B
Baxter Tiberius
Guest
Vaccines are in that realm of questionable medical solutions. There is ample evidence that they can result in autoimmune disorders and other major health problems. As a result, making sure not to overvaccinate your English Bulldog is a worthwhile endeavour for you to undertake. Doing so will only extend the lifespan of this breed that is already prone to very short times on this earth.
Vaccine Titer Testing
I had heard about this a few times, and wanted to share my experience this week with it. After your dog is vaccinated, antibodies are created which protect them from infection of specific viruses and illnesses. Vaccinations can also simply result in a reduced severity, which can mean the difference between life and death for the harder-to-clear viral infections out there. Once antibodies have been produced, tests can be run which will tell you exactly how much immune protection your dog has for the illnesses he/she was vaccinated for.
Allow me to state for the record: Anytime your vet rattles off the need for "yearly vaccinations", I would advise you to politely, and silently ignore them. This is a false and dangerous bit of advice that is powered by a lack of research on the part of those in the medical community. Just like our doctors do with antibiotics, vaccines are handed out to animals in mass quantities, and frequencies that are far too often.
As a puppy, all the necessary shots are advised. Some need a follow up shot at 16+ weeks as well. To my knowledge, this is both important and necessary.
After this stage however, at the 1 year mark, I would highly recommend getting Titer (pronounced Tie Ter) testing. This week after being told Baxter was due for his yearly vaccination shots, instead of just mindlessly saying "okay shoot him up!" I asked for Titer testing. These tests can tell you whether or not you even need to give another vaccination. If you do some research you will find that most of the puppy vaccinations (aside from Rabies) are good nearly for their entire lives. At least that is true when they "take".
The Titer tests may not be instantly available from your local vet. Mine had to call their lab and get the protocol for pulling the blood and sending it in. They got the cost for me, as well. For roughly $100 I was able to get Baxter tested for immunity to the four main illnesses:
Coronavirus
Parvovirus
Distemper
Adenovirus
A few days later the results came back. Results can be a little confusing, so make sure your doctor gets the correct information from the vet. There's a bit of a "backwards" sounding results sheet. For example, Baxters looked like this:
Coronavirus IgG - 1:50 - ABNORMAL
Parvovirus IgG - 1:200 - ABNORMAL
Distemper IgG - <1:50 - NORMAL
Adenovirus IgG - 1:50 - ABNORMAL
Interpreting Titer test results for canine vaccinations is a funny twist on what you might expect. The above results indicate that Baxter is fully immune to everything except Distemper. Reading above you might think he failed the test for immunity on 3 of them because they are labeled ABNORMAL. As it turns out, "Abnormal" is simply a flag that shows up when antibodies are found. Since we want antibodies, abnormal means Baxter has developed immunity. Therefore all the items marked ABNORMAL are all the viruses he is fully vaccinated for. He does not need more vaccines for those three.
Additionally - the lower the numbers, the lower the level of protection he has. As long as he is 1:50 or higher, he is sufficiently protected. As you can see, on the one he is <1:50 (less than), he has not developed any immunity. This in fact is the one he failed, and the one test he needs vaccination for.
So make sure your doctor knows: ABNORMAL means he's fully protected and does not need another vaccine shot. And the higher the number, the greater the protection.
Since Baxter is so highly vaccinated against Parvo, I will not vaccinate him again for it, and likely will not redo the Titer for another 5-6 years.
Since Baxter has just sufficient immunity for Corona and Adeno, I will not vaccinate him again for it, but I will do another Titer in a year or two at the most.
Since Baxter shows no immune defense against Distemper, I will be getting him a Distemper (and ONLY a distemper) vaccine shot ASAP.
Thats the last issue. Your vet may tell you that these vaccines only come in batches. If you want one, you have to get the "3 in one" This is false. It will take a little legwork and effort on the part of the vet, but they can find the individual vaccine for the individual virus if they try. And that's what my vet is doing. Otherwise, why bother doing a Titer test if you're just going to vaccinate for everything?
