Should I vaccinate now, or wait?

[shredy]

Hey guys, I am confused on what to do. Chloe (a 13 week old golden retreiver) had a UTI and is currently taking cephalexin. She has about 4-5 days left of the prescription and her symptoms have all resolved I have gotten conflicting info about whether to vaccinate now, or wait until the antibiotics are done. She was due 11/18 and I have spoken to 4 vet offices. 2 told me it would be ok to vaccinate because she only has a UTI, no upper resp infections, etc. The other two said better to wait until the antibiotics are finished. I guess I am wondering if waiting (which will put her over 4 weeks in between shots) will affect her immunity and I will need to do an additional vaccine (which is no problem). What do you guys think about this? Should I get them done now, or wait? If I wait do i need to do another shot? Thanks!

[bendyfoot]

The advice we always gave clients at our vet clinic was to delay vaccinations until any current illnesses were totally treated and out of their system. There's no harm in waiting a few weeks until the UTI is gone and she's finished ABs...and you won't be putting added stress on her immune system. As long as she gets her second shot within 6 weeks of the first you should be ok.

[Element~5]

I agree with bendyfoot, I have always been told to wait until any illness are taken care of before vaccinating. Especially if the animal has a fever because of the illness, you should not be vaccinating. I would wait.

[shredy]

Thanks you guys! I will wait until her antibiotics are gone. If I get the vaccines done on saturday or monday I will be within 6 weeks. Bendyfoot, are you saying that I won't have to get her an additional vaccination as long as it is within this time frame? I must have remembered wrong because I thought it was 4 weeks, which is why I was debating...

[bendyfoot]

Puppies should get three sets of vaccines altogether, ideally spaced 4 weeks apart. If memory serves me correctly, this time frame can be pushed a little bit, maybe by 2 weeks, but not much more. If you can get the next round of vaccines within the 6 weeks, you should be ok. But whatever happens puppy should get all three rounds of vaccines.
ETA but I would check with your vet for his/her policy on this...some are REALY specific about these things and don't allow any wiggle room.

[shredy]

Originally Posted by bendyfoot

Puppies should get three sets of vaccines altogether, ideally spaced 4 weeks apart. If memory serves me correctly, this time frame can be pushed a little bit, maybe by 2 weeks, but not much more. If you can get the next round of vaccines within the 6 weeks, you should be ok. But whatever happens puppy should get all three rounds of vaccines.

Thanks bendyfoot, I am definitely getting her all three sets, this will be round two and round three was planned for 17 weeks. I am the overprotective worrywart type of mom for my little one if you couldn't tell.

[mummummum]

I'll throw my two cents in and agree with Bendyfoot's good advice but I also stongly recommend that you look into vaccinosis ~ I agree absolutely with most puppy vaccines but I suggest that you DO NOT get the combination vaccines ~ space them out.

[shredy]

Originally Posted by mummummum

I'll throw my two cents in and agree with Bendyfoot's good advice but I also stongly recommend that you look into vaccinosis ~ I agree absolutely with most puppy vaccines but I suggest that you DO NOT get the combination vaccines ~ space them out.

I have never heard of this being possible. What are the risks with giving them as a combo versus spacing them out? I have only been given the combo shot as an option (excluding corona and bordatella).And I am definitely going to wait until the antibiotics are done!

[mummummum]

In a bunch of studies I've read over the years (and somewhere in this marvelous place called pets.ca they lurk but I can't find the threads) multi-valent (combo's) seem to underly more immune and auto-immune mediated diseases.

And if you think about it, it makes sense. A puppy's immune system is not mature. So here ya go throwing in a bunch of live and half-killed or killed viruses into their system. What resources do they have?

The body does a couple of things when it encounters a vaccine ~ it puts up a wall (inflammation) and it sends in fighters (specialized cells). Maybe or maybe not it can overcome this tsunami of viruses (the combo). In some cases it can't and the viruses lodge and change the walls (body tissue/cells) around it. In other cases the viruses themselves create new walls (inflammation) so that they can change the body (tissue and cellular structure).

The bottom line from what I've read is that combo vaccine's are too overwhelming and the risks are too great.

Given that the Vet world is starting to come around to the thinking that we are over-vaccinating our animals, their understanding of vaccinosis is not too far behind.

[Lilybug]

Just throwing in my two cents worth...I agree with mum about vaccinosis...we've dealt with it first-hand in our now 2 year old standard poodle. Although we will never have direct proof that the vaccines caused the many problems she experienced shortly after, my vet now spaces all of her vaccines weeks apart. As well, we only vaccinate for what she needs - vaccines that are indicated for our area and her exposure. Eventually, we will stop doing routine vaccinations and work with blood titers instead.