hello, i am asking on behalve of a friend that doesnt have net access. Her bitch has just been mated all planned etc but she is unsure if she should get the herpes vac for her girl. Any advice I can pass on?

The vaccine should be given as soon after mating as possible, and the second two weeks before she is due to whelp.  Is there any reason why she thinks she may need it??

hi there, we had the herpes vaccine done on our first tibetan spaniel litter,and all pups were very strong, no runts,and the vet acused us of lying when he saw the pups after 10 days as they were all so fat and well grown! he have heard of entire litters being lost to the herpes virus, puppies dropping off in ones and twos,so my personal preference would be that for the sake of around £40 your safe guarding one less thing to go wrong.hope this helps, roy.

there is no reason, just spoke to her. Is it a routine thing that should be done or only if there is a problem. on what ground would you defo get the vac? never bred myself so have no idea.

Does anyone know if the Herpes vaccine is available at the moment? I know there has been a problem with supply in the past.

Are there any downsides/risks using the vaccine?

I was advised for my girl on her 1st mating to have the herpes vaccine 1 week BEFORE mating and 7-10 days before pups due date.  I did this and all the pups were absolutley fine and all went onto develop healthy.  I do know of a place in Hampshire that you can have the vaccine.  From my experience there are now downsides or risk.

Yes it is available again no problem

My bitch had the herpes vacc as she re-absorbed her 1st litter at 6 weeks. She had the 1st jab 10 days after mating & the 2nd 10 days before whelping. She had 4 pups, 3 still born [1 not formed at all] and 1 live bitch who is nearly 8 weeks old.

I'm not sure I would go down that route again with any bitch.

Yes it is available again no problem

Thanks for that info. Will keep it in mind for next time.

Hi Hoobie
One of my brood bitches [a gsd] lost three quarters of her last litter, and has also lost quite a few pups from previous litters. We decided this time to try the herpes vaccine, and we have at the minute seven healthy 3-day-old pups. This is also the largest litter this bitch has produced also. The vaccines are £35.00 each one given at time of mating or as close as possible, and the second at seven weeks. For the sake of £70.00 in my opinion is worth every penny, as the heartache of loosing pups is awful.  Every time we had to take away another dead puppy from our bitch the previous time she was so stressed. I am certain that herpes is responsible for the loss of our pups before.

If you miss giving it after the mating does it or is it still beneficial to give 10 days before the due date?

> If you miss giving it after the mating does it or is it still beneficial to give 10 days before the due date?

sorry can't answer that one but check with the vets.  I just want to advise that the 1st herpes vaccine should be given BEFORE the 1st mating.  A very experienced breeder (20 years/litters+) has advised me on this.

Hi Wendy

I to have 20 years plus breeding experience, but if you check, different vets like it done at different times. With the litter I have at the moment it was recommended on the day of mating, but I have also just had a bitch artificially inseminated at a specialist vet and they wanted me to have it done 5 days before the bitch was inseminated. So it is best to check with your own vet to see what they recommend. All of the breeders that I know that use the vaccine have vets that recommend slightly different days to give the first vacc, but the second one seems to be at 7 weeks with all vets. In my opinion it seems more logical to give just before or on the day of mating.