Titer tests.

[MarcoPoloCX]

Do many vets carry out titter tests and if so, on average how much do they cost? I was discussing vaccines with another dog owner who rarely booster saying that boosters are mostly superfluous and that annual booster is just to be on the safe side rather than what's required. It's like having Hepatitis vaccines annually when your antibody levels are still normal.

[poweredbytoast]

I had it done years ago as my dog had a huge allergy problem so I was advised to avoid any unnecessary drugs/vaccs. His immunity to distemper lasted two years and the other ones three: there was still some immunity but he was below whichever line is deemed acceptable. It cost about £50 I think and that was about 20 years ago.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I checked only last month for a client. The Hepatitis, Distemper and parvovirus lab fees are around £60 and then whatever your practice would charge for taking the sample, prepping it and then sending it.
They do not adv. using lepto titre in this way as it is notoriously unreliable and may give a false sense of security.
You may wish to talk to your vet about lepto as in my area it is a real problem.
We vaccinate in my practice lepto every year and distemper, hepatitis and parvovirus every third year.

[MarcoPoloCX]

www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/lifelong-immunity-vets/

Are we over vaccinating our dogs? Are manufacturers to blame for causing fear if we don't do it annually? Or are there genuine fears? Interesting read.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

That article is US based. In the UK most vets are following WSAVA guidelines to vaccinate a great number of dogs less.
These guidelines are here the recommend interpretation due to local conditions.
So in my practice we do the primary course of three injections as a puppy and then at just over 1 year of age. We then give Distemper, Parvovirus and Hepatitis every three years (the longest available on UK licences) and Lepto every year. Why do we give Lepto every year? As serological testing is unreliable due the number of serovars and subtypes and in our practice it is a real problem.
Pressure from UK vets lead to the vaccine companies doing the research for the current licence extensions, I think in the next 10 years we will see further licence extensions, but it takes time to get enough data to support the applications.
Why do we stick to the licence? As if we go off licence kennels will not accept dogs and if we go off licence and the dog contracts the disease we are liable for that.
The UK has seen a shift to the health check rather than the vaccine being where the value is. Dogs who attend the vets at least once a year get diagnosed with health conditions quicker and live longer with these health conditions than dogs who attend less frequently.
Why do we not titre test more often? Currently titre testing s more expensive than vaccination and in the current economic situation clients will choose the lower cost option.
It is likely that in the next 10years we will get in house dog side titre tests which we will mean we can test each dog for the main viruses prior to vaccination and choose what to give. Lepto is likely to remain yearly for the foreseeable future.
In short the attitude of UK vets to vaccination is vastly different to the US.