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Vaccination Nightmare!

KingstonsMom

Well-known member
I've been reading some of the recent posts and they've reminded me of my own vaccination nightmares.

When I picked up Kingston from the breeder he'd had all his shots except for Rabies (he was already 13 weeks old). The problem was that the breeder does all her dog's shots herself. Apparently she buys the vaccines from a nearby vet.

When I took Kingston for his check-up 5 days later, my vet insisted that he have ALL his shots over again. The vet did not trust breeder vaccinations, saying the vaccines could have been stored improperly. I even put the vet on the phone with the breeder to try to work things out (to no avail).

Obviously I was torn over what to do but decided to go ahead with the shots because no one around here would accept Kingston for boarding, grooming, or obedience school without an official shot record. I called the breeder, who acted as if this had never been a problem before.

He had a set of shots three weeks ago and his final boosters today. I'm so upset that all these shots have been pumped into my poor little guy. His body just aches after getting shots. I can hardly pet him because he yelps so pitifully.

I thought today would be his last shots for a while but then the vet told me he'd need to come back for his bordatella. Too bad the breeder gave him his bordatella shot the day I picked him up!

I could gripe forever about the vet experiences I've had. I don't understand why they'd want to pump dogs full of vaccines they've already been given. Of course, the vets know more than I do and they could be doing the right thing, but I'm very skeptical.
 
If your little guy is yelping with pain from having these shots...then NO WAY if he was mine would I be taking him back just yet for even more...

This is awful...your poor little pup, if you feel that you really HAVE to return him so soon then ask your vet to use a different area for the needle..like the rear rump/top thigh area. You should not feel under pressure to have to do this at all, I would never vaccinate a dog if it wasn't 100% in full, good health, please be careful. If there was the question over his vaccinations in the first place then why wasn't he tested for his levels before his re-vaccination? ask your vet that.

And as for your breeder that is doing the shots herself...is she qualified to do this? ask your vet if this is even legal.
Did she give you paper work for the vaccination with the batch number etc? Perhaps in the future you could change to kinder ways to protect him like the nosodes?

Give him a gentle hug, poor litle fella :lotsaluv:

Alison, Wilts, U.K.
 
Oh poor little Kingston and what a nightmare for you too :(

My Maxx had his shots every year but this year I gave him nosodes. Charlie was vaccinated last year just before we had him but this year my Vet couldn't vaccinate him as he's in the middle of immuno-suppressant therapy. However, he agreed that he could have Nosodes so they both got them.

I did have this ultra long discussion about vaccinations with James (Vet) & he did say that whilst he'd prefer to vaccinate every year, lots of clients choose to only do it every other year....

Personally, I hate the idea of a Vet over vaccinating and tbh if Kingston was my baby I would have found another Vet. Some can be extremely over bearing and not give you any choice in the matter :(

Hope the little man is soon better :flwr:
 
I think I too would be finding another vet. It's obvious he isn't interested in listening to anyone. We have never heard of any of our puppy people having that kind of an issue.
 
OMG, I've never heard of a breeder administering vaccines themselves... Is this breeder a vet aswell?

Or is this regular in the US - I've just never heard of this in the uk - fogive me if I sound a bit thick?!
 
I know that Bruce and Kris give injections, or rather Bruce gives Kris injections, not sure what the norm is in the US or UK.
 
That's just awful--I would be looking for another vet for sure! I have an issue with vaccinations in general--and the fact that we're pretty much forced to over vaccinate our pets in order to have the groomed, boarded, etc. :x

The good news is that the bordatella vaccination is just something the vet squirts up your dog's nose to prevent kennel cough--it's not a shot, at least I've never heard of it being given by injection. It shouldn't be quite as traumatic for your little one.

Hope he feels better soon...
 
My breeder gives her pups their first round of shots and apparently that's totally normal here in the US.

I'm so, so sorry about your poor little pup. I would find a new vet asap and tell your old vet exactly why you're leaving him. He sounds like an insensitive boor and I wouldn't tolerate him for a second.

Keep us updated!
 
There's a "nose drops" version of the Bordetella that we use, and it is the only kind our vet gives.

And, my breeder gave her own shots except the rabies which, I think, is required by law that it be administered by a vet. I could be wrong on that though.

