Dogs injections

[Paganfreya1988]

Hi Guys

For anyone who have pets, especially dogs, do you have annual injections, boosters for your pets? Mainly I would like to hear from anyone who does, or doesn’t give annual boosters to old age related dogs.

I have two dogs, one a thoroughbred who is young, my other who has arthritis and deaf is nearly 16 years old in human years.

Your thoughts on this will be great fully received, thank you

Yes I do. Dog aged 13. I’m ambivalent about whether it’s really necessary but he goes to a dog Walker a couple of times a week so it’s a requirement which I think is absolutely fine.

When my dog got to 13, the vet actually said it wasn't worth having boosters as they would be protected enough by that point so I stopped them.

Yes this is my point, do dogs actually need the booster, whether young or old. I have always given my dogs their injections, mainly because me and my OH have rescued for years. But now after reading all the research, several boarding kennels, say it is up to the owner, or “ they don’t believe in boosters” etc
My eldest is due for boarding in a few weeks, just a night or two. The boarding kennel stated all their dogs in kennels are vaccinated, so my old girl will be fine. My other big younger dog will be vaccinated.

I remember my retired vet years ago saying when dogs are aged 10 and over, boosters do not need to be done, and also although she was a vet, never did her own dogs..

I was under the impression that boarding facilities registered with the council couldn’t accept animals that aren’t vaccinated?

I wouldn’t trust a kennels that would take a dog not vaccinated or titre tested.
You would be better to speak to your vet rather than rely on the advice of internet ransoms about the health of your pet.

I suspect you'll find the vet was suggesting that preventative medicine in elderly animals has a cost/benefit analysis you'll want to make. So if your old dog developed, say, hepatitis, would you bother / want to treat them given their age or not?

If you use kennels or doggy daycare, you may not be able to take your animals there if they don't have them.

For me, we vaccinate and worm etc on a regular schedule using the vet pet health scheme - it's cheaper in the long run and we want all our animals to benefit from non intrusive preventative treatments for their whole lives.

My elderly cat is currently moving to her end of life. I'm not putting her through her jabs as she's struggling with other conditions right now and she won't be going into a cattery (never has) so doesn't require them.

My last dog had boosters/Kennel Cough vaccines every year until he was 9 - after that, like the previous poster, I was told (by our vet) he was protected enough that it wasn't necessary. If, however, I'd needed to place him in a kennels for a stay, he would have required the jabs/vaccines as a necessity regardless of age.

My current dog hasn't had the jabs since she was a pup (she's 5 this year), but that's her actual owner's decision, not mine. She belongs to my daughter, who holds the position that we don't vaccinate humans past infancy, necessarily, so why should she vaccinate her dog every year needlessly. If she were my dog in a legal sense... she'd probably be jabbed. She's never been kennelled - and is unlikely to be, unless something happens to me, actually - but if she were, then my daughter would have to swallow her reservations and book her in with her vet.

It doesn't matter if a dog is a pedigree or a mutt... their jabs are the same, regardless. Same with cats.

My dogs (10 and 12) get vaccinated every year, and the kennel will not accept them without them plus kennel cough. My cats do too.

Just be mindful if you don't and they get ill due to something the vaccine prevents, that insurance won't cover it. (parvo, lepto, distemper etc).

Yes as it's also a good opportunity for a general check up. My dog is 14.

No. We only ever have puppy vaccinations done and only after the age of 12 weeks. Never have boosters. Even the manufacturers recommend every three years not annually. This is what we have done for over thirty years with multiple dogs as do most of our dog 'peers'.

My sister has her dogs vaccinated for the first few years then has them titre tested annually. As long as they have their own antibodies then they don’t get boosters. She’s done this for years with all her dogs and none have ever picked up any of the viruses they routinely vaccinate against.

@Simonjt

I was under the impression that boarding facilities registered with the council couldn’t accept animals that aren’t vaccinated?

That was my impression, too - the kennels (and they're fabulous) that my 13 year old dog goes to insist on them and we ensure he's properly vaccinated, including kennel cough.

It’s unnecessary and only pushed by unscrupulous vets to make money.
My vet doesn’t recommend it.

I have three cats and when I adopted them I got life vaccinations for them all. All yearly booster shots are given till they are no longer with me. My eldest cat 15 years does not have a booster shot and she is fine. I have been told that dogs and cats should have a booster every 2 years but I don't know the truth behind it so can't speculate.

Our dog was 11 this year and he has all the jabs and KC vaccine , he never goes to kennels , boarders or walkers but I like him to have them .

No. The manufacturers state no more than every 3-4yrs.
Mine have had puppy jabs and no more. Might do one more next year when they turn 7 but that would be it. Research has shown they last at least 7yrs if not lifetime of the dog.

Plus one of mine has multiple allergies to foods and environmental so I'm reluctant to give her any more. She got worse after her 1st year *booster' before I'd looked into it all.

I don't flea or worm regularly either. Only if needed. I'm not filling them with chemicals every month, they don't prevent them anyway. I do the house 2x a year with indorex though mostly for the spiders but the dogs rarely get fleas.

Our dog has his booster every year.
I must say I dont deflea him - he’s groomed every 6 weeks and never had a flea, nor do I worm him apart from once a year.

So many misinformed posts on here. Yes distemper, hepatitis and parvo are every 3 years (after puppy vaccines and 1st year booster). Lepto only lasts 12 months and is an annual vaccine as is kennel cough.
One of the for reasons for vaccinating teenage animals is to ensure they get a health check as so many people seriously neglect their pets health care needs in old age, often through ignorance unfortunately.
And I would never leave my pet anywhere that accepts unvaccinated animals. I do shelter work and believe me infectious disease is rife and for many lifelong. These animals are difficult to home and often their conditions are entirely preventable.

www.gov.uk/government/publications/vaccination-of-dogs/table-of-authorised-dog-vaccines-in-the-uk

This link tells you how long the vaccine for each illness lasts. Though obviously some dogs may stay immune longer and it also may not work in all dogs.
My personal belief is that is is circumstances. I lived on an extremely remote hill farm and there I didn't bother with vaccines for the working dogs and my own pets vaccines lapsed. They weren't going to be exposed to anything as it was so remote.

I'm now living in a city centre with many many dogs using the small amount of green spaces. So now I see it as essential. It will invalidate insurance of that illness is suspected as well and they aren't jabbed. I have had mine miss a set through lockdown but that was unavoidable. With an older dog though I may be inclined to leave it if they were just popping up and down the road for a walk and never being put in boarding kennels etc. Before annual boosters a remember when dogs had puppy jabs and that was considered enough.

Not every vaccination needs to be done yearly. There's a link above someone else posted about how long each vaccination lasts for.
You don't HAVE to vaccinate your dogs. You can titre test for immunity.
However most kennels will require vaccinations but some will accept titre tests.

My dogs and all of them including rescued dogs have always been fled, wormed, vaccinated and had well being checks. It’s only now my nearly 16 year old is getting frail and deaf, and gets frightened, I don’t want to put her through this at her last stages of life. However my boy is a thoroughbred and will continue with injections as only 3. The boarding kennels have said they prefer dogs to be given boosters, and that all their dogs in kennels are, also written on their web site. I explained my girl just sleeps all the time, and just wants company and doesn’t walk outside only in the garden due to arthritic pain, and that it would cause to much trauma for her.

To add to my previous post, I did take her to the vet for an annual health check because I wanted to, and she never went into kennels as she was a rescue so she always stayed with family or friends and therefore didn't need to have a booster. She lived to 17 so I must have done something right.

Annual injections for mine. Although, I let is slip this year due to Covid so she is starting her jabs again at the age of 11.