How do you feel about Lepto boosters?

[StaplesCorner]

My dog is 17 months old now, the vet is asking me about him having the Lepto booster, saying its essential and that he had a case only a few weeks ago where the dog died.

I never had boosters for my previous dog (obvs had all the puppy vaccinations done) - although I am all in favour of vaccination for humans, I feel very worried about side effects of this stuff for dogs.

What does everyone think?

All of my dogs have had boosters, vets do the core lot 3 yearly & lepto annually, none have ever had any issues.
I'd rather not take the risk personally especially as fewer dogs are getting vaccinated. Can potentially leave out lepto if lower risk or had a reaction but then I also couldn't afford the vets fees to treat if did contract something seen as preventable as the insurance wouldn't cover it.

I believe can get dogs titre tested to measure immunity levels so that maybe an option to look into. Not sure if that includes lepto though.

Mine is done simply as the kennels won't accept a dog without up to date vaccinations. I don't think its harmful but I do suspect that its a not needed as frequently as is recommended and is a bit of a money spinner for the vets.

I have the lepto l4 booster as I feel the benefits of vaccinating far outweigh any 'risks' for me.

Our vet doesn't do them annually as he feels there is no need. Ours has them as she goes to kennels.

We give hundreds of l4 per day. Never had a reaction and I wouldn’t hesitate to give it to my own.

Vaccination companies are strictly regulated and are very strict about investigating ‘reactions’ however I don’t believe that’s what most of them are.

I titre test mine but do give the lepto 2 vaccine.

Greyhorses attitude is the very reason I do have issues with statistics from the vaccination companies and vets some times anecdotal advice . Some vets unfortunately do seem set to prove the vaccine is safe and reluctant to look at issues that do arise. Unfortunately this means there is no clear unbiased way of deciding what is the best to do for our dogs so it just has to be what risks we feel happy to take.

We do know that vaccinated dogs do still get Lepto but it can a killer so what risk is in your lifestyle and area?

Thank you everyone that's very helpful. We live in a semi-rural area but on the outskirts of a large town - go 15 minutes down the road you'll find yourself in farmland etc but we tend to stick to parks for walks; we're not very adventurous.

Been having a google, it seems that the timer (titre?) test cannot be done for Lepto and its this one that my vet is pushing for, he said we can leave out kennel cough if I prefer and the other one is done every 3/4 years in any case.

You really have to weigh up the risks and outcome of getting the disease against the risks and outcome of any possible reactions to the vaccination.

Usain I am honestly not reluctant to say some animals can potentially have a reaction. However, I can say that I have never seen a true vaccine reaction in the 8 years I’ve been vaccinating many dogs every day.

The one suspected one I did see the vaccination company took it very seriously and arranged for the body to have an independent post mortem at Edinburgh university.

We also make barely any profit on the vaccinations themselves. I have however seen lepto which I don’t wish to see again in a hurry.

Suppose you need to weigh up the risks of both and make a decision from there, personally I think the risk is small enough for me to vaccinate my own dogs.

Thank you - a very measured discussion in a few posts that has given me the information I need.

I'm about to start another thread about whether or not to neuter which might not be so straightforward so please do come on and help!

staples count me in. I love a good 'To Neuter or Not to Neuter' debate

The need for the Lepto vaccination depends on whether it is prevalent in your area or not and whether your dog is therefore at risk. If yes, it has to be done annually (unlike the core vaccinations, which are every 3-4 years). If the area isn't a Lepto risk then it is not necessary.

Don't forget many many animals can spread leptospirosis, not just dogs. So if your dog swims in rivers or scavenges they're at risk. It's a highly contagious disease than can survive in the environment for several months, which is why it's called the lampost disease. Most vets don't recommend vaccines to make a profit since most vets are employees and will be paid their salary regardless of whether you vaccinate or not.

I can't see the difference between vaccinating a child and vaccinating a dog really... and I'm really not an anti vaxxer

My dog is fully vaccinated and always will be because the risk of vaccine reactions is very low and the consequences of him catching something like leptospirosis or distemper would be horrendous