Has anybody used this new system that is apparently quicker and cheaper than titre testing ?
I am thinking of suggesting it to my vet, but would be interested to hear from anyone who has used it.
Approximately how much does it cost, and would boarding kennels etc. accept it ?

What is it?

It is a system that your own vet can use in house, no need to send blood samples off to a laboratory. It tells you if your dog requires vaccination or if it has immunity for the core diseases.
I think someone mentioned it on here before, but I could not find the post.

http://vaccicheck.com/considerations/

This is a link to the site that gives further information.

Right, so basically it is in-house titre testing.

It confused me when the OP said it was an alternative to titre testing.

Yes, but I am told it should be a lot cheaper, as the vet buys in the kits and no laboratory fees to pay.
But just wondered if anyone had used this method yet, and any views on reliability, and weather it would be considered acceptable.
But I suppose pregnancy testing kits started off in a similar fashion, and they are now considered quite reliable. Years ago some doctors still insisted on a sample being sent to a lab before confirming pregnancy. But now days doctors and midwives seem to accept a home pregnancy test and do not automatically do a further test.

In the past I and many others, have been put off titre testing as the cost was equal to or sometimes more than a booster, so the vets have said better off just doing the annual booster. But I have recently read a lot more, and I am unhappy about vaccinating dogs when it may not be necessary. 

Sounds similar to the in-house premate kits.

I asked my vet about them when my girl had to be tested a few times when her vacs hadent worked as one of the tests I realy needed to know as we're were going away with her camping. But they said no as you have to order them in bulk and they don't get asked to titre test very often (apparently only me and two others have had it done) so it's not cost effective for them as they just wouldn't get used.

I have run these tests on my own dogs but didn't pay for them so couldn't tell you costs. The benefits are that it is REALLY simple to run, needs only a tiny amount of whole blood sample, it only takes about 25 minutes, reliable results. It doesn't give you as accurate a result as a titre test, as the results are given as a shade of grey which compares to a control shade (ie. the test on the dog's blood should be a darker shade of grey than the control shade for that disease). However, as with titre tests it will show you the amount of antibody for an antigen such as distemper, which is not really a full picture of the dogs immunity, as it's more to do with recent exposure to a disease, when there is really more to it than that, (stuff on memory cells is especially interesting if not far more relevant than levels of antibody, but it's been a long time since immunology lectures).

I would say ask your vet about costs. They all vary so much anyway. There is no real reason why they should charge you for the whole kit as you need only use one set of wells per dog- which are all individually sealed. I imagine if your kennel will accept titre testing they are likely to accept this test but your vet may have to write the results up as you literally only end up with a dot on a stick as your result!

Jess

Thanks Tectona for your very informative reply.
From their website I think they come in boxes of 12 so I can see why some vets would not want to order that many.
There has been a lot of information circulating recently from the WSAVA and as a result a lot of owners are concerned about over vaccination and the long term effects on the endocrine system.
Hopefully as more owners ask about alternatives to annual vaccinations, more vets will offer services in line with current vaccination protocols instead of an annual booster or nothing.

Couldn't agree more :)

This is interesting. One to ask my vet about tomorrow. They were fairly aghast when I asked about titre testing - can't believe I'm the only person in their practice to do so!  Ordering a box of 12 wouldn't be too much of a big deal for some of us :-O

Trialist- each test can run something like 12 samples, so if they're asking them to buy a box of 12 tests I can see that it would work out rather expensive! I will find out the costs from my vets as well just out of interest.

If that is the case it may be something that would be suitable for a group testing, possibly dog clubs etc. could easily get multiples of 12 dogs to be tested and the owners share the cost. Like they do for eye testing.
Would still probably work out a lot cheaper than the current method of titre testing.

Trialist I think a lot of vets are aghast when you ask about anything other than annual vaccinations, the general public are just not aware so they don't ask.
Councils who give licenses to boarding kennels need also to be educated. Nobivac seems to be the vaccine that most vets in this area use, and if you look on their website it says that the core vaccines last for a minimum of three years.

I was disgusted recently when a friend of mine took her three Bearded Collies for boosters. They ranged in ages from 4 to 8 years had always been vaccinated each year, but on this occasion were six months out of date, the vet insisted on starting a full course of  vaccination again ( two injections) which was totally unnecessary as the protocols say that dogs over 16 weeks only need one vaccination.
Because my friend trusted the vet and was unaware that they all only needed a booster she followed his instructions and was charged for 3 full courses. Definitely a case of putting profit first.

All 4 vet practices in my local area insist on a full course if you miss the booster.....I know I've enquired.

They won't sign the vaccination card without having the full course again, which has to be up to date for kennels.

