Puppy Vaccination ?'s

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie...

First off I'd like to thank everyone for all of the great information I've read on this forum and learned! It's been soooooo helpful.

My husband and I brought a 6-week old Rotti puppy home last week. Now before anyone jumps down my throat about his age...we are VERY aware that this is too young and have in fact owned a Rotti in the past etc.(just not this early obviously). He came to our home early due to special circumstances and it was in his best interest. That being said, he received his 1st set of shots at 6 w/o from the breeder. The next day he became quite ill (extreme liquid runs!) and actually had to be kept overnight at the vet. They ran all of the blood tests, parvo etc and found nothing wrong except that he was becoming dehydrated and had severe runs etc. My dh and I believe it was a combo of nerves, stress and perhaps an allergic reaction to his shots. He was doing GREAT the next day and ever since and is MOST DEFINITELY back to his regular "landshark" puppy self.

I called his vet to pre-book his 2nd set of shots. I was thinking around 12 w/o. They're trying to tell me that they want him back for an 8 week round of shots because he shouldn't have had them at 6 weeks and then his 2rd at 12 weeks. I tried telling the vet I thought this was crazy to have his 1st shots done twice, especially with the reaction he had to the 1st set etc. She's insisting this is the course of action they want to take and was trying to convince me that I was being "silly". Needless to say I basically canned them based on my "gut feeling" and have made an appointment with another vet clinic for his shots "one month" after his 1st as per the "new" vets recommendations.

So the ?'s:

Am I wrong or is doing 2 sets 2 weeks apart not over vaccinating???
Was I right in telling the 1st vet to beat it?
Has anyone here ever experienced these reactions w/ their pups to their 1st shots?
Will it be okay to do his next shots at 10 w/o (2nd)? or should I wait until the normal 12 w/o?

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Julie - little Oscar's Mommy

[rutylr]

This is the link on shots I was given

http://www.dogaware.com/misc.html#vaccination
Donna

[Judi W]

There are a couple of reasons why your vet might very well be quite correct in this. Firstly there is no assumption that the vaccine the breeder was administering was a good vaccine, kept always at proper temperature and effective. A breeder that is busy pushing the pups out the door at 6 weeks of age is not one I would rely upon to be knowlegable about medical matters. Secondly, it is also very likely that at the age of 6 weeks, the maternal antibodies would be high enough to interfer with the vaccine working if it was a good vaccine.

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

Originally Posted by Judi W

There are a couple of reasons why your vet might very well be quite correct in this. Firstly there is no assumption that the vaccine the breeder was administering was a good vaccine, kept always at proper temperature and effective. A breeder that is busy pushing the pups out the door at 6 weeks of age is not one I would rely upon to be knowlegable about medical matters. Secondly, it is also very likely that at the age of 6 weeks, the maternal antibodies would be high enough to interfer with the vaccine working if it was a good vaccine.

Well I have the actual prescription bottle that the vaccines came in, so I know it came from a reputable drugstore etc AND it was given to them the same day it was purchased (can tell by date on bottle and day we got him). As well, they were not "pushed" out the door by the breeder at 6 wo. I did mention that it was "special circumstances" and that I was very aware 6 w/o was young. We knew the breeders (they were not a puppy mill etc) and it was necessary for us to take Oscar when we did. Not ideal by any means but was the best thing to do at the time and under the circumstances.

Do you think that it would be better to give him all of the same shots again 2 weeks later though? It just seems kind of over kill to me. I understand what you're saying about the mothers antibodies but is it worth taking the chance to over vaccinate, being that he had such a bad reaction to the 1st set?

[BostonRott]

The actual vaccine that is given on the first and second (and third) visit is the same thing.

I would say that he needs a vaccine by 9wks as the first one at 6wks is basically no good, for the reasons Judi mentioned. Then space them out 4wks apart. My last pup also got a vaccine at 6wks (from his breeder). I did one parvo/distemper-only shot at 9wks, did the vet's 5-way combo at 13wks, and then pulled a titre 2wks later and he was well covered. He'll get a booster at 1yr, and that will be it until he's 5.

[rutylr]

There are new ways on thinking about vaccinations.
Please go to the site and it should answer alot of questions.
Donna

[Sargeant_C]

We got Sarge at 6 weeks and he had his shot during that week. Then we waited until he was 9 weeks and did the 2nd shot.. then when he turned 16 weeks we did the parvo etc.. Some vets will do an extra puppy shot when they are not with the mother so their immunity is kept up. Some will also skip one if the pup was with the mother longer.

Just inform your vet on what happened with the first shot so they know what to look for.

[targonrotts]

the pup's reaction the day after the shot, could have been his general health,immunity,parasites,diet change,new home,etc.and vaccs combined.
we don't know what the special situation was, if it was important in the pup's health, or mothers' vaccs history, etc.but, yes.if only shot was at 6 weeks so far, need to give a booster between 8 and 9 weeks again.
i do give a hardcore vacc schedule because in my situation, i work at a vets,go to shows, training places, etc and live in florida(tropics).
i do vaccs at 6,8,10,12 and 16 weeks.the whole kit and kabbodle.
but average owner can do 6,9,12 and 16.
vaccs work by stimulating the immune system.the mother's passive immunity wears off between 6 to 12 weeks...hence, the reason for booster vaccs.
but do mention to vet before administering vaccs about what happened and don't vaccinate if puppy is sick on that day.
i don't know about your side of town, but miami,fl is hopping with parvo,distemper and kennel cough this time of year.

[RotLover25]

Originally Posted by rutylr

This is the link on shots I was given

http://www.dogaware.com/misc.html#vaccination
Donna

nice link..i was looking for something like that for a while


Thanks

[VANCOUVERISLANDROT]

Thank you everyone for your responses, much appreciated!
Thanks for the site link (didn't write down who posted that for me), it was really informative (saved it to my favorites for future reference as well).

My dh and I discussed the various opinions etc and I think we're going to bring him in at 10 w/o for his 2nd shots and so forth once we discuss it further with his new vet. I think as long as we try and keep them 4 weeks apart it will give his body a chance to "deal" with the previous ones. I really think that vets (and human docs for that matter) over vaccinate and I am of the opinion that serious damage can be the result. I'm going to research it further and I may actually "selective" immunize him as I think some of the "cocktail" is redundant and unnecessary. Lots of research to do. haha!

Thanks again!
Julie