Rabies Vaccines..

[Husky_mom]

I´m just as Amy... all puppy shots... then booster... and later just rabies... but.. we do them yearly, we don´t have 3yr vaccines here... so far... ( but I sometimes skip a year)

I´ve had a couple dogs who weren´t vaccinated at all... just rabies...

but parvo having tons of outbrakes here.. I won´t risk another dog to it.... so I´ll vaccinate all puppies... as adults just rabies and if needed (in case of a new dog with unknown history) a multiple booster

[Glacier]

I do three year rabies shots, because I have to in order to keep my kennel permit. There hasn't been a case of rabies up in at least 50 years, but I need that permit!

I follow the same protocol as Amy for other vaccines...one full set, a booster a year later and that's it. Since I don't know the health history of most of my dogs, some of them get the puppy series as adults.

I never do rabies and other vaccines as a combo. They are done at seperate appointments. I actually just buy the vaccines and adminster the shots myself, except rabies. The mobile vet comes to my house for a mass rabies shot day! I never do any vaccines on a dog that isn't otherwise perfectly healthy. If they are already battling something, their immune system doesn't need any extra stress.

[GSDOG]

I would have to say to any of the people who don't "believe" in vaccinations to work in a vet clinic!!! have you had to watch an 8 week old puppy die from parvo..you know how much of a painful death that is...your intestines sluffing out of your body, vomiting so much, and the dehydration that is a result of everything coming out both ends!!!!!!!!! or watch a puppy die from distemper!! do you know how they test for rabies on an animal???
I think it is completely assinine!! I hear this almost everyday..no we didnt vaccinate him yet but we took him all over the countryside and to all the parks and he had such a good time. and we just dont know why he is sick now!! and the part that sucks the most is when the owners cant afford to treat and have to PTS!...sorry for going off like this but the ignorence is very frustrating. and by the way..if you live in the country you are even more at risk from wild animals being around.

[shepgirl]

GSDG--yes, as a matter of fact I did watch a dog die of parvo, mine. A new pup that I bought at 4 months old that was supposed to have been up on all shots. When we got home with it he started vomiting, brushed it off as car sickness form a 12 hour trip and stress at leaving his home. Next morning bloody runny poop and still vomiting, rush off to vet's to find we had a dog with parvo. He was put on I.V. and everything under the sun was done for him...to mo avail, we were told he was suffering and wouldn't make it , so we had to euth. What did the wonderful "breeder" say to us when we phoned...oh no, impossible, all my dogs are healthy. Never did take our calls again. So yes, I have witnessed that and more.
Would I change my mind about the shots? Not after what I saw my dog go through after the rabies shot, thinking I would lose another pup. Never again. Ever since I stopped the shots, I have never had a sick dog, never have any vet bills, which I used to have as a matter of course with all my other dogs who did get the shots. I also feed raw and realize that this is what gives my dogs the protection they have to fight anything off.
Why push my luck with shots when my dogs are the healthiest dogs I've ever owned? Tetanus for example, even if your dog has had a shot within 6 mos. the vets still insist on a "precautionary" shot. Laughable. Oh, did I forget to mention I also lost a horse due to the rabies shot?

[GSDOG]

I am sorry for the loses you have had and of course it is your decision to make with the shots. I have been a vet tech for over 10 years and i have never seen a dog , cat or horse die as a result of a rabies vaccine. and in the 10 years i have seen only one vaccine reaction to rabies and it was very mild.

[luvofallhorses]

Although, there has been nothing said about rabies being here (Montana), all of our dogs are vaccinated for rabies, including Rudy (he just got his a few weeks ago when he got neutered). I also don't believe doing boosters every year but the rabies is the important one. all of ours are 3 year rabies shots so they're also good for awhile until next year. except Buster, he got his last year since he is younger and gets his shots differently than the other 3. I am not sure about Rudy, though I think his is just a one year rabies.

[Spiritwind]

I would have to say to any of the people who don't "believe" in vaccinations to work in a vet clinic!!!

do you know how they test for rabies on an animal???

I've worked at 2 vet clinics over the last 9 yrs. I worked at the first one for just over 7 yrs until I moved... then I worked at another one for 1 1/2 yrs and I was done. I'm currently trying to find something else to do LOL I have no desire to work at a vet clinic any longer.. I got burnt out.... I got so tired of vets pushing things on clients that were not needed, or vets turning away good clients in emergency situations because they couldn't afford to pay the entire bill up front and they wouldn't let them do payments....

