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Old May 19th, 2007, 09:01 PM
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celticfox celticfox is offline
sucker for shelter dogs
 
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Bowmanville, Ontario
Posts: 51
Vaccinations senior dog - Answered by Dr. Lee

I took our 11 year old dog, Rusty, to the vet today for her yearly check-up and discovered that a new vet was filling in for the long weekend. We absolutely love our regular vet but this one seemed nice enough so I figured all would be okay. I made it clear to the vet right away that I wasn't interested in having Rusty vaccinated because of her age. She had a 3 year rabies show in December 2005 but hasn't received any regular vaccines since December 2004. I've done my research and feel that a dog her age should be vaccinated every three years tops (if at all). Unfortunately, the vet didn't respect my wishes and kept going on about how she should at least be vaccinated for parvo because older dogs are at higher risk for parvo (which is the opposite of what I've read), especially if they go to dog parks regularly (which Rusty does) and she made me feel so guilty that I reluctantly agreed to let her vaccinate Rusty for parvo ONLY. Rusty had to have a suspicious lump deep in her neck aspirated so she was taken to the back of the clinic. The vet brought her back a few minutes later and said "we gave her her parvo vaccine while she was back there, which is a 4-in-1 vaccine that also includes distemper, parainfluenza and hepatitis." I honestly couldn't believe what I was hearing. I said, "I thought she was being vaccinated for parvo only?" and she said "parvo isn't given alone but in combination with other vaccines." At no point did she explain this to me when I agreed to have her vaccinated for parvo only.

I was so shocked and upset that I didn't know what else to say and I left the clinic on the verge of tears. I feel like I've failed my old girl by agreeing to allow her to be vaccinated at all. :sad: I'm so angry with myself for not raising hell with the vet for giving Rusty vaccinations I did not agree to and putting her health at risk in the process. I wish I had refused to pay for anything but the examination, aspiration and the cost of a single parvo vaccine.

Am I being totally unreasonable here?
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