Confession

I vaccinated my dogs...


People and Veterinarians are all over the map in the how/when/why to vaccinate. Local veterinarians say one thing and the Vet schools say another. Holistic vets say something else entirely...One years...three years...only puppy series...titer,titer,titer...It's exhausting and confusing for the individual pet owner.

I haven't vaccinated pocket in 5 years, and mole in 6 years. After talking to my vet, we decided that due to my work and the age in which my dogs were vaccinated that they were probably safe and that they didn't need to be re-vaccinated. She recommended titering them every one to three years. We did one about 2 years ago...but haven't done one since. Why I didn't do it on this last round of blood panels is beyond me and I am still kicking myself for it.

Work has been hectic lately and things have been going from bad to worse...common in rescue work...Part of the worse is two parvo puppies that need a lot of care. And because we have a trained tech and a vet, we can do a lot of things ourselves and save the organization hundreds of dollars. But that means that the trained tech is spending most of her time surrounded by active parvo. And while we are taking every precaution necessary, there is still some *slight* risk of transmission. And parvo can be deadly...

I've been going back and forth for almost a week now - plenty of time for the virus to transfer...but yesterday I decided to go ahead and just do it. I would never forgive myself if one of my kids came down with parvo. And I have vaccinated them before and I know that neither had any obvious reaction to the vaccine. I would have rather titered them, but things are so hectic around the office that I new it would never get done. I vaccinated pocket and mole, but Abby was vaccinated a year and a half ago, so I didn't even consider her - plus she has seizures and that was the last thing that we needed right now...


This decision has been really hard for me. I am very much against over-vaccinating, but I am very much for my pet's health and safety. I know that I am not going to be completely ok with my decision until a month or so - after the vaccine has reached maximum efficacy and having seen no adverse reaction. My kids are tough...they are troopers...they will be just fine...it's me that you have to worry about...