The first vet clinic I worked at was a bit more relaxed.. if you didn't want to do certain vaccines the vet did't push it, and the vet would also allow (good) clients to make payments etc....

the 2nd one I worked at, if you walked in with your dog for an appointment, and it was over due for rabies they wouldn't give you a choice if you wanted rabies or not.. they did it, or they wouldn't look at the animal. All they wanted was the money, they really didn't care about the animals.. you should have seen how many dogs they could crame into the kennels over the holidays and during the summer just so they could make more money... even if that meant by the time the kennel people got all the dogs out in the morning, and cages cleaned, some dogs spent over 14-15 hrs in a cage, because it would take several hours to rotate all the dogs out and by the time the last group of dogs went out they had already messed all over their cages and danced in it.... Sometimes 80-90 animals with often times on the weekends only 2 people to take care of all those dogs because they could never keep good kennel people!... ok.. this got way off topic.. sorry.... basicly I'm just tired of vets forcing things on clients...

I'm not against vaccines, I do the puppy series and then a booster a year later.. and that is it!... except for rabies which I do because of how common it is in the area... but I no longer do annual vaccines on my dogs.... and I give the vaccines myself so I can do it how I want to, rather than giving the puppy a DHLPP/Corona/Bordetella/Rabies all at once like a lot of vets like to do.... and I don't do lepto or corona at all... rarely bordetella.

Anyway... I have seen Parvo puppies come in spend days in the clinic in ISO on IV fluids and still not make it... I have seen vaccine reactions, but the only rabies vaccine reaction I saw was a ferret. The most reactions I saw was to the lepto vaccine -- we had a Boston puppy, not 5 minutes after getting the vaccine was in anaphylactic shock he hadn't even left the exam room yet.. and the puppy had grey gums and the dog just went limp... they really had to work on that puppy because it hit so hard and fast! It was saved, and they put in the chart - NO Vaccines EVERY again for that puppy...

[AllAmericanPUP]

Sheeba, Keesha and Eli all have the 3 yr rabies because I was living in iowa and they had to be registered with the town and UTD on rabies shot so I found a vet that did the 3 yr shot

sheeba & keesha have the combo booster shot also because they needed it to stay at a boarding kennel.

shadow i think only has the 1 yr rabies vac and the booster shot because she also stayed at the boarding kennel

ozzy hasn't had any shots since he was probably 1 or 2 yrs old.

yes rabies is required by state law but i'll take my chances

[pomtzu]

I guess I'm one of the fortunate folks that has never had any of my fur kids have any reaction to any vaccines - and I've been a Mom to many fur kids for 40+ years. I go to a wonderful vet and abide by what she feels is necessary for the good health of my kids.
My only problems occured when there were no vaccines. I lost my very first dog to distemper, and years later I lost two cats also. I had an indoor only cat that had no shots and then adopted a "healthy" kitten from the local SPCA. Three days later it was dead - I called the SPCA about it and was told that they just had to put down their entire cat population due to distemper - yet they never called me and alerted me to this. Of course the infected kitten passed it along to the cat I already had, and dispite efforts of a vet, I lost him also.
I will never put myself or any animal thru anything like that again - they get puppy/kitty shots, boosters every year, and rabies every 3 years.

[So-Crafty]

I had a terrible experience with the last (and first) dog I ever owned. The first time my (now ex-) Fiancé and I ever took her to the vet, the bill was well over $300 - which I thought was insane. But, that had been our choice and it was a poor one - the dog came from a really bad breeding and was very (very!) unhealthy. This is going off on a slight tangent, but just bare with me. I really feel that [some] vets are in it for the money, and not just for the animals anymore and could care less what their owners have to say in all of it. The price of just simple yearly exam has nearly tripled since I was a little girl. It costs more money to take an animal to the vet than to visit your regular human doctor with no insurance.

But back on the vaccinations - in the future, I would definitely get all the puppy shots, then the first year booster shots. I would titer test after that, but still get a yearly rabies shot. I'm not for over vaccinating but I feel that certain immunizations would help give the animal a better life.

And back onto a tangent - I really think you get what you pay for. I think that this is where it pays off to find an excellent breeder and pay a little more up front for a healthy puppy (whose parents have been health tested) rather than scrimp and scrounge and then pay more overall for the life of the animal.

[GSDOG]

The most reactions I saw was to the lepto vaccine -- we had a Boston puppy, not 5 minutes after getting the vaccine was in anaphylactic shock he hadn't even left the exam room yet.. and the puppy had grey gums and the dog just went limp... they really had to work on that puppy because it hit so hard and fast! It was saved, and they put in the chart - NO Vaccines EVERY again for that puppy...

Wow we just had a boston puppy come in for vaccines and the doctor decided to give a distemper/lepto because the owners live on a farm..not 5 mins after they left the building she was back and her poor little face was all swollen up and hives all over. i got to sit with her for a while to monitor her..( i have a 17 week old boston) she looked so sad and it broke my heart.needless to say she wont be getting lepto anymore. but she wasnt having any respiratory problems but we had her on O2 anyway.

