Vaccinating .. is it as clear as we think?
Correct vaccination/immunisation requires certain protocols/systems and environmental conditions to be in place:
Age is important:
Maternal antibodies are passed to the puppies, if the Mother has a high immunity level these antibodies can last as long as 3 months, if she has lower immunity then those antibodies may only last 5 or 6 weeks. If the pups still has antibodies when they are vaccinated then they effectively block the vaccination, which means they do not have protection.Health:
It is necessary for the patient's immune system to be functioning properly in order to respond to the vaccine. If the immune system is immature it will be unable to do so. If the pet has a disease that suppresses the immune system or a fever, it will respond or react poorly. Stressed and re-cooperating pets can also be affected, and also pets receiving medication.Full Proof:
Although most vaccines have a very high success rate in dogs and cats, none produce immunity in 100% of the dogs/pets being vaccinated this figure varies on type of vaccine it can be as low as 73%.
Strains :
There are several diseases, that have variant strains, Parvo Virus and Letpo being the main ones - so whilst a vaccine may have taken, a pet can be unfortunate to pick up a different strain not covered by the vaccine. There are different variants and diseases known to mutate, just like Flu does both with humans and pets.Breed Differences:
Several breeds are known to react poorly to different types of vaccine.Ineffective Vaccine:
Storage and correct temperature is key. (more of an issue abroad).Non Responder
A pet who does not develop protective surface antibodies after completing two full series of a vaccine.
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So how do we know that any pet has immunity? Two options - put the dog in a area where the disease is and hope for the best .. (not recommended) or Titre Test.
What is a titre test?
A titer test is a laboratory blood test. It checks for the presence of certain antibodies in the blood stream. Testing involves drawing blood from a patient and checking it in a lab for presence of bacteria or disease. It is often used to see if someone is immune to a certain virus or needs vaccination. Especially important if a pet is traveling from one country to another.
So if we titre test we know our pet is immunised? Its not that simple.
Rabies Vaccinations:
In a medical study full article - 'Ensuring
the adequacy of response to rabies vaccination in dogs is important. It is known that some dogs’ fail to achieve an adequate antibody
titer after vaccination (0.5 IU/ml) or more known as Geometric mean titers (GMT) Dogs vaccinated at more than 16 weeks of age had
a significantly higher GMT compared to dogs vaccinated at a younger age.
(The majority of dogs
failed to reach an adequate titer within the first 3 days of primary
vaccination; failure rates were also high if the interval from
vaccination to titer check was greater than 90 days. The ideal timing for blood draw is 8–30 days
after primary vaccination. Therefore a 'failed titre does not mean a dog has not been vaccinated, it just means they have not reached a minimum standard of 0.5IU/ml'. (**see comment below)
In another medical study Full article 'A Research Laboratory for Rabies
and Wild Animal Pathology in Nancy, France, has analysed over 25,000
sera from dogs and cats using a viral sero-neutralisation technique. The
statistics show that cats respond
better than dogs. Although no significant difference in titres was
observed between primo-vaccinated and repeat-vaccinated cats,
repeat-vaccinated dogs had titres above 0.5 IU/ml more frequently. In
primo-vaccinated dogs, monovalent vaccines offered a better serological
conversion rate than multivalent ones. Finally, the results of these
analyses showed a significant correlation between antibody counts and the
time that elapsed between the last vaccination and the blood sampling'.
Another study looked at breed, age and sex 'Most animals older than one year had already
received more than one rabies vaccination. The influence of breed and
sex on antibody titre seemed mostly insignificant. Young dogs had a high
risk of results below 0.5 IU/ml after their first vaccination. . An important
factor for the test outcome might be the virus strain used in the
vaccine'.
