We have a new puppy. And, a new Veterinarian. She suggests having a blood test done to verify that the vaccinations the puppy received a month ago “took”. I have never heard of verifying vaccinations. Is this a necessary precaution?
Hi,
Your vet is probably referring to doing a “titer” which measures the amount of antibodies your dog possesses against certain diseases. I do not think this is necessary for puppies- if you have done at least three series of vaccine boosters, your pup should be good to go. If you do have issues with over vaccinating your dog as a adult- THEN titers are valuable tools to measure the immunity your dog has . I work for a vet, and we do the standard yearly boosters, 3 years for Rabies- but that is changing. Its a slow change because the industry doesn’t want to make mistakes that result in pet disease increases AND the simple fact that vaccines are how we get clients in the door- something needs to replace that economic aspect so vet hospitals can stay open. Personally, my own dogs get their puppy vaccines and boosters once yearly but they travel quite a bit. If they were home bodies I’d probably do their boosters every other year unless I planned on boarding or travelling with them to places where other dogs were. If you frequent public places, dog parks, etc- I’d do the yearly vaccines to be safe. Dogs live longer now than they ever have, so I don’t know how much damage “over vaccinating” could actually be doing. What I do see more of is adult dogs who never got complete puppy series coming down with serious, life threatening diseases.