Our doctors don't push vaccines, we give the info and let them make the decisions. we also require payment at time of services..which sometimes upsets me when people cant pay and we have to euthanize. but we offer care credit and on very good clients the owner will let them make a payment.

I hear you about burn out!! i am feeling it myself but i think it is only because i work at an ER clinic with day practice...i HATE doing ER..way to stressfull. and the doctor can be a real jerk to employees he doesnt like.(luckily he likes me)

[Spiritwind]

I had a terrible experience with the last (and first) dog I ever owned. The first time my (now ex-) Fiancé and I ever took her to the vet, the bill was well over $300 - which I thought was insane.

I agree! the cost of a exam has really gone up. The place I most recently worked at actually charged you an office fee (roughly $30) AND an examination fee (which I think was $45). THEN broke down the cost of the vaccines like they were individual shots the dog was getting, rather than a combo. So a Combo shot of DHPP that cost them all of $5, cost you $80 (I believe it was like parve - $25, Distemper - $15 etc..etc..etc..... Rabies, if needed that year was $25 or $30. The HW test they required yearly was $60 the fecal check they required yearly was about $30 - plus if you got a 6pack of interceptor, say the white pills (what most of my dogs take) that was $55... so basicly it was about a $300 bill per dog for annual stuff.... they are the most expensive vet clinic in that area.... because even when I worked there (Employees didn't get much of a discount or anything) I would take my dogs to the place closest to my house unless I absolutely had to take them to work with me lol But I do all Vaccines (puppy series) myself except rabies of course..

I hear you about burn out!! i am feeling it myself but i think it is only because i work at an ER clinic with day practice...i HATE doing ER..way to stressfull. and the doctor can be a real jerk to employees he doesnt like.(luckily he likes me)

This is going to go way off topic but.... Its kind of weird really.... the vet clinic I worked at most recently, the Dr. that owned the place I seemed to get along well with him.... I mean at first he would hardly say two words to you.. but after that he seemed pretty cool... he'd joke around with you and talk to new people a bit more than in the beginning... and the other Dr. that worked there I got a long great with her from the very beginning, I liked her as a vet and if she would ever go and open her own clinic I would take my dogs to her! However I refuse to take them to the place I used to work at.... the office manager is who made everyones life there a living hell, except the receptonists who could do no wrong... and after a while I just got sick of it and had to leave...

[chocolatepuppy]

Rabies shots are law here and my dogs get the three year ones. We do have wildlife near us and at times in our yard. They bait raccoons here for rabies, that's enough for me. I don't let the vet give them a rabies shot with any other vaccine, I make a separate appointment.

[So-Crafty]

I agree! the cost of a exam has really gone up. The place I most recently worked at actually charged you an office fee (roughly $30) AND an examination fee (which I think was $45). THEN broke down the cost of the vaccines like they were individual shots the dog was getting, rather than a combo. So a Combo shot of DHPP that cost them all of $5, cost you $80 (I believe it was like parve - $25, Distemper - $15 etc..etc..etc..... Rabies, if needed that year was $25 or $30. The HW test they required yearly was $60 the fecal check they required yearly was about $30 - plus if you got a 6pack of interceptor, say the white pills (what most of my dogs take) that was $55... so basicly it was about a $300 bill per dog for annual stuff....

They had made an estimate for us that was around $150 before we even saw him, but then once we were in the office, they blindsided us with all these "tests" that they had to run etc., so on and so forth. When we got the bill, that's exactly what they did - charged us individually for each medication, plus the disposal costs for "medical waste", plus the RX's....multiple rx's (this is why it pays to buy from a good breeder, mind you.) And believe it or not, this was one of the cheaper vets in my area.

Has anyone had good success with Pet Insurance?

[pomtzu]

Wow - after reading some of the things posted here about vets - I really feel fortunate. I have a wonderful vet - a real down to earth country gal. She genuinely loves her patients and will take as much time as needed and answer questions - not just rush you out the door. She comes to work in jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt - has only 2 techs and a girl at the front desk - her office has a small waiting/reception area - only 2 exam rooms and 2 back rooms for surgery and lab - not some big pricey fancy building that she has to pay for by charging outrageous rates. She makes house calls once a week for people that can't get in (like seniors, etc) or for the dreaded day a pet has to be PTS if the owner wants it done at home. Her fees are more than reasonable and she has no problem if you can find meds for less money than she charges (such as flea or heartworm meds) - she doesn't insist that you get them from her. I guess she's a lot like the old time country doctor of long ago. I just love her - she's the best !