[Naturella]

So, we went to the vet today to get Bru his 3-year rabies shot he was due for (last year he got the 1-year one). I also wanted to talk about titers and skipping the rest of the vaccines. The vet we saw was not my usual semi-holistic vet, who does TCM, but another one. Still, she seemed nice and talked to us about titering and how most vaccines last a while, BUT, that if we plan to be taking Bruno to the dog park and socialize him with “questionable” dogs, we should vaccinate, and how it is cheaper than titering, and how expensive it is to cure some of those diseases that he may get if we don’t vaccinate and he happens to get sick, etc. My husband was so absorbent of the information and I was worried. I didn’t want to do the DAPP and Bortadella again because I KNOW he has immunity for at least the Bortadella (kennel cough) – my roommate’s dog got it bad, and Bruno did not, and he was around her a lot. So he has some good immune strength, I believe. But the doc said $250 for titers and $150 for shots, so that was kind of the dealbreaker for us there… It was one or the other for the hubs, and shots won… 🙁 He took them ok, was acting normally and what not. Now he’s all sleepy and seems a bit distressed… He growls at every movement – the wind blows outside, he growls. Ice gets dispensed in the freezer, he growls. And he was growling occasionally before, mostly at people/kids/dogs making noise outside, but OMG, it is like he got growl shots today, not rabies/DAPP/Bortadella shots! Geez… Last year he had no negative reaction to the shots and I don’t know if the sleepiness and growling are from the shots per se or just from the distress of being at the vet and being done things to, but otherwise he eats okay, pees and poops okay so far, and was playful with a dog-friend who lives in our complex, so he’s mostly alright…

Bottom line, I’m not too happy though – I think because we got the 3-year rabies, I will just “forget” to remind my husband of the other annual shots until 2017… And by then, I hope he will be more okay with skipping them… I’m thinking every 3-5 years as a booster should be fine (do them in 2017, then 2020, then 2025, 2030, etc., for as long as my sweet little baby is around), aside from rabies, which is every 3 years anyway. Hope it works out…

At least everything else on Bru checked out with accolades! He has great body condition and weight – now at 14.5 lbs – still growing as a lean muscle-machine! lol Vet did say to try to keep him between 14.5-15 lbs though, would be ideal for him. But as long as his body condition is good, I don’t care what he weighs… Muscle is heavier than fat anyway. Also great eyes, teeth (yay RMBs and brushing!), skin/coat (yay raw eggs, coconut oil, and sardnies!), and ears! Negative heartworm test and fecal float. Clean bill of health. 🙂

P.S. Vet also said to do year-round HW prevention… @Dori and @weezerweeks, what do you do for HW – year-round or no? (They live in GA as do I, and I think y’all may have told me in another post, but I forgot… 🙁 )
I read somewhere that it’s safe not to administer the pill between December and April, so I MAY try that if hubs does not notice… He freaks out at the possibility of Bruno being sick, and even more at huge vet bills, sooo he would rather take ALL preventive measures than “risk it” (even if it MAY be okay and better for the dog) and have a sick dog and a humungous bill…
I mean, I do understand him… But I am trying to instill a more holistic lifestyle in our household and all these meds and shots are messing with my philosophy, lol… Oh well, I’ll take meds too in emergencies – like when I had a pinched sciatic nerve – “ohmygodworsepainIhaveeverfeltIwantedallthedrugs”… After all the meds I was a happier camper, with nice crazy vivid dreams from them narcotics ;)… But still… the less chemical additives, the better I believe. Anyway, went off too far on a tangent, reeling back in to vaccines and opinions on them! 🙂

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by Naturella.