Rudi Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 Can you just ask your vet to do a a titre test and how much are they:unsure: I am thinking of stopping Archie's vax's but want to discuss it with my vet first and titre testing might be a sensible thing to do. I also need to check if stopping will invalidate his insurance. I had Koda titre tested just for parvo after his initial vaccs as a puppy for under £20.00. They do take the blood from the jugular so it's not that relaxing unless you have a very calm dog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yantan Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 I had Koda titre tested just for parvo after his initial vaccs as a puppy for under £20.00. They do take the blood from the jugular so it's not that relaxing unless you have a very calm dog. Thanks for that It would be no good for Archie then who wets himself everytime he he goes up on the vet table. I have no idea why as our vet is nothing but lovely with him and he's had nothing nasty done to him there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 the vaccine manufacturers say that only healthy dogs should vaccinated, so a dog with epilepsy is not recommended to be vaccinated. Many vets do , however, still vaccinate dogs who have ongoing conditions. Several years ago my dog had just finished a course of steroids. I mentioned to my vet that I had had a reminder for his booster and before I could say anymore he opened the cupboard and took out the vaccine. I went on to say should I wait a while before giving it since he had just stopped taking the steroids. He then saId' eh, yes. your right. Wait a month before having it done' If I hadn't said anything he would have gone ahead and boostered him. This was a vet who I had used for twenty years, and who, until that day, had complete trust in. A titre test only shows the immunity circulating in the blood stream. That will happen when the dog has been in contact with the disease , so that the memory cells have been activated. A low titre does not necessarily mean low immunity. It may just be that the dog has not been in contact with the disease. Unfortunately, you are not likely to know which it is. One friend who did not vaccinate but titre tested her dogs made sure they had been to dog shows, training classes etc so that they had had contact with lots of other dogs before the test. the results were always a high titre level. Another, who has never vaccinated her ten year old dog, had a titre test done this year- out of curiousity- that showed he had adequate titre levels for all the diseases current charges by Glasgow Vet School Does the dog need a vaccine booster? CPVand CDV antibodies 2ml heparin blood or serum £18.00 CPV, CDV and CAV antibodies (anti-CPiV not appropriate) 2ml heparin blood or serum £25.00 your vet will charge you for taking the blood and sending it off and that will depend on the vet. The results will be faxed back to your vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 A titre test only shows the immunity circulating in the blood stream. That will happen when the dog has been in contact with the disease , so that the memory cells have been activated. A low titre does not necessarily mean low immunity. It may just be that the dog has not been in contact with the disease. Unfortunately, you are not likely to know which it is. Quite correct, and it does bother me that a vaccine may not be required at all even though a low count is found, but I'd still rather do the titre test than pump my dogs full of chemicals every year. Spud has had blood taken from his jugular and his leg for his titre test, I suppose it depends on the individual vet, and yes you can just get the titre test done on it's own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanishPastry Posted June 4, 2008 Report Share Posted June 4, 2008 He has home made food as I want to control what goes into it so there are no e-numbers or anything like that. Do you buy everything for him organic then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ruthi (borrowadog) Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 So, did anyone buy the e-book? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celeste Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 So, did anyone buy the e-book? nope, you can find more or less the same stuff on the Canine Concern web site for free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathyw Posted June 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 So, did anyone buy the e-book? Wouldn't waste my money but I learnt lots just by reading the thread - far more than I imagine was in his book and I thank everyone for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazzy Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Just a note regarding non vaccine and insurance companies. I no longer insure my animals. I have a credit card for emergencies. I worked out that in all the time that I have had Izzy in my life and the premiums paid in the first few years with no claim - I was sending money down the drain., I was more sure of this with Hun. We insured her but when the time came to claim, they found that her previous owners had been to the same vet as me ( possibly not heard of in most rescue situations) and refused to pay out against on going illness - allergies. I then decided that it would be cheaper to have a credit card and pay the monthly premium amount into this card - you can have a credit balance - and use it as necessary I know that I am probably lucky regarding my dogs health as the last time I visited the vets was about 12 months ago - for more Hun ear drops but the balance on the card has been paid off. I pay in the equivalent of my premiums and top it up as necessary and this seems to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathyw Posted June 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Brilliant idea Shazzy. Elsa is not insured (long story). CB is and I have claimed when he needed stitches but your way seems far more practical. Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merledogs Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 (edited) It's all very well not having insurance, but if you suddenly get landed with a vet bill of thousands of pounds, you might struggle to pay. Max cost me £3000 within six months of him arriving, thankfully he was insured. What he had isn't treatable, but if it were another illness which was, he may well have ended up costing several thousand pounds a year. Well worth the premium IMO and the peace of mind. Edited June 18, 2008 by merledogs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillyMalc Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Agree with Alex merleydogs Up till last year Mal had hardly any complaints that were worth claiming for, but this lymphoma that he's got has already cost well over £3000 since last year - no way would I have paid that much in monthly premiums. To me it's 6 of one vs half a dozen of the other: you either take out insurance and you never need it, or you don't and save a bit every month, but then all of a sudden get lumbered with a much larger bill than you've saved. I'd rather put my money on the insurance option tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathyw Posted June 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Neither Grip nor Raffles were insured and in the four weeks between the last two of Jan and the first two of Feb one year we paid our vet £1500.00. Grip needed quite a lot of vet treatment at times but thankfully the money was always there, had it not been I know my vet would have deferred the payments until we could pay. Elsa is the one with the problems but the insurance for her is nearly a grand a year and that is too much. When we thought she might need hip surgery I was pleased that it would have been covered by insurance but then we found out her age and she was already too old for the surgery. CB costs £157.00 per year and I have all the cover I wanted for him. I plan on putting double that away to help with any bills Elsa might have. Himself is not insured. If the worse happened and I couldn't afford what was needed, I would go to the Harmsworth or the Bowden clinic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReikiAnge Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 Aside from the vet bills, there's also the third party liability which is included in most pet insurance policies - so if you are sorted financially for even the most unexpectedly expensive of vet bills, it's worth looking into taking out the liability policy separately at least? Especially in today's sue-everything-society. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lainey Posted June 18, 2008 Report Share Posted June 18, 2008 My brother in law has had one of his dogs pts today due to parvo. They had initial jabs but i dont think they have had any boosters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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