Titers?

[Sher.Fla]

Do any of you not get the normal yearly shots for your dogs, but instead do a test called 'titer'? I had never heard of this til I visited another dog forum, but as I understand it, it is a test to see what immunities your dog still has from the shots it has had previously... I think? ... so you don't have to give her/him needless shots...

Lily is going in next week for her annual shots. How do you approach a vet about this? Do all vets do this test? Do most of them believe in it? Or do they all try to push the annual shots?

I want Lily to have everything she truly needs, but I don't want to fill her little body with junk she doesn't need. What do most of you guys do about annual shots? I would be most interested in your opinions and thoughts on this... Thanks...

[Twisterdog]

I think titer testing is a great idea. You give your dog only the vaccinations it needs, when it needs them, and nothing more.

One thing to be careful of, however, is your local laws concerning vaccinations. The city I live near, for example, requires a rabies vacination every two years and a distemper vacination every year - no exceptions.

It is sometimes harder to find a vet in a rural area that will do titer testing. But in a city it should be no problem. And, since titer testing usually actually costs more than the vacinations themselves, I can't see too many vets having an issue with it.

[Sher.Fla]

I know in my city Rabies vaccine has to be current and that is one I wouldn't let go myself. I would most likely give her whatever my vet felt she needed. BTW.... how much more expensive is titer testing?... Is it just a blood test? Do you know the results at the same vet visit ?

[pomtzu]

My pup's vet no longer gives them shots annually anymore, since they are older and are never boarded. Sparky is 11 and Myndi is 14. Last year was the first she started doing this. State law does require a current rabies vaccine tho, and they get the 3 year one. Of course now that they are getting older, they go for a checkup every 6 months, since both have a heart murmur and luxated patella.

[Kater]

BTW.... how much more expensive is titer testing?... Is it just a blood test? Do you know the results at the same vet visit ?

1. Titers will probably cost at least 4x more than giving the vaccine. This is just a guess, howver, and cost will depend on the area where you live, etc.
2. Yes, it is a blood test.
3. No, the results will probably take at least a few days.

[Freedom]

The cost for titering will come down as more and more of us use them.

Especially for small dogs, this is the way to go! I get the rabies as we have to by law. The others, titers is all they need.

BTW, in cats, titering has shown that the ONE rabies shot has them covered for 12 to 15 YEARS! Yet due to our laws, we have to give them new shots on a regular basis.

Titering has shown that we are overmedicating our pets!

[Asiel]

My vet reminded me of shots only once, I told her I didn't believe in them and expalined why. I asked for titers and they didn't need any vacs. She hasn't mentioned the shots since. Not even the rabies, which is the one that causes the most danger to dogs. My 10 yr old hasn't had a rabies since she was 2 yrs and my 5 yr old got the last one at 16 mos. It is mandatory but left to our discretion.

[MonicanHonda]

Titering is a great idea and I plan on asking my vet next time I'm in. But actually, a lot of vets are beginning to only give shots every three years... so you may not even have to titer unless you need proof of immunity for classes or boarding or such. Delta will receive her limited one year shots and then will not receive any other shot (except rabies) unless her immunity dips below. But it shouldn't considering that shots after given after puppy shots do not increase immunity really, yearly shots was just a way to get people in for their yearly check ups, which should still occur even if you aren't getting vaccines.

[wolfsoul]

I don't vaccinate at all; I use nosodes and then I titer when I need to (for whatever classes etc). I don't titer on a regular basis (in fact I haven't for years) because honestly titering isn't always accurate when you're wanting to know if your dog is immune to something. A dog generally needs to be exposed to a disease before it will even show up in a titer. This is why titers fluctuate so much; You can take in your dog one day, and the titer will show an immunity to parvo (because the dog has been recently exposed, therefore it's immune system has produced antibodies which show up in the blood). Next year you can go again and it will show no antibodies to parvo; This doesn't mean the dog isn't immune, it just means that it hasn't been recently exposed, so no antibodies are there.

So don't expect a titer to be the amazing answer to everything, because it won't be; I will occasionally enter agility etc classes that require vaccinations or a titer; But the instructors don't know what titering really is. They think it shows a dog is immune; It rarely does. Not many dogs are exposed to rabies or distemper, so antibodies likely won't show up unless the dog has been recently vaccinated.

The last time I titered, which would have been 3.5 years ago, it cost me $60; I believe the cost is still the same, if not less by now. Nosodes are very inexpensive and last so long; I'm still using the same ones from 3.5 years ago and I think they cost me $30 each (parvo, distemper, and rabies). I don't bother with them on my older dogs, just pups. Nosodes don't produce antibodies so nothing will show up on a titer (this is the reason conventional medicine won't accept nosodoes, even though they've been proven to work better than vaccinations -- I still only give nosodes to my daughter).
Parvo is around dogs all the time because it sheds through fecal matter after dogs have been recently vaccinated, so it's very likely that if anythign shows up on the titer, it will be parvo. Visa was not only vaccinated for parvo as a puppy, but she also HAD parvo (after her vaccination), and at 3.5 still titered 1 in 400,0000 for it; Solo titered 1 in 5 hundred something, can't remember -- he was obviously immune to it (he had never been vaccinated), he just built up an immunity over time while being protected by the nosodes.

[MonicanHonda]

Hmm, I've heard of the nosodes before but never looked much into them... Wolfsoul... I do a lot of classes with my dogs (basic/puppy/agility/rally) if I were to not vaccinate... how would I show immunity? Would I do the titer for the classes??? Because I would love to not vaccinate at all! And one of my friends who has been researching along with me is getting her dog from a natural rearer ibizan hound breeder and she will not be vaccinating her dog either... I've been meaning to ask her what she plans on doing also.