Whose Job is it?

[blanche]

I'm extremely lucky and so are the other pet owners at the practice.  My vet keeps track (it even shows up on the vaccination certificate), does 3 year and refuses to do everything all at once.

I do annual checkups and bloodwork.

The correct duration does show on my vaccine certificate and the reception staff at my vet know that I'm pretty rigid on this stuff and always double check--in fact, they caught a miscalculation on my part with one of my cat's vaccines and reminded me that he was still good for another year.

But I have never expected my vet to be on top of this.  I just think most will assume "annual" so I keep as up to date on it as I can and I ask them to double check when I go in for their annual physicals.

[lmcpug]

I do think an annual exam with blood work is crucial, especially for older dogs.  but annual vaccines just aren't part of my protocol.  and I know that most vets are still locked into annual vaccs where all the vaccs are done in the same day.  Again, not in my protocol even if I did vaccinate annually.

Totally agree on Seniors and Vaccines and do agree on the blood work!

Both Bubba and Pugsley do not get Rabies now and I'm pretty leary on the others too!
Because Pugsley is a wobbler these days; he doesn't go far and I wash all the pugs
paws down as they come in, no matter the weather, so that they do not lick on them and pick up
bacteria. I understand that it doesn't protect them totally. The pugs rarely come into contact with wild life which is what a vaccine protocol could prevent as well.

I'm extremely anal about cleanliness!

[Pug-Mummy]

I think it's important for pet owners to do their own research (from legitimate sources!) and determine what is in the best interest of their pet, taking into consideration breed, age, general health and lifestyle.  Once you're on your way to making an informed decision, talk to your vet about what you have learned and ask how they feel.  There are still some 'old school' vets who believe in annual vaccines, but many follow the guidelines proposed by AAHA and vaccinate for rabies every 3 years (depending on the type of vaccine they use) and DHPP every alternate year.

I prefer to run annual vaccine titres on my guys, and vaccinate as necessary depending on the results.  Regardless of the titres for DHPP, I have them vaccinated for rabies every 3rd year; it's the law, like it or not. 

[Anna]

My vet likes to stagger shots, which is good, so he refuses to do rabies and the DHPP/D2PP in the same year because he thinks is too hard on the system.  On the down side of that is that he uses that as the reasoning for doing rabies every two years so that the timing works.  I'm not sure how I feel about this now because Darwin had his first ever rabies vaccine reaction and now has a hot spot/lesion on his flank at the injection site (looks nasty, red, scabby, no fur) so now he's on clavamox and a topical cream for a week and stuck as a part time cone head (only when unsupervised since he is terrified of the cone, poor boy).  My vet and I were both surprised by the reaction since he's never reacted before but things seem to be changing with him - we recently discovered that a large chunk of his food allergies seem to have disappeared. 

[lmcpug]

Poor Dar!  the ongoing trilogy!

well I guess it's good some of the food allergies have
disappeared but not so good about the injection
however its good in a way it showed up, so that you
can now be proactive about it.

We were so hoping to see u guys this wkend! But
Dar, we send healing wishes!
Stay home and feel better soon little buddy!

Hugz!