I hope it works for Star Has Star had any boosters since his allergy started? I'm afraid that by giving Finn his booster I will mess up his immune system even more

No, he is 7months over due, i will be asking the vet when he is there next if there is any problems with him not having it.

Ok Would be great if you could let me know what your vet thinks

Couple of links on incidence of Lepto in humans in UK Carol.

Scroll down for first link

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/dise...onoses2004.pdf

http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/ask_the_...spirosis.shtml

And another, this 1 says *it`s uncommon in UK*

http://www.hpa.org.uk/infections/top...s/gen_info.htm

I just wonder why theres no human vax for it

If Lepto is that rare in the UK and the vaccine lasts for under a year in most dogs why vaccinate against it Your dog is going to be at a risk of catching Lepto for the remaining time before next vaccination. Or is the risk of catching it so small its not worth vaccinating every 6 months.

I would as Patch said reccomend having a titre test done before vaccinating any dog let alone one showing allergy or immune problems already.
Lepto can be titre tested for, but only one lab I can find does it. Both my dogs come back with very high titres for everything showing they definatly did not need vaccinating except for lepto which showed neither had any cover for it.
The lepto vaccine does bother me because this is the one that seems to throw up more side effects and problems, also there are strains of lepto that are not included in the vaccination, so your dog could still pick up one of them.
I am also concerned how long it actually lasts and if dogs even take up the vaccination very well. I would have hoped just before the year was up to see a low level of immunity there at least but there was nothing at all, which leaves me wondering when my dogs immunity got so low they had no cover.
I wish I could afford to have my dogs vaccinated for lepto and then titre test one month later and then 3 monthly to find out how and if the vaccination is working. I think that could be most interesting. But sadly financially that is out of the question at present.
My own personal view from the research I have done is that unless your dog swimms and drinks from rat infested ponds, rivers or lakes or is exposed heavily to rat infested areas the risk of the vaccine is not worth it.
I always reccomend the full puppy vacs followed by a titre test a year later instead of the annual booster, you may well find your dog never needs another booster.
The other thing to bear in mind with vacs is that some dogs don't even take them up in the first place, so get no cover from them but may build a good immunity from natural exposure. A titre test can tell you all you need to know regarding your dogs level of cover to these diseases.

This is one thing I am worried about - rats.

We live quite near the centre of Glasgow which is at times of building works infested with rats Only last year Finn found a dead rat out in our back garden He does not swim but has a habit of falling into ponds one of which on our regular walk is full of rats.

In my own personal opinion if a dog already has a compromised immune system I would not be looking at vaccinating for lepto, just trying to reduce the risks like putting him on a lead as you go past the pond to keep him out of it etc.
My JRT suffers with food allergies and will NOT be getting any more lepto vaccines. I have lost two dogs already to auto immune disease and it was the most awful way to see them suffer and I would never want to put a dog through that again. Yes my JRT does come up the horse field with me where there are rats, but I keep him on an extending lead and do not let him sniff or eat anything in the hay or feed sheds or drink water that has been sitting there uncovered.
It is a risk either way and one you personally have to weigh up the pros and cons.
All I can tell you is from my experience my vaccinated dogs died a terrible death and suffered for a year each while we tried everything to save them so I personally would rather not take the risk of vaccination again lepto wise and will only vaccinate for the other diseases if the titre test results ever show they need it.
You need to look at the risks from both sides for your individual dog and make a decision based on that. Its not an easy