Info regarding antibody Titer test for dogs?

[frugal-one]

I recently went to the local dog show and a holistic vet was talking about this test. If I understood her correctly, she said it was a blood test that determined if the animal needed additional boosters for various illnesses or had an immunity from prior vaccinations. Wondering if anyone has done this and their experience. Every year I hesitate to put my dog through these vaccinations. He gets so stiff and sore and is miserable for at least a day. Our previous dog had a terrible reaction so he could not get the boosters, except rabies, which is required here. He lived to age 19.

Here is more info regarding....http://www.pethealthandcare.com/dog-care/dog-titer-test.html

[pony mom]

Several years ago I had my late dog Gemma titered for rabies and distemper. It was a simple blood test done by my holistic vet. Gemma had cancer and I was given a waiver for the rabies vaccine for most years but my new town required proof of immunity. It was more expensive than the vaccine.

Interestingly, if she tested low for distemper, all I had to do was take her for a short walk in a town down the shore that had an outbreak of raccoon distemper; being exposed to it in the grass and soil would have boosted her.

My dog never had any vaccines after her rabies shot when I adopted her at four years old.

[iris lily]

I recently went to the local dog show and a holistic vet was talking about this test. If I understood her correctly, she said it was a blood test that determined if the animal needed additional boosters for various illnesses or had an immunity from prior vaccinations. Wondering if anyone has done this and their experience. Every year I hesitate to put my dog through these vaccinations. He gets so stiff and sore and is miserable for at least a day. Our previous dog had a terrible reaction so he could not get the boosters, except rabies, which is required here. He lived to age 19.

Here is more info regarding....http://www.pethealthandcare.com/dog-care/dog-titer-test.html

Oh for heaven's sake, don't put your elderly dog through those inoculations. I've dropped them on some of our elderly dogs, but I don't' think I 've dropped out of Rabies but it's worth investigation.

[puglogic]

I will probably have our Frenchie titered after his first or second set of annuals. There are folks that say we overvaccinate, most vets of course will say we don't, but I don't see the need to keep pouring more and more vaccines into a dog that already has the antibodies present. Just my opinion, though.

[frugal-one]

Oh for heaven's sake, don't put your elderly dog through those inoculations. I've dropped them on some of our elderly dogs, but I don't' think I 've dropped out of Rabies but it's worth investigation.

Iris Lily... you misread my post. I do not have an elderly dog. My PREVIOUS dog was 19. Called the vet and was told the test is at least $150. I am going to get a breakdown on what that covers exactly. More investigation is warranted. Thanks all for your responses.

[Tussiemussies]

I recently went to the local dog show and a holistic vet was talking about this test. If I understood her correctly, she said it was a blood test that determined if the animal needed additional boosters for various illnesses or had an immunity from prior vaccinations. Wondering if anyone has done this and their experience. Every year I hesitate to put my dog through these vaccinations. He gets so stiff and sore and is miserable for at least a day. Our previous dog had a terrible reaction so he could not get the boosters, except rabies, which is required here. He lived to age 19.

Here is more info regarding....http://www.pethealthandcare.com/dog-care/dog-titer-test.html

Hi frugal one, we had done this with our dog since we believe in holistic living for all of us. It was expensive but I felt worth it. It came back the she did still have antibodies against rabies. Now that we live in more of a country setting I lean toward getting the vaccinations. Our dog who has passed grew a horrible cluster of tumors at her vaccination site which had to be removed. I hadn't been giving our dog now any vaccinations for the longest time. I will do this method again. My dog is 15 and is showing her age now but still very physically fit. She was just diagnosed with canine Alzheimer's though. I think dogs start to age early from all the chemicals and shots they get plus the stress they feel when their owner is stressed, I think they feel that.

A great holistic vet to follow online is Dr. Karen Becker. She is affiliated with Dr. Mercola, one of the countries best holostic Doctors. Dr. Oz has even had him on his show....Dr. Becker is online and on Facebook, you can also receive emails from her. Tonight I just read an article she wrote about aging dogs . Some herbs and different things you can do. I really admire her.

Christine

[JaneV2.0]

The healthiest cats I know belong to people who take them to the vet--after initial neutering and checkup--only when they're sick, which is rarely . I believe that excessive medical care does more harm than good to people and their pets. (But you knew that :).) I would pay whatever for the titer, personally.

[Kestra]

At least in Canada the titres are more expensive than the vaccines, so that is one concern. Generally some pets are overvaccinated and vets are starting to recommend less frequent vaccines. Of course with rabies being a public health concern, everybody should adhere to the local guidelines.
A few years back I went to a very interesting seminar from a immunology vet specialist, specifically about vaccines. (As part of CE to maintain my vet tech license.) His opinion of titres was that it only gives you one number result, which is not necessarily useful information. They are comparing your pet's result to some type of data. However, there isn't a good way to know whether the average results, or whatever they use, mean anything for your particular pet. ie. your pet may have a low result that is perfectly normal for them and means their immunity is adequate or vice versa. His other concern was that because only 1 test is done, you don't know if your pet's immunity is on the way up or down. I don't recall him being completely against titres, but he didn't think that they were the wonderful things that holistic vets make them out to be.

The other part of his lecture was about how often to vaccinate. His information made a lot of sense from an immunity stand point, and from my own experience, but was opposite to the common popular opinion. Commonly, people think that dogs and cats with low exposure to other animals - ie. indoor only cats, apartment dogs that never go to dog parks or board or anything don't need as many vaccines. However, his belief was that those are the pets that benefit most from vaccinations. The dogs and cats that are exposed frequently to the most common viruses, constantly are having their immune systems challenged and have to make new antibodies. So these animals actually need LESS vaccination than those with infrequent exposure. However, in vet clinics, this is also not understood and they are also recommending more vaccines for so called "high risk" animals. So if vets and staff don't understand the immune response, how is a pet owner to?

The above was all what I took away from that particular seminar. In my own experience, both parvo and distemper are diseases of unvaccinated young animals. It does seem that older dogs in most circumstances develop adequate immunity, even if there are infrequently vaccinated. At least here, parvo is quite common still. I have only ever seen one case of distemper and one case of rabies, both in very young puppies.

Cats are a bigger issue, which again is against popular opinion. Apartment cats need more vaccines than outdoor cats. Although the common cat viruses that cause upper resp disease are rarely fatal, they are extremely contagious. It is very common for people to belief they don't have to vaccinate their cat after it's kitten series. And then they get a new kitten. Adult cat gets upper resp disease from the kitten. Which can be very serious for the adult cat, especially if they are overweight as they can even get fatty liver disease, which of course can be fatal, if they stop eating due to a respiratory infection. And if you are playing with someone else's cat, it is also very easy to bring the virus home on your clothes or hands.
So with cats, if you are careful not to bring viruses home and get your cat vaccinated before you get a new cat, then you probably don't have to get them vaccinated as much. But the whole less exposure = less vaccines might be potentially dangerous to your pet.

[JaneV2.0]

I think we'd all--people and animals--be better off with real (not manufactured) herd immunity fostered by dietary immune system support, plenty of fresh air, sunlight, grubbing in the dirt, and exposing ourselves to environmental pathogens (no antiseptic households) in small amounts throughout our lives.

[frugal-one]

Thanks again for the input. I have been unable to get back to the vet... and now the weekend. I did call some holistic vets and have not received call backs. We will make a decision next week. Thanks again for all the great responses!

[pony mom]

FWIW, my dog's Rabies titer result was high enough seven years after her last shot.