Am I stupid or what:D just checking the vaccination cert's for the boys and find that Jasper's vacc's ran out in October I think it got lost as it was when we were trying him on Tardak to see if it would make him any happier:rolleyes:

Question is - I want to put them in kennels for one night on the 21 June, would he need a full course of vacc's or just a booster now? If the former - do I have enough time to get it in so that he can go into kennels?

a very very sheepish and guilty mummy

hi,
the kennels will probably insist that he needs the full course now,it also may be worth checking with your vet.
maybe not much help to you,but if it was me personaly and i was in that situation with my own dogs i would take them to have the full course.
it is always best to be on the safe side.
jane.x

I would check with the kennels exacly what they require BEFORE asking your vet who, no doubt, will tell you you HAVE to have a full course. This is rubbish. I only booster my dogs every 4 years or so and, thankfully, all the vets I've had have been fine with me doing this and haven't insisted on a full course.
Bec

Thanks girls - I'll be onto both in the morning

Pam n the boys

Interestingly i went to a seminar where one of the vaccine manufacturers were giving a talk. I asked about this full course thing when boosters were late, and they said there is no sound reason for this. A booster is a booster.

The reason for a course of primary vaccination is to get th initail immune response going, and this only needs to happen once. Also it ensures that if for some reason the first shot soesn't atke (due to maternal antibodies for instance) then hopefully the second shot will do it!

So a full course is just a way of the vet punishing you for not coming in on time, and clawing back nore dosh.

I have just had my lot boostered after a two and 3 year gap.

In the USA they are advising 3 yearly boosters.

I wish I had read this last week - I have just rescued a 3 1/2 year old dog who has not been vaccinated since her initial double dose and last week the vet made me start her over again with the full puppy course. I thought it unnecessary, I thought a booster would do, but I took his "expert (read "greedy?") advice.... He said that it is necessary to start from scratch again if the booster is more than two months late! Well, after shelling out £97 for this new dog and my other two dogs' boosters I'll know better in the future! I also live very remote and we go weeks without seeing another dog, and then they are just isolated local dogs like mine so risk is minimal. Thanks for the info - wish I had gone with my instincts!! :rolleyes: :)

hi,
me and my family go away at least 3 times a year and we had the same problem more or less,the kennels that we use always insist that our dogs boosters are always up to date,if they arent they WILL NOT board them,and i found after ringing around that most of the kennels had the same rule.
i do know of a boarding/rescue place that is riddled with parvo as they are boarding rescues in the same block of kennels that they have dogs boarding.
so as i said if it was my decision and it were my dogs i wouldnt need to ask the vet his advise i would just take them anyway.

Hi Pammy, awful lot of info on the net & elsewhere about boosters. Don`t believe anyone has been able to refute the info that there is and never has been, any scientific evidence that boosters are or ever have been, necessary. I believe there are kennels out there in the UK & elsewhere worldwide that will accept animals without conventional boosters being done. Homeopathic vaccine nosode certificates are accepted instead. :)
Christine, Spain.

Christine,
I've been trying to research the necessity of giving a yearly booster but can only find info on yearly vaccination being "vital" to the dogs well being (not to mention the well being of the vets bank account! :) ) I would like to weigh up the pros and cons for myself and make an informed choice but so far ....... I'm obviously not typing in the right search terms

Thanks in advance

Dill

Hi Dill, here are some links to start you off. I have more but you may not need them :)

http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Animals/horses.htm
http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/chang_vac.htm
http://home.attbi.com/~mstraus/misc.html#vaccination
http://www.golden-retriever.com/dodds.html
http://critterfixer.com/pages/new_protocols.asp
http://critterfixer.com/pages/petcare_duration_immunity.asp
http://www.shalako.com/vaccine.htm
http://www.caberfeidh.com/Revax.htm
When you go to the link below, go to search site & put pets into it. You will then get more links.
http://www.vaccinationnews.com/
http://www.bullovedbulldogs.com/vaccines.htm
[link]http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/NEWS.HTM[/linl]

Christine, Spain.

Thanks all - took the trip last night and just had the booster. The vet advised having the full course - but I had told the kennels and they seemed OK with the booster so that's what we did. I am not happy though. I took both boys for Intrac(Kennel cough), BUddy had his booster and my bunny had a check for a little problem he has - and I am now £85 lighter for 15 minutes and the bunny apparently needs an x-ray to see if he has crystals in his urine. That's a day trip - they won't sedate or aneasthetise due to his age, but it's cost a bomb for the xray.

I have always been very happy with this vets as they knew my animals really well. This is a new one and young and she had such a superior attitude - you know the one that makes you feel a bad owner coz I feed my bunny the food the vets advised - he has a long history bless him - and now that's not good enough coz bunnies on the moor don't get Supa Excel!! Her bunnies drink first then the cats and the dogs who all live very happily thank you very much. My boys would squash Whisper jumping on him to play - so he can only come out when they are not in the room.

Buddy has a sore mouth and it seems he has gingevitis - no surprise really coz he doesn't chew anything - she advised I feed him a Hill's food "TD" that has bigger kibble so that he has to chew it. I am trying to get some fragaria to try on him. Jasper's teeth are fantastic but Buddy's aren't and they eat exactly the same stuff. Any thoughst anybody?

Pam n the boys

Thanks for the links christine :) :) you have made me very happy. At least now I can make an informed choice and stand a chance of a reasoned discussion with my vet lol they'll love that!! - not :)

Pam n the boys,
Its strange isn't it how some dogs can eat a food without their mouth/teeth getting icky and others can't. My boy can't eat Pedigree complete, Winalot complete, Bakers complete etc. without his teeth getting really brown and tartar covered after only a couple of weeks. I keep him on Dr Johns as its the only complete which doesn't ruin his teeth!! (I also give raw tripe - eeeuch!) he also gets a filled bone to get him chewing and when its empty chicken paste rubbed around inside to encourage him (but this wouldn't work if the dog is a bone cruncher). This keeps his teeth sparkling although I do brush weekly too. Maybe a change of food will do the trick for you too, but it may take a while finding one thats right for him.
Regarding Bunny I was reading a leaflet by the Rodent Rescue Centre (south wales area) and they were giving advice that the only good food for rabbits and guinea pigs (I used to breed gp's and kept bunnies) was a branded one, can't remember the name offhand, in CARROT and LEEK variety. It was the only one free of additives that they knew of. I can't find the leaflet at the mo as little child has it to read and research but as soon as it turns up I'll leave a post.

Hope this helps some
Regards
Dill

(not the oracle!!! :) lol)