Musicdeb, bet that a titer test would show plenty high antibody levels, one year vac or not.
Raechiemay I totally missed your 2nd post:
I don't have enough experience to tell you if mastiffs in general are more likely to have problems. What I do have are bits and peices that come together to give me a whole that makes me very wary of the "normal" vaccination schedule.
---Apollo's breeder has owned TM's for damn near as long as I've been alive, and breeding them for most of that. When she first started with the breed she was a "good doggy owner" and vaccinated for everything on the recommended schedule. And her dogs started coming down with all sorts of problems that the breed didn't normally have, cancers, all sorts of immune disorders, things that normally are almost never seen in the breed. I don't know who suggested she stop vaccinating, but when she did, the dogs raised under the new process didn't sick. Since then she's never had a problem with ANY of those issues in her lines, EXCEPT for when the puppy owner insists on vaccinating for everything on schedule. Now, her dogs get rabies as required by law, and they get their distemper/parvo puppy shots. She titers instead of automatically revaccinating, and (for example) Apollo's great grandmother (who just turned 16 back in December) has never had another distemper/parvo shot.
---I've had other breeders, of a variety of other breeds, not just mastiff types, tell similer stories. Dogs who are vaccinated on "normal" schedules seem to be more likely to suffer immune issues later in life, dogs who aren't, are far less likely to have those problems (assuming care was taken in the genetics of the dog in the first place). Annicdotal evidence? Yes, but these are people who've been breeding for YEARS, and have had to learn the hard way. Their experience counts, no matter what the vets may say on the matter.
---Studies done as
far back as 1978 have shown that the core vaccines (possibly excluding rabies) last on average 7 years. Let me repeat that.
7 years average, even if the version given was the "one year" version (actually I believe they're all the same but I don't have a link to prove that). And have shown
no benefit to revaccinating and possible increase in adverse reactions if the immunity hasn't started to fail when the booster is given.
---The Lyme vaccine can
make it difficult to detect the actual disease using the most common and easily accessable tests. Further more Cornell goes on to state:
We cannot recommend vaccination of dogs in endemic areas with the whole-cell bacterin until questions are resolved about clinical Lyme disease developing in dogs that have been properly vaccinated. The risk of not vaccinating is minimal since the disease in dogs is probably self-limiting in the majority of cases and is effectively treated with antibiotics, even in cases of recurrent disease.
and even point out that although the vaccine does appear to reduce the incidence of the disease in vaccinated dogs:
the vaccine does not protect against actual infection.
It also does not protect against the HUGE list of other things ticks often carry.
---Lepto: yes, newer versions are safer than the original ones, and its one I cautiously recommend in specific situations as its a seriously nasty disease. However none of the vaccines currently availible cover ALL forms of the disease, and more forms are still being discovered. And there are MANY indicators that the vaccines do NOT last for the full year advertised. I think that due to the problems in the past (newer versions being safer or not) the vaccine should never be given at the same time as any other (ok, I think that of ANY vaccine, seriously, stop deliberetly overwhelming your dog's immune system, are you
trying to make him sick??), and extra care should be taken afterwards to watch for immediete reactions. Owners need to be
aware of the symptoms even if the dog is vaccinated since a: there are multiple types and b: the vaccine may not last the full year. Also at this time there does not appear to be a titer test for the vaccine antibodies to confirm immunity.