I was "allowed" to be 3 months over the booster date because my bitch had pups, but they insisted it was no longer, so I had to booster while pups were still here and not let them suckle. It was the last week they were here, not ideal by any means.......but I didn't want her to have the full course again.

>the vet insisted on starting a full course of  vaccination again ( two injections) which was totally unnecessary as the protocols say that dogs over 16 weeks only need one vaccination.

The lepto part needs the two injections when it's long overdue (it's bacterial not viral which is why the cover doesn't last as long), so they'll have been given DHP/L on the first one and just L at the second.

Asked vet about VacciCheck, she'd not heard of it but was off to look into and price up for me. She did say the testing method was pretty much what they do with other things. She also thought buying in a batch wouldn't be a problem to the practice (she's not a partner though!) as they usually have a long date on them. Hopefully she'll have some costings for me later in the week.

I'm not against vaccinations, but I am against over vaccinating.

Tectona - I'll be interested in what costings you come up with :-)

http://www.petwelfarealliance.org/campaign-to-end-over-vaccination.html

This is an interesting site I came across. There is also a list of vets who are open to vaccinating in line with the WASVA http://www.wsava.org/guidelines/vaccination-guidelines

Another interesting report about Vaccination.

http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/Adobe/IVIS-Considerations%20in%20Designing%20Effective%20and%20Safe%20Vaccination%20Programs%20for%20Dogs%202000.pdf

Another interesting link regarding the leptospirosis vaccine.

tp://www.ehow.com/about_6589631_leptospirosis-vaccine-reactions-do

Found out on the weekend that Vaccicheck kits are supplied for £12, wonder what the mark up is from the vets! I have emailed mine, should hear back soon.

Jess

Well you have got the vets time to add in, but one of the things that puts people off doing titre testing is the cost with laboratory fees it is more expensive than the vaccination.
I put the information on another forum and a vet came on and said that they were looking into putting together a package including annual health check and in-house titre test. I wanted to leap up and punch the air !!!
The main stumbling block will be boarding kennels and local authorities accepting titre tested dogs.

Trialist I had much the same response when I spoke to my vet. Had never been asked for it infact the vet nurse didnt know what I was talking about.!

My vets do free consultations with vet nurses, so being as a vet nurse can run the test in about 25 mins I would hope not to be charged much if at all for time.

I do agree that the price of titre testing puts people off. Vaccines are not really that expensive so perhaps even if the Vaccicheck kit was sold at cost price many people would opt for vaccinations instead. Though I would love to see a scheme where vets offer Vaccicheck tests on the same bit of card they send booster reminders on.

I overheard the receptionist at my vets on the phone with a new puppy owner once. They weren't sure if the pup had had any vaccinations so the receptionist said you may as well get it all done and it would work out cheaper to get the whole course done anyway. Sent shivers down my spine :( education is a problem, also.

£12? Wowee!! Asked my vet last week, they agreed they could get hold of VacciCheck, but vet was waiting practice manager to price up cost to me :-O Will post response after vet visit tomorrow.

http://www.synbiotics.com/Products/CompanionAnimals/Canine/TiterCHEK-CDV-CPV-TiterTesting.html

A link to another company offering a similar kit under the name TiterChek

Interesting. Looks exactly the same premise, only difference is it doesn't check for antibodies for hepatitis as Vaccicheck does. Could be cheaper again though. There look to be some great articles on that page, only had a quick scan though.
I hadn't heard of titrecheck, so thanks for the link, dorcas.

I'd not heard of titrecheck either, might give my vets a couple of weeks to recover before I enquire about that one :-O

OK, so these are the prices I've been quoted for VacciChek:

The whole kit of 12 is £243.72 (that's to me as the customer), which works out at £20.31 each (60% mark up :-O), plus £9 blood sample = £29.31.

At my vet, annual booster is £33.89, so there is a monetary saving to be had. (I will point out that the monetary saving IS NOT priority here, though sadly annual titer testing at £70+ a go is definitely out purely on monetary grounds ... just in case anyone leaps in thinking this is all just about saving a few quid. It's about saving my dogs from over vaccination :-D )

The lab my vet uses for titer testing (not that they seem to do them) would be £79.20 including taking blood.

They're happy to obtain for me, takes a few days, however I would have to purchase the whole box of 12 :-O ... actually, with 5 dogs and a friend with 9 that's actually not a problem, for me. Plus I've been told there is a long shelf life so if I purchased the whole box myself, it would last me a few years. What I didn't ask, silly me, was who gets to keep the box, the vet or me? I would hope it would be handed over to me ... I wont say where I'm going with that thought.

