Vaccinations are we overdoing it
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Does your dog really need annual vaccination boosters? No one really knows. That's because there's no simple easy test to determine if the antibody levels in your dog for a particular disease is high enough at your annual vet visit to 'skip' the annual booster. Ideally, you should be able to have some test available which does this quickly so that your vet can say, 'Yup, he's still got enough there so we won't need to boost it this time'. That's not your only problem. The other problem you will face is the fact that protection provided by vaccines isn't always 100% ie they can fail. Then there are your individual variations - disease is more likely to occur in dogs with bad nutrition or underlying disease already so it's not just a case of 'O he has this level of antibodies so he should be fine', there are other factors that come into play.
Let's say if the studies show that for a group of dogs that are vaccinated, antibody levels wane from 1st year (where 95% of dogs are protected) to the second year (where only 75% are protected) to the third year (where 55% are protected), where would you decide to put your foot down and say, 'okay, let's vaccinate now'. Some owners are quite happy with a 55% protection rate, others will settle for no less than 90%. Can you see the quandary?
I think most vets would say that an annual booster is the way to go. If only because it's a lot easier to remember and seeing the dog yearly allows them to examine the dog and check up on its wellbeing. You can however argue that your dog may only need core vaccines and leave out the non core vaccines. Not all veterinarians will stock different vaccines. For ease of use, a lot just stock multivalent vaccines which are kind of like an all in 1 - so you can't really pick and choose whether you want certain diseases like Coronavirus included in the vaccination or not.
Core Vaccines include: distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus2 and possibly rabies depending on your local state laws and also lyme (only in endemic areas)
Non-Core Vaccines are parainfluenza, bordatella (kennel cough), lyme vaccine (core vaccine in endemic areas) and leptospirosis
So if your dog is receiving a multivalent vaccine with DHLPPCv, then he is getting Distemper, Hepatitis(adenovirus2), Leptospirosis, Parainfluenza, Parvovirus and Coronavirus all in the one vaccination so I guess for convenience sake, vaccine manufacturers have lumped vaccines together to make it easier for veterinarians and dog owners alike - instead of 2 or 3 injections, you're only getting the one. In so doing however, they have also inadvertently reduced your options if you decide against vaccinating for certain diseases because it doesn't apply to your dog.
Vaccine protocols are also liable to change and can vary through the years so I would suggest that you speak to your local veterinarian about the protocol he/she follows to familiarize yourself with the vaccines your dog is getting.
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Cat moving house and not adjusting well
My cat and I moved into a new home. He now has three canine friends who he has spent time with before. One of the dogs was eating the felines stool, so I purchased the Purrforma self cleaning litter box. He would only urinate in it and chose to defecate on my side of the bed after 6 days. He attempted to defecate another time, I got him and placed him in the litter box, however that only worked once, and choose the bed again. Since then I purchased a new non automated litter box and returned him to his feline pine cat litter - that was two days ago and he has not eliminated anything sine. I have been leaving the bedroom door closed so he is not tempted. I'm just waiting for him to use it. any thoughts?
Should I lock him in a confined area until he uses it?
I need some advise or he might end up getting kicked out, and he is a special need cat as he has three fused lumbar (congenital defect.)
He is also doing an excessive amount of licking to the point where he has two balding patches. He just had an allergy shot 4 weeks ago. Should I inquire about behavioral modification type drugs?
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