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Each year, you receive the cute puppy postcard in the mail,
reminding you that your pet is due for its annual vaccinations. You cringe at the thought of dragging your
pet through the vet's door and writing that big check at the end of the day
spent in the antiseptic office.
Of course, not all places are like this. I have spent my share of time, with as many
as three dogs and two cats in tow, at typical animal clinics. Now I visit an animal hospital with a more
holistic approach, where titers are preferred to vaccines (vaccines without a
second thought that is; if shots are needed, they are given).
In Part 1 of this two-part series, we reviewed the usual
animal vaccines that are needed, why you would choose one vaccine over another,
and the fact that we don't really know how often pets and large animals should
be vaccinated. Because of this unknown, they
tend to receive boosters just about every single year. Now we'll discuss titers and how they can
indicate whether or not your pet needs that shot.
What is a Titer?
A titer measures the concentration of something. A vaccine titer is a blood test used to
measure the presence of antibodies in response to a particular vaccine. In other words, does the pet still have
enough of a particular vaccine in its blood stream to warrant skipping the shot
that year?
My dogs have blood drawn each year (or every other year,
depending on the vet's advice) for a vaccine titer. It is checked for all of the typical vaccines
and costs around $150. If anything's low
and shots are needed, my hospital's policy is that those shots are free.
My older beagle, Bonnie, is a bit "fragile" and so we are
hesitant to vaccinate her for fear of adverse reactions. She is 13 years old now and has not needed
any vaccinations (apart from rabies, which is required by law) since about age
seven since her titer is still so high.
Why would a dog's titer be so high? There are a few reasons. Puppies are born with some presence of immunity.
They receive passive immunity through the placenta and then get more from
colostrum, the antibody-rich first milk.
In Bonnie's case, she also had been vaccinated faithfully for each of
her life thereafter. Since we don't
really know if a dog needs to be vaccinated every year, she'd built up quite a
stockpile of immunity.
What's Better – Vaccinating or a Titer?
Whether to give your animal shots each year or titer it (and
give shots accordingly) is a matter of personal preference combined with veterinary
advice and research. There is no right
answer. I titer my dogs, but vaccinate
my horses based on the opinions of the veterinarians I work with, local
requirements, and the expense of the work.
What do you think? Is one approach better than the other, is
some combination of both preferable, or does it depend on the individual?
Resources:
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/vaccine-titer-in-dogs/page1.aspx
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/MEDLINEPLUS/ency/article/003333.htm
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Re: Vaccinate or Veto? Shots or Titer for Your Pet – Part 2