I also asked my vets if they could give me the kit. Still haven't heard back, may have to pop in! Pretty good price though, Trialist. Less than I expected. But I still think people will think 'I might have to vaccinate anyway, may as well save a bit and just have them', even if titre testing was promoted more.

Well my vet has got back to me. Can't believe the price difference Trialist as my vets have quoted me approx £140 for the 12 tests. However they also said they would charge £25 for taking and processing blood, which in my experience seems unnecessary as whole blood samples work just as well as serum samples and it is only a tiny amount used (I used those finger pricking things for blood sugar testing, in the dog's ear). I wouldn't mind if it was just the one dog but that will add up for all of them, and as I say as far as I know is pointless. I might ask him about it.

My vet must be charging cost price as it works out to about £12 per kit.

Wow! Hhmm, might ask around for prices of the kit then. I was a bit disappointed to find my vet was upping the cost of the kit by 60% possibly more. Might explain why some people I know in the sheepdog world get their vaccinations done at trials in Ireland ... less than a fiver a go :-O

Your vet giveth with one hand and taketh with the other ... or something like that ;-)

This company is supplying VacciCheck in the UK There is a discount code PWAVET  saving £5 on a box of 12. But cheaper than shipping from the USA.

http://www.woodleyequipment.com/uk-veterinary/immunology/im

Have also seen on a FB page that some Companion Care Vets. Inside Pets at Home   are offering VacciCheck for £35 per dog.
The one mentioned was in Newcastle Upon Tyne, but may be worth asking at other branches.

Came across this, it is video from the Vaccicheck company.
Only a short one, but shows it in use.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEkSAEEvY0

Hi Everyone,

I came across this forum by accident really, and so i joined to clear up a few things which have been posted, which I feel is incorrect.

Titre testing can be undertaken at the vets by qualified personnel only or a lab technician. It is not recommended that pet owners do the test at home.  There are many reasons why this is not satisfactory which include taking blood from your dog, placing the correct amount into the testing wells, timing each stage, following clinical guideline, interpreting the results correctly etc.

It takes up to 30 minutes to conduct and is not 'so easy' as you may think.  Once the test is completed the results have to be interpreted for each disease (3).  The time it takes the staff to do the test may be just as cost effective as sending the blood sample to their associated lab.

I saw there was a suggestion that the kits only cost £12.  The price for a test kit is much more than this.  For vets to give their costs, they have to consider the cost price per test kit divided into how many tests the kit can do, plus any consultation fees (because vets can't just do the test without knowing if there are any underlining problems that may cause a false positive or false negative) and the time it takes to sit and do the tests or their lab fees.

The best situation for any pet owner who is wishing for a titre test to be undertaken for their dog is to go to their vet and ask for a VacciCheck test. Reputable UK VacciCheck suppliers will not sell these tests to pet owners, so you must visit your vet and tell them what you want.

Hope this helps everyone out there.

My vet quoted me £12 per kit, but I would have to buy them all. Whoever the organisation is supplying the kits to vets (I'm a bit out of the loop now) were doing so for cost price of £12. Of course vets can charge what they like on top of that, rightly or wrongly!
I'm not a vet or vet nurse and I found it pretty straight forward. Results are simple to interpret, because it's a shade of colour compared to a control. What's not so simple is the immunology behind the results, what it means so far as exposure and protection, what options you have from there, and unless you've done a lot of reading I'd agree the knowledge of a good vet is invaluable.

Probably should have said I'm coming at this as an animal science undergrad, probably did make it sound like I just bought a kit and gave it a go but that's not the case :)

>Titre testing can be undertaken at the vets by qualified personnel only or a lab technician. It is not recommended that pet owners do the test at home.

I don't think anyone has suggested that owners can or should take blood for titre testing themselves, or use the kits at home.

As I understand it the general public are not allowed to take blood, so the assumption al along has been that one would have ones vet titre test, by either sending to a lab, or have the vet use the quicker and more cost effective (for the owner) in-house kit.

Does anybody know the shelf life of the kits as I am going to talk to my vet about this as having three and may at some stage adding another one we could buy the 12 kits and we could use them all if the shelf life is reasonable

I don't know the shelf life but sure the manufacturers would tell you or your vet.

You need one set of wells per dog, I think there are 12 sets of wells in one kit, so if you did it once a year with 4 dogs then one kit would last 3 years. So 12 kits.... 36 years?!

The kit I have has a 12 mth expiry. A group of friend have clubbed together so all 12 test will be used in the 12 mth

At the practice where I work we do the full booster the year after the puppy course (DHPPiL), then lepto only for the next two years, then DHPPiL again and so on. DHPPiL being distemper, hepatitis, parvo,  parainfluenza, lepto. I think a lot of vets are doing this 3 year schedule now and this is what I'm going to do with my own youngster.