Hope this helps some people out there. Don't overvaccinate your dogs. Don't just get shots for them every year. Get Titers for them, and spare their immune systems from unnecessary overstimulation that can result in disease.
-B-
Vaccine Titer Testing
I had heard about this a few times, and wanted to share my experience this week with it. After your dog is vaccinated, antibodies are created which protect them from infection of specific viruses and illnesses. Vaccinations can also simply result in a reduced severity, which can mean the difference between life and death for the harder-to-clear viral infections out there. Once antibodies have been produced, tests can be run which will tell you exactly how much immune protection your dog has for the illnesses he/she was vaccinated for.
Allow me to state for the record: Anytime your vet rattles off the need for "yearly vaccinations", I would advise you to politely, and silently ignore them. This is a false and dangerous bit of advice that is powered by a lack of research on the part of those in the medical community. Just like our doctors do with antibiotics, vaccines are handed out to animals in mass quantities, and frequencies that are far too often.
As a puppy, all the necessary shots are advised. Some need a follow up shot at 16+ weeks as well. To my knowledge, this is both important and necessary.
After this stage however, at the 1 year mark, I would highly recommend getting Titer (pronounced Tie Ter) testing. This week after being told Baxter was due for his yearly vaccination shots, instead of just mindlessly saying "okay shoot him up!" I asked for Titer testing. These tests can tell you whether or not you even need to give another vaccination. If you do some research you will find that most of the puppy vaccinations (aside from Rabies) are good nearly for their entire lives. At least that is true when they "take".
The Titer tests may not be instantly available from your local vet. Mine had to call their lab and get the protocol for pulling the blood and sending it in. They got the cost for me, as well. For roughly $100 I was able to get Baxter tested for immunity to the four main illnesses:
Coronavirus
Parvovirus
Distemper
Adenovirus
A few days later the results came back. Results can be a little confusing, so make sure your doctor gets the correct information from the vet. There's a bit of a "backwards" sounding results sheet. For example, Baxters looked like this:
Coronavirus IgG - 1:50 - ABNORMAL
Parvovirus IgG - 1:200 - ABNORMAL
Distemper IgG - <1:50 - NORMAL
Adenovirus IgG - 1:50 - ABNORMAL
Interpreting Titer test results for canine vaccinations is a funny twist on what you might expect. The above results indicate that Baxter is fully immune to everything except Distemper. Reading above you might think he failed the test for immunity on 3 of them because they are labeled ABNORMAL. As it turns out, "Abnormal" is simply a flag that shows up when antibodies are found. Since we want antibodies, abnormal means Baxter has developed immunity. Therefore all the items marked ABNORMAL are all the viruses he is fully vaccinated for. He does not need more vaccines for those three.
Additionally - the lower the numbers, the lower the level of protection he has. As long as he is 1:50 or higher, he is sufficiently protected. As you can see, on the one he is <1:50 (less than), he has not developed any immunity. This in fact is the one he failed, and the one test he needs vaccination for.
So make sure your doctor knows: ABNORMAL means he's fully protected and does not need another vaccine shot. And the higher the number, the greater the protection.
Since Baxter is so highly vaccinated against Parvo, I will not vaccinate him again for it, and likely will not redo the Titer for another 5-6 years.
Since Baxter has just sufficient immunity for Corona and Adeno, I will not vaccinate him again for it, but I will do another Titer in a year or two at the most.
Since Baxter shows no immune defense against Distemper, I will be getting him a Distemper (and ONLY a distemper) vaccine shot ASAP.
Thats the last issue. Your vet may tell you that these vaccines only come in batches. If you want one, you have to get the "3 in one" This is false. It will take a little legwork and effort on the part of the vet, but they can find the individual vaccine for the individual virus if they try. And that's what my vet is doing. Otherwise, why bother doing a Titer test if you're just going to vaccinate for everything?
Hope this helps some people out there. Don't overvaccinate your dogs. Don't just get shots for them every year. Get Titers for them, and spare their immune systems from unnecessary overstimulation that can result in disease.
-B-