Vaccinations

[Ken Smith Jr]

my Gabby is doing great. Growing so well. When we got her she was 7 weeks and 3 days old weighing 10 lbs. She is 12 weeks weighing 24 lbs. in 5 weeks she has gained 14 lbs.

I have been feeding the honest kitchen brand grain free chicken with goat milk. I plan to switch her over to a raw diet Sunday.

My question she received her third shots today. The vet is recommending parovirus vaccination along with leptospirosis vaccination. And heartworm treatment. I have read vets today may be over vaccinated animals. And this could lead to health problems later in life. Which is why I plan to change her diet to raw. I would appreciate comments suggestion or advice. She gave me medicine to place on her to protect or prevent fleas. I chose not to use it; cause I read applying coconut oil to the coat will prevent fleas. Which I brush her daily and apply coconut oil weekly. She has been tested twice and no fleas. I have also read if give pets diachotomous earth once a day for a month will prevent a lot of the worm parasite problems. Again thoughts on this?

 

[Boxergirl]

None of those treatments will prevent heartworms. I strongly suggest that you keep her on a heartworm preventive. The treatment if your dog contracts it, and it only takes one mosquito bite, is costly and risky to your dog. I also suggest finishing all of her puppy shots and then following Jean Dodds vaccination protocol. Parvo you definitely want to finish, in my opinion. Lepto is considered an optional vaccine. A lot depends on the activities you do with your dog and where you live. Lepto is a zoonotic disease, which means it can be spread to humans. Do a little research on it and see if it's something you feel will be a risk for your dog. If so, then I recommend doing the shots separately from other vaccines.

I also don't believe that coconut oil will prevent fleas. Sorry coconut oil fans. It contains lauric acid which some say acts as a repellent to fleas and ticks, which I do believe. It might work just fine as a repellent if you don't currently have a flea problem or if you don't live in an area where they are a problem. Nothing in coconut oil will actually kill fleas or ticks, so if you do live in an are where they are prolific or already have a problem it's not going to be very effective. Great for the coat though! I don't use any flea or tick treatments because we don't have a problem with them. I have a flea comb and I go over the dogs after they've been outside or in an area where they may have picked some up, but I've honestly never had a problem. Diatomaceous earth is good. If you choose to get it it must be food grade, not the stuff used for pools or gardens. You can rub it into the coat as well to kill any fleas on the dog. It's pretty powdery stuff, so you need to be careful that neither you or your dog breathe it in.

Here are a couple of links for you.

https://drjeandoddspethealthresourc...s-vaccination-protocol-dogs-2016#.WcJJdcb7L3g
https://www.vetinfo.com/using-diatomaceous-earth-to-worm-pets.html

 

[Michele]

Titer test:

http://www.hemopet.org/hemolife-dia...MIm_LLxeOz1gIVzwOGCh0lvwMxEAAYASAAEgIwH_D_BwE

 

[Ken Smith Jr]

Thank you

 

[Boxergirl]

Titer testing is great. It's usually more expensive than the actual vaccines, but that's okay with me. I would not spend the money to titer a 12 week old puppy. I'm not even sure how accurate they are at that age, but I will ask my vet because I'm curious. I think that any long term health damages aren't really caused by finishing core puppy vaccines. I think it's caused by annual vaccination thereafter. I trust Dr. Dodds' protocol which does recommend titer testing every three years after 1 year old.

 

[marke]

I wouldn’t tell anyone how to vaccinate their dogs , I wouldn’t want the responsibility , unless they were my pups , i'd actually recommend listening to someone else , but I’d tell you what seems to have worked well for me , I live in ohio , which may make a difference …….. I’ve raised ddb since 1992 , I’ve never had a dog with an allergy , I’ve probably raised 30 from birth to death within that time frame…….. my pups would get a distemper , corona and parvo shot between 6-8 weeks , monovalent or 2 way vaccines , at 14 weeks they’d get vaccinated for distemper parvo corona and adeno , they never get vaccinated again except for a rabies shot as young adults ………. My dogs are exposed to 24/7 wild animals , they eat squirrels , rabbits , chipmunks , birds , moles and mice , anything they can catch ,. They are exposed to countless strange and stray dogs , they drink from puddles and rivers regularly …….. I’ve never since about 1994 given a vaccination for or had a dog with lepto . lyme disease , or bordetella ……….. here’s an article on lepto vaccinations , it’s from 2010 , I skimmed through the article and I think it’s pretty much my thought on lepto vaccines …… personally I have no proof , maybe ddb are not prone to immune disorders ? just based on my limited experience with my dogs , I do believe vaccinations are the reason behind a lot health issues I see in dogs ……. It is possible my adult dogs may acquire some immunity from being around newly vaccinated pups , but I believe most of their immunities are acquired environmentally , or were lifelong immunities from their shots as 14 week old puppies ……… I’ve had as many as 19 dogs here at one time , so I personally have a lot of confidence in the way I vaccinate my dogs and their natural immunities ….. however you go about it , i assure you most all vets still over vaccinate dogs , and especially puppies ...

 

[marke]

lepto

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/leptospirosis-vaccine/

 

[Ken Smith Jr]

Marke,
I found that article last night. And after reading I will not vaccinate her against leptospirosis. But I will do two months of heartworm treatment based on my area and will still be somewhat warm until late oct. I will based Gabby vaccinations on Dr Dodd article. Seems fair and reasonable. Thank you all for your input.

 

[DennasMom]

If you can get your vet to space the vaccines out some, that can lower the load on the immune system, too, so it doesn't get overwhelmed and shift into overdrive (and generate autoimmune type disorders).

I'm still in the learning process for vaccinations, and I do trust my vet... I did the "all-in-one" shot for Denna (even after he offered to space them out)... and she did fine. Just keep a look out the day after shots for any unexpected side-effects. I think going with a raw diet (Denna's on a mostly 'whole prey raw' based diet, which she started at about 6 months of age) can also help the body's systems have time to deal with more of the 'undesirables' (like fleas, viruses and bacteria) - but I also believe in the good science behind vaccines. So... I guess keep reading, know the risk/reward ratios, listen to your vet, and don't be afraid to question, too - which it sounds like you're already doing!

 

[Ken Smith Jr]

Thank you. Yes I will continue to educate myself about all aspect of her care vaccination, diet, training etc. I’m so proud of Gabby we started the raw diet program over the weekend. I started her on chicken and will keep her on this for a while. I am giving her the honest kitchen vegetables in addition to the chicken and she is loving it. I add the NuVet plus supplement to her food daily. So far she is enjoying it. No GI issues