I've just discovered that by total seive headedness on my part we have forgotton to take Glazby for his annual booster jab (in September).

What happens now?  Does he have to have the whole set of initial injections again?

Thanks
Hayley  :-)

No, just a standard booster.

Thanks  :-)

I overheard the vets receptionist tell someone that it needs to be done within 5 months of the last booster or they need to start them again.

Thanks Ange - we are taking him down there on Saturday so should be in plenty of time.  :-)

Hi
Not sure how old your dog is or whether you need to place him in kennels whilst on holiday, but if not and he has had the original course plus his first annual booster you may like to consider a titre test to see if a further vaccination is really necessary.

Hello Gunner

What is a titre test?  We haven't so far ever put him in kennels as we decided before buying him that we wouldn't ever be going on holiday without him!!  Have kept up to date with his injections so far just because we were advised to keep them up to date!!

He'll be 4 in February.  :-)

Hi Hayley
If you type 'titre' into the search facility there are a lot of posts which cover both titres and booster vaccinations.
Although you say you booster every year because you have been advised to do so, I always think it's a good idea to delve a bit deeper so you can make an informed decision :) 

Thanks tyby - I've just done a search and can see that I maybe a while reading through all of the previous threads!!  ;-)

Hayley :-)

Hi
Think Tyby beat me to it!  Guess you've already discovered that titre testing (in very crude terms) is a means of checking the antibodies to determine whether or not your animal needs further immunisation.  Try this link from the University of Glasgow:  http://www.gla.ac.uk/companion/prevax.htm

However, be warned that many, many vets are not happy to go down this road as it is eroding one of their mainstream incomes, so you may need to shop around to find a vet who is happy to comply.  

Hi Gunner

Thanks for your reply  :-)  By the looks of what I've read on the old threads it seems that nothing in this world is black and white!! 

It seems that the Titre Testing is the way to go though - if I understand correctly this test will show whether or not the jabs are needed, so if they need it we do it and if they don't then we don't have to.

I'm going to speak to my vet about this at the weekend when we go to see him and see if its something he does.

Thanks again!!

Hayley  :-)

Be warned that most vets administer a combination vaccine.  The titre test will show up what PRECISELY your dog will need immunising against - IF anything.  Most vets do not carry the single vaccines and the argument that is often used is that they have to buy them in in batches of 50 and they don't have the demand!  Just thought I would mention that as forewarned is forearmed!  :-)

Good luck.

And the titre tests also don't show memory cells - do a search for those too, to give you the full picture. :)