josie1918 wrote:I think I may be able to help you, years ago, the vaccines used were made with a killed virus. They did only last about a year. Now we are using a modified live vaccine, which is superior in every way to the killed, which is why most of the immunology specialist are now saying vaccinate every 3-5 years (Now PLEASE realize, if you live in an area where the law states you MUST have a current rabies vaccine for your dog, obviously the 5 year stretch is not going to work)
According her vaccination card, she is scheduled to receive the DHPPCC and Bordetella annually, but the rabies vaccine is every 3 years. In fact, I cannot recall when I took her to the annual vet check and not receive a vaccine shot...
As far as titers , I think what you are asking is how do we know if the animal is protected? We send blood work in to a lab that tests for the strength of the immunization for each particular animal. (Hope this is what you are asking
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Yes, that's what I was asking. An argument I've heard against using titers is that you can never know the perfect number of white cells (or perhaps another type of cell) means the animal is protected and enough immunity. Even if the animal has a 500 count (just throwing out a number), his immune system may have vulnerable. Basically, even with titers, there is no way to know your dog is safe from the disease/virus and that it may be safer to take the risk and give the dog the shot since these viruses/diseases are deadly.
It has been my personal, and professional experience that some BRANDS or makers of vaccines have a much higher rate of side effects than others. So your vaccine may be manufactured by Meriel, Fort dodge, schering plough or someone else. You need to note which maker's vaccine was used on your pet, document it, if your pet has a bad reaction, try another manufacturer's vaccine next time. While some pets do have a reaction to any, and all, the majority of them I have seen, had much better luck when we switched manufacturer's for them. Hope this helps, and I hope I understood your questions correctly.
Having worked for them, I know (at least the last time I was there) that the vet uses Meriel and Fort Dodge products. I would've never guessed side effects would vary between each manufacturer. She had an adverse reaction (lethagy, shaking, no spunk, swelling of the injection site) the last time she got the shots and unfortunately, this time reaction was worse, but she's recovered a couple days later.
My dad, whom works for an animal health pharmaceutical company, says with cattle, they use the same vaccine dosage for cattle as the do calves. Is this true with dogs and cats?