Am I the only one who didnt know that dogs have to be vaccinated annually

[bargainhuntingbetty]

I was under the impression that they only needed done as puppies and that was it, I didnt realise they needed done annualy too. I only found out when I was trying to get insurance and read it in the small print. Am not happy .

[chegirl]

Parvo is horrible, really, really horrible.

It lives on pavements and can survive for many months.

It is not common everywhere but in some parts (specially cities) it is usually rampant.

Lepto is the animal equivelent of Weils disease so its a good idea to get your dog done if they like to swim in rivers etc (carried by rats).

Young and old dogs are particularly vunerable. there is some thinking that healthy, adult dogs are ok to be unvaccinated.

I have no reason to want to line the pockets of vets but TBH I dont think its worth the risk. Once you have seen a parvo dog you never want to see it again. Its a vile way to die and the fatality rate is very high. Its a severe gastroenteritis. Think of Ebola. It causes fecal vomiting as the intestinal lining disintigrates. 20 odd years after working for the RSPCA i can still remember the smell of a parvo dog.

I am not sure about the other diseases but I would definately always protect against Parvo (but I live in the inner city).
Vaccinations seem to have got cheaper in real terms. I was suprised when I got my new puppy. I was expecting them to be about £200 by now as they used to cost around £50 when I was working with animals.

[ceres]

my dog has his boosters every year.

i have a good relationship with our vet and trust him to do the best for our dog in the same way that i trust our family gp to do the best for the rest of the family. if i didn't trust our vet then i would change to another practice (which i have done several times in the past).

so until my vet tells me otherwise i will keep taking my dog for his yearly boosters and check up.

[seeyounexttuesday]

I have mine vaccinated because i believe the insurance in null and void if you don't keep them up to date. Also because they go to kennels when on hols

My friend never gets her dogs done and they live to a ripe old age.
My 16 year old cat has never had any.

[MmeLindt]

I did not know this but will check with my vet to see what the recommendations are here.

Another thing to consider is if you at any time want to take your pets out of the UK, I am pretty sure you will have to have the required vaccinations.

Our dog had to have the rabies shot and will have to be checked prior to us bringing her over to UK.

[serenity]

Slightly OT I know, but generally, do dogs tend to get sicker than cats? Most dog owners I know seem to have problems a couple of times a year (nothing serious, but like having a child!) whereas cats rarely seem to get ill (or if they are ill, it's serious) Are cats 'healthier', or is just that they roam so keep it out of the house?

[spugs]

As a child the dogs we had were given 'puppy' injections and that was it. Our cat never had any.

My 2 dogs have had their puppy injections and will be having boosters. The only way their insurance does not cover them if they havent been vaccinated is if they get a preventable illness that they should have been protected against.

My cat though has had kitten injections and nothing since, though he does rarely go outside.

I think one of the reasons cats seem to be so much more healthy is because your typical moggy doesnt have any where near the same amount of inbreeding and hereditary illnesses as a dog.

[HKT]

Regarding insurance, the companies can and will wangle out of a claim if they possibly can, so vet records are checked thoroughly before they carry out a claim - a friend of mine lost out on over £500 when her dog was run over, because she had overlooked his booster by about 2 months - this didn't have any affect on the broken bones/injuries at all.
If you don't wish to vaccinate every year, but your dog is insured, you can have blood tests which check for immunities, so the dog is only vaccinated for neccessary illnesses, but like someone's said before, this works out as expensive as the boosters anyway.