In Kentucky, you can buy your own vaccines and give them to your own dogs, and everything is valid. It costs around $3-8 per vaccine as opposed to here (in Northern Virginia) where it costs $20-30 per shot :yikes
 
Wow, Kingstonsmom, the vet sounds like 'know-it-hole' and a sadist, too! :yikes Those shots shouldn't be that painful :cry*ing:

When we got Chocolate as an adult from her breeder, the breeder had administered all her shots except for Rabies. It was such a simple thing for me to call Chocolate's former vet, who kept track of what vaccinations were provided to the breeder for which dog by date. I requested a copy of all Chocolate's records and they were mailed to me. Then I took them to our vet, who updated the information into Chocolate's new records.

Chocolate's breeder is an extremely responsible person when it comes to her dogs, and there has been a very good relationship between all parties (vets and breeder.) When Chocolate passed her Therapy Dog International test, I took the paperwork to both old and new vets to have it filled out completely, no problems.

If I were in your shoes, I would definitely be looking for a new vet at this point, would not allow this person near my dogs. So sorry you had to go through this, but you can always say no in the future if something doesn't seem right to you. That kind of attitude is a red flag in my opinion.
 
We do the first round of vaccinations. The only vacination we cannot give is rabies. Our "Puppy Packet" has a shot record included with it that has all the info on exactly what we gave, the date and the age of the puppy.

As I said, I have never heard of this kind of an issue before. I hope you have other vets in the area.
 
merlinsmum said:
OMG, I've never heard of a breeder administering vaccines themselves... Is this breeder a vet aswell?

Or is this regular in the US - I've just never heard of this in the uk - fogive me if I sound a bit thick?!

WHOA--- breeders give shots ALL THE TIME. THE only shot that should probably be done at a vet is the RABIES. Shots aren't rocket science-- but when a vet can get them for UNDER ONE USDollar a piece and sell them for 12-40 bucks-- well, think about it.
 
The same thing happened to me. I got Brodie when he was 4 months old. The records from his Breeder said that he received "puppy shot #1". The Vet said that he wanted to give them all again from the beginning because he had no way of knowing which shots Brodie had already received. I was naive at the time (Brodie is my first pup) and went along with what the vet said. In retrospect I definitely should have called the breeder and determined which shots were given so that they were not repeated! Brodie did not have soreness or any complications (that I'm aware of) from overvaccinating so I guess we were lucky there. He actually hasn't had any shots since then except for rabies (at 1 yr) and leptospirosis which I probably won't do again. I drive almost 2 hours to a holistic vet in Beaver, PA now for guidance on these issues. He runs a blood titer on distemper and parvo. We were just there a couple of weeks ago and I was surprised that Brodie's levels were still in the protective range (he is almost 2 1/2) so vaccination is not necessary at this time.

So you are not alone ;) ...this happened to me and I understand your angst. I hope your pup feels better soon...and I agree that you should find a new vet - sounds like yours might be a little hard headed. :sl*p:
 
Denise G. said:
That's just awful--I would be looking for another vet for sure! I have an issue with vaccinations in general--and the fact that we're pretty much forced to over vaccinate our pets in order to have the groomed, boarded, etc. :x

The good news is that the bordatella vaccination is just something the vet squirts up your dog's nose to prevent kennel cough--it's not a shot, at least I've never heard of it being given by injection. It shouldn't be quite as traumatic for your little one.

Hope he feels better soon...

Some vets don't use nosodes-- the Bronchicine (bordetella shot), is a set of two shots 2-4 weeks apart.
 
When i got Zack he had had all but the last of his puppy shots, so he needed one more, and also he had not had rabies or bordatella. I took him to my cat's vet and they wanted to give him all those shots on that day, even though i brought him in for bloody diarrhea, they didn't see a problem.

It's a mindset, traditional, but not up with the latest thinking in veterinary medicine, i don't think. Anyway, i wasn't offered the bordatella nasal spray, only the shot. Because he was sick, i said i wanted to wait and get the shot as soon as he was better and they gave him flagyl for the diarrhea. I had only had him two days.

A week later the diarrhea had cleared up and i brought him back for his shot. I chose not to get the rabies and bordatella at that time. I believed it was more sensible to not have them all at the same time, and someone i respect had advised me to postpone the rabies as long as possible anyway, a year if possible, though i didn't try to discuss this with the vet. Fortunately the vet did not try to pressure me to go against my judgement on waiting, if she had, i would've found another vet. (I ended up going to other vets anyway, but not because of that).

Zack's diarrhea returned right after he had his shot. In retrospect, i now believe it was medically a bad decision for me to allow him to have that shot. I should've waited another month to be sure he was well. But at the time, i didn't know what i know now.

This story of Kingston was painful to read. What i didn't understand was, didn't the breeder provide any documentation of the vaccinations? It seems fine to me for a breeder to vaccinate, but not fine if the breeder doesn't provide documentation so that you can take the dog to groomers and things like that.

