Disease prevention -- what do you use?

[wolfsoul]

Wow, I feel like a loser.. what are all those ratio-like numbers you posted, Jordan?

LOL don't feel like a loser. Basically, the higher the number, the better. A titer test can tell you if your dog is immune -- but it can't actually tell you if your dog ISN'T immune.

A high number indicates that the dog is immune (so Visa's 1 in 40,096 is REALLY good, because 1 in 32 is considered immune). A low number indicates not that the dog isn't immune, but that the dog hasn't been recently exposed to the virus. So Visa's 1:4 tells us that she hasn't been recently exposed to distemper --- not that she isn't immune. That is the problem with titers -- you never know if the dog is immune or not when there is a low number. Now if Visa really is immune, her titer levels will rise when she comes in contact with the virus, because her body will remember the disease and produce antibodies (the body can't keep all the antibodies it produces -- if it did, there would literally be no more room for our blood cells).

Alot of people don't understand what their titer levels mean -- they see a low number and automatically think it means their dog has no immunity -- it just isn't true. All it means is that there dog currently has no reason to produce the antibodies needed to protect themselves, because they haven't recently been in contact with the disease. On the other hand, it could really mean that they really aren't immune. So the higher the number the better, as that will actually give you an accurate measure of whether or not the dog is immune.

[BC_MoM]

So titers basically tell you if a specific shot is really neccessary?

[.sarah]

I don't do anything. I don't see a point in preventing something that my dog will probably never get anyway. I do vaccinate for rabies though because of the law.

So titers basically tell you if a specific shot is really neccessary?

No, because a low number doesn't mean they don't have immunity. They can only tell you if your dog has recently been exposed to the disease and that their antibodies are working against it.

[wolfsoul]

Basically it tells you which shots aren't nessecary, but not which shots are -- it kinda sucks that way lol. But if I titer Visa annually and her results always come up with a low number, I KNOW it means she isn't immune, because she is around dogs shedding the virus all the time. So if her results come up low for distemper again, I'm going to give her a nosode -- but it's unlikely that they will. She gets out alot more than my friend's sheltie, and his levels are 1:15,000 -- he's never had a shot.