for immunity; if the levels are satisfactory then the passport is issued, the dog can leave the country but can't return till 6 months from the date of the blood test.

If the level of immunity isn't high enough, however, the rabies vaccine will be repeated and another blood test taken three weeks after that for testing, and I've never known a second one to fail. This does mean that all this takes time, and the pup will be at least another month older before it can return.

>Are puppies normally required to only have 1 Vaccine for rabies?

In cases where it's absolutely vital that the pup passes a second rabies vaccine is sometimes given two weeks after the first, and a single blood sample taken two or three weeks after that. It's unusual for that to be done though.

That is interesting that you have said that is unusual as that is exactly what we have done(after advise given by the vet). I suppose that is good news though as this means she should pass first time?!

Thank you for your advice Jeangenie:)