I never did get the bordatella vaccination for Zack because the more i read about it, the more questionable it seemed to me. As he gets older and has been healthy, energetic and strong, from what i've read, he probably would not have a serious case of bordatella if he does get it. I have heard some breeders say that when they've given that vaccination, dogs have gotten kennel cough as a result of the vaccine. I have read the other side of this debate which says that it's just a coincidence that dogs get bordatella right after being vaccinated for it, those dogs were already incubating it and just happened to get it right after the vaccination. Maybe both are true. Maybe dogs were incubating bordatella and the weakening effect of the vaccine on the immunes system allowed the bordatella to become a more symptomatic infection than it would've been.

I have found that no one has asked me for proof that Zack has had the bordatella vaccination (or any other vaccination!). I'm quite sure though that boarding kennels will require it, they have to because even if it's not a severe infection, they can't allow an epidemic to spread. But i haven't been asked by obedience class trainers or by the groomer.

I recommend researching the subject of vaccines and being informed because many vets are not up with the most advanced thinking on the subject, as well as alternative views. The following are a few of several sources that have had an influence on my thinking so far.

The first two links, i believe, have the most hightly educated and research supported veterinary thinking about dog vaccinations--these are the leading veterinary professional organizations:

http://www.aahanet.org/About_aaha/vaccine_guidelines06.pdf

http://www.avma.org/issues/vaccination/vaccination.asp

http://www.vetinfo.com/dogvacc.html#Do I Really Need to Vaccinate My

http://www.itsfortheanimals.com/NY Pet Vax Bills S02164 - A14253.htm

http://www.geocities.com/kremersark/CVC_2002c.html
 
It happened to me--as a child!

This is a famous family story because it shows my character. When I was 6, I was living in Japan in the 1950s. My father was doing business there and the only American school was on a US military base. I was allowed to attend. One day they lined up all the kids. The word spread: it was the dreaded "shot day." We had to get various shots for misc. Asian diseases. I never minded shots much, but I our family went to a private doctor.

When I got to the nurse, I told her this and she thought I was trying to get out of the shot. I said, "What shot are you giving." The nurse sniffed and replied, 'Paratyphoid."

I asked, "Part A or Part B?"

She said "Part B."

"But I just had that last week and you might make me sick."

Another nurse grabbed and stabbed.

An hour later, I vomited on my desk and passed out in the puddle.

My parents were called and I was quite ill. They were furious.

Since then, I vowed that no doctor would ever tell me what to do with my body--that I knew best and I taught the same to my kids.

BTW, my pup got his first 2 shots from the breeder. It is typical in the US and you can buy them easily through catalogs. Vets expect it.
 
Wow! I'm another who's pretty certain that doesn't happen in the UK. I rather think that puppy shots (ie, first vaccs, at least) are combined with a full health check before the pup(s) are sold. Of course, you're still supposed to bring your new pup to your own vet regardless of the pup's vacc and breeder declared status!
 
Lisa_T said:
Wow! I'm another who's pretty certain that doesn't happen in the UK. I rather think that puppy shots (ie, first vaccs, at least) are combined with a full health check before the pup(s) are sold. Of course, you're still supposed to bring your new pup to your own vet regardless of the pup's vacc and breeder declared status!

remember that in taking the pups to the vet-- you could very well expose them to the deadly disease (a decent argument ). I take mine to the vet-- I HATE stabbing the lil guys.
 
My breeder gave my two their first set of shots and gave me a shot record. There was no problem with my vet. We are over due for a check up and I am still pondering whether or not to do boosters. We had the full set of puppy shots and boosters at one year. We are out and about with other dogs all the time (obedience classes and dog trials) so I am still on the fence. I agree with Woodhaven...I couldn't give those cute little babies a shot! ouch!
J.
 
Thank you for all the comments. It makes me feel much better to know that many breeders do their own vaccinations. I'm going to contact my breeder and ask her if she can come up with an official shot record for me somehow.

I promised Kingston that I will NEVER take him back to that vet after what happened last week. Kingston started having a bad case of diarhea so I called the vet for help. I was told "Sorry, we can't see him today." No advice, no nothing. I naively thought this would be a good veterinarian because he's located in the nicest part of the city. Too bad they tried to get me to buy everything under the sun, including a rattlesnake vaccine!!! (I live in an urban apartment!)

But thanks again for your concern. Kingston is doing much better today! I'm going to search for a vet who does the bordatella through the nose. No more shots for my little guy!
 
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