to be annoyed at my vet practice

[Threeschools]

They insist that my cat restarts its vaccination course because we are 3 months late to his yearly schedule? Apparently some practices allow 6 months. So they charge more and a second appointment is needed. Not happy.

Go to one of the practices that allow 6 months then!

Or don't make your cat late getting its vaccines.

It's a business. If you don't like them go elsewhere.

They are right. You were late so they have to restart. 6 months is way too long.
If you have a problem with that, don't be late. 3 months is too long, even for a busy family. I struggle finding the time for the annual vaccinations but I'd be freaking at the thought of being so late.

My dog's booster was due in May a few years ago. We missed that and booked him in with an appointment six weeks later and they insisted on him starting again with a full course.
I'm quite dubious about vets and what they charge. I know it's a highly skilled profession which requires years of training but they do seem to like to push overpriced products.

My vet says that an annual booster for my dog is overkill and not required? She had vacs at 8 weeks, 10 weeks and 12 months, and nothing since. She has had multiple surgeries though and is regularly wormed/anti-ticked etc, and I'm in regular contact with the vet due to her spinal issues. So it's not like they don't know she doesn't have boosters.

She's now 10 years old...

My vets are all about the money.

My cat has gone for her spay today and they have tried to add added costs so it costs more

They was going to do a microchip without asking if we wanted it first. We did want one but I'm not happy they would do it without consent.

There was a lab there that had chronic diarrhoea. Was costing her £600 to treat!! And the vet was still advising she kept the dog on pedigree.

Poor woman. She wasn't expecting it to cost that much

Switch to the '6 month' practice then, or have him titre tested to check immunity before you decide if/when to vaccinate, but YABU to be annoyed at the current practice for following the vaccine protocol they believe best to protect your pet. It's not their fault you're three months late.

Our vet used to say it was OK to leave it for a couple of months, we used to leave it for 3 months, new vet was the same, must the in the guidelines. However as far as I am aware the immunity does last much longer and some of the vaccines do not always need boosters. Finding out which ones could take some research though, and if you need boarding at a cattery you would need them done.

If you have another vet nearby that will do it after it has lapsed without starting again, I would go there.

We stopped them when our cats became ill with heart problems, one of them actually became ill after his last booster, a fluid build up which we were never convinced wasn't to do with the booster, it wasn't just the side effects, it was much worse.

Go to a new one. Some vets are all about the money.

Go to the other one then. It's a business, you can choose to take your money elsewhere

Or just don't be late with vaccines

We are moving vets once her spay is done.

Not impressed.

I've read similar threads on here before and there are always replies from some posters saying they've been told annual vaccinations aren't necessary. It does make me wonder how much of it is just to make money for vets.

If love to know what a vet who doesn't stand to make money from me would say!

Tell them they can't afford it and it's better they carry on than not be vaccinated at all.

Is this recommendation available for their customers to see, like on the wall, website, leaflet? Perhaps ask to see where this is displayed. If they say Google it tell them you have and theres conflicting advice.

Please bear in mind that if you do not regularly vaccinate your pets it can result in your insurance being invalid should you need to claim, an kennels/catteries will not host your pet.

3 months I thought was the maximum amount of time that could elspse between boosters.

If changing to a different vet they will need to check the vaccine brand they use is compatible with the one your pet had previously. If it isn't you will need to start the vaccine regimen from scratch again anyway.

Our dog has never been vaccinated since his 12 week jabs and he's 11 next month. The only issue it has for us is that he can't go into Kennels however we don't like using them anyway and use dog sitters instead if needed. He's also not the type of dog to go wandering or rummaging through fields or hedgerows so unlikely to catch anything. yes it's a risk however I don't believe they are necessary either

When we got a new kitten we asked if our older cat would be OK as she hadn't had any boosters for a while. The vet told us that as long as she had had her initial injections and a couple of boosters she would be OK, she also said there was evidence (didn't state where) that annual boosters were overkill and unnecessary.

In my area it's as much the kennels as vets making money, most kennels won't take cats unless they have had annual boosters.

We no longer have boosters for our remaining cat and no problem with insurance. However the boosters were stopped only after the vet suggested holding off as she was ill. She isn't going to get better and all her hospital bills have been covered since. It might be worth asking your insurance company about it.

I think it's not necessarily the practice, but the brand of vaccines they use. The companies that produce them give guidelines about how long vaccinations can lapse before needing to be restarted. Of course, vets can also set their own policy.

Bear in mind that if vets were solely out to make money, they'd make much more on treatment than vaccines. Ounce of prevention, and all that.

Agree with Harimad. Of course they are out to make money though - how in the hell would they pay their bills, otherwise?

Each to their own and all that, but both dp's parents were vets (now retired) and told us not to bother with yearly vaccinations for our urban moggies.

There is a lot of information around suggesting that annual boosters are not necessarily required (just like humans). I've questioned several local vets, none of whom could explain to me why humans would gain lifetime protection from an initial course of vaccinations yet animals wouldn't. Some even had the decency to look embarrassed.

Here in Australia you can pay for blood work testing to check your dog/cat's immunity levels. It's not cheap apparently but given the cost of annually vaccinating a dog against 5 diseases (I'm guessing it's 6 in the U.K. as you'd have rabies also?) it is probably worth it.

I've not paid for the blood work for my three but only vaccinate my 8 & 9 year olds every 2nd year. I have an 18 month old who I will do annually for another year or so then drop back with him also. I've discussed my plan with my vet who said "that's probably enough but you should probably have the blood work done to make sure"

Annual vaccination is now seen to be "not the done thing" with most reputable vets moving to a 3+ year cycle.

Titre testing, although slightly costly, is preferred - I'm guessing that's what you do in Aus, CrazyCav.

Unless you need it for boarding or relocating, I'd skip it for a year.

YABU
I'm a vet. The manufacturers guidelines for cat vaccines are to restart the course if you are more than 3 months overdue.

The vets that are not implementing this are in breech of their duty but YOU will be happy because it costs you less? It would make me wonder what else they don't do properly.

And just a thought- aren't the vast majority of people that work 'out to make money'? At least vets have an ethical and scientific code to follow.

With all due respect Nate manufacturers are the ones making the most money, just like with human vaccinations so they are obviously going to say they are necessary.

However, as a vet what are your current guidelines for vaccination, if so many vets are now saying it is not necessary there must be some change in the industry.