Titre Tests : https://www.facebook.com/vaccicheckuk/
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| Titre Testing |
** Another point to consider:
What if the circulating antibodies are low? Does that mean that immunity is low? Well, the answer is no. Immunity is an all or nothing thing: a dog/cat is either immune or he is not. There is no grey area or sliding scale. According to Dr. Ronald Schultz, any amount of titer means your pet is protected.Parvo Virus
In spite of proper vaccination, a small percentage of dogs do not develop immunity to parvovirus and remain susceptible to infection.
CPV 1, CPV 2a, CPV2b and CPV-2c "c are variants of canine parvovirus the virus that causes "parvo" enteritis in dogs. There are several variants of CPV-2; all of the variants of CPV-2 are genetically related. Canine parvovirus type 2c (CPV-2c) is a variant of canine parvovirus.
So pets can sometimes not be immunised with the strain they have come into contact with.
So because a pet has either a failed titre or develops a disease does not mean they have not been vaccinated, it is more likely that they have not been tested at the right time or developed immunity.
When looking at foreign rescue, pets do not have a full medical history, will be stressed especially prior to travel and their immune system could well be compromised.
Parvo virus is rife in Puppy farms - its an horrific illness and can cost owners anything up to £4000 in vet fees.
Puppy farmers rely on the mothers (low) immunity of the pups from 5 - 8 weeks - so to save money - they do not vaccinate the pups and do not clean their kennels of the live virus which can lay dormant for months if not properly cleansed. This is why they are desperate to sell the puppies as young as possible. They do not care about the poor mother who is just bred and bred and they don't care about the puppy who could die. Its is the public's responsibility to make sure they are not supporting this terrible and illegal practice. Lucys Law has been set up to try and stop puppy farming and make people more aware - read more:.Puppy farming and puppy smugglers
Foreign Rescue are mostly re-homing adult or older foreign dogs and so need to make sure their homes, kennels are not infected. Its highly unlikely they are not vaccinating, as it would actually cost them more to treat affected animals than to vaccinate. Once an area is contaminated they would also find it very difficult to eradicate and cleanse.
In a recent conversation with APHA, they said if 30,000 pets landed in the UK unvaccinated for Rabies, Parvo and Distemper, we would know about it. Quite simply it would be pandemic.
If a foreign rescue re-homes 200 dogs then (a minimum average of) 2 dogs would not be adequately covered by vaccination.
So pets can sometimes not be immunised with the strain they have come into contact with.
So because a pet has either a failed titre or develops a disease does not mean they have not been vaccinated, it is more likely that they have not been tested at the right time or developed immunity.
When looking at foreign rescue, pets do not have a full medical history, will be stressed especially prior to travel and their immune system could well be compromised.
Parvo virus is rife in Puppy farms - its an horrific illness and can cost owners anything up to £4000 in vet fees.
Puppy farmers rely on the mothers (low) immunity of the pups from 5 - 8 weeks - so to save money - they do not vaccinate the pups and do not clean their kennels of the live virus which can lay dormant for months if not properly cleansed. This is why they are desperate to sell the puppies as young as possible. They do not care about the poor mother who is just bred and bred and they don't care about the puppy who could die. Its is the public's responsibility to make sure they are not supporting this terrible and illegal practice. Lucys Law has been set up to try and stop puppy farming and make people more aware - read more:.Puppy farming and puppy smugglers
Foreign Rescue are mostly re-homing adult or older foreign dogs and so need to make sure their homes, kennels are not infected. Its highly unlikely they are not vaccinating, as it would actually cost them more to treat affected animals than to vaccinate. Once an area is contaminated they would also find it very difficult to eradicate and cleanse.
In a recent conversation with APHA, they said if 30,000 pets landed in the UK unvaccinated for Rabies, Parvo and Distemper, we would know about it. Quite simply it would be pandemic.
If a foreign rescue re-homes 200 dogs then (a minimum average of) 2 dogs would not be adequately covered by vaccination.
That doesn't mean bad people don't do bad things - so caution is recommended - always do your research first.
Always speak to an expert if you have any queries regarding your pets health.
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