Should dogs with allergies continue with vaccinations?

Its coming up to the time for Finn to have his Lepto and Pi booster With his problems over the last year with his allergies and the reason allergies occur is the immune system over reacting to harmless substances. A dog suffering from allergies is not considered healthy So should be be vaccinated?

His allergy is alternaria which is seasonal from approximately September to March with peak time September to November. He is due his booster at the beginning of April so a while to go yet.

It's a case of vaccinate and disrupt his immune system more and make his allergies worse or don't vaccinate and put him at risk of disease

Has anyone got any experience of vaccinations and allergies? Will also be discussing this with the vet when Star gets her booster soon.

Madmare has a lot of experience of this and will respond as soon as she see`s the thread I`m sure :smt001
I can tell you in advance though that she will advice you to have a titre done initially, [ which I would suggest as well ], to see what sort of immunity is already there and contrary to what some think, yes Lepto *can* be tested for as well - Madmare will give you details / info on where to send a sample off to get that done as not all labs do that particular check.

HTH :smt001

Oh Carole what a hard choice, I guess you have to work out which is the greater or lesser of two evils having looked at all the options and discussed them with the Vet.

I know some vaccinations cause a worse reaction than others and I agree with Patch that titre testing would be wise. I think Glasgow Uni does Titre testing so at least you have a lab close by.

Thanks both

I had already decided that when he is due his combi booster in 2 years he will be titre tested. He will be having the minimum level of vaccinations.

Its just this mini booster. Pi from what I have read on the Intervet site is not really a serious problem and more for dogs in kennels. Lepto is the one that worries me as it is a zoonotic disease although how often do humans catch it from their pets

Hiya C

As you already know an allergy is a sign the immune system isn`t functioning as it should whether its seasonal or not. And just because he`s no allergies for 6mths of the yr the fact they return means it`s not coping the rest of the year & is not in full/robust health.

Pi & Lepto are not considered *core* vaccines. As far as I`m aware, you can`t titre for Lepto & the test madmare used, is more used for diagnosing if dogs actually have Lepto rather than to see if they have antibodies to it.

I`m just looking for some links that might be interesting, I`ll put them on when I`ve found em

Here is what Schultz, an expert immunologist has found

Table 1: Minimum Duration of Immunity for Canine Vaccines
Vaccine Minimum Duration of Immunity Methods Used to Determine Immunity
CORE VACCINES
Canine Distemper Virus (CDV
Rockbom Strain 7 yrs / 15 yrs challenge / serology
Onderstepoort Strain 5 yrs / 9 yrs challenge / serology
Canine Adenovirus-2 (CAV-2) 7 yrs / 9 yrs challenge-CAV-1 / serology
Canine Parvovirus-2 (CAV-2) 7 yrs challenge / serology
Canine Rabies 3 yrs / 7yrs challenge / serology
NON-CORE VACCINES
Canine parainfluenza 3 yrs. serology
Bordetella bronchiseptica 9 months challenge
Leptospira interrogans ser. canicola ?
Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiac ?
Borrelia burgdorfen 1 yr. challenge
Ciardia ?
Canine Coronavirus Lifetime (whether
vaccinated or not
vaccinated) Challenge / serology

http://www.vmth.ucdavis.edu/vmth/cli...accinproto.pdf

http://critteradvocacy.org/K9%20Recommendations.htm

One explaining titres & how best to use them, as well as some other interesting stuff.

http://www.naturalvet.com.au/Fact%20...CCINATIONs.doc

Star is on steroids and undergoing a course of immunotherapy for his dust allergy. The vet told us that he should not have his booster while on this treatment and should be ok for 6-8months. But he would consider giving it him if his steroid dose is low enough after that time.

Thanks for the links Christine

So the parainfluenza part of the vaccine also lasts 3 years then

Is Star on steroids all the time then?

Hopefully not, if the immunotherapy works he will be clear of them, however if it fails he will be on and off them for the rest of his life, he was down to a very small dose but his cough came back, so if he is on them fingers crossed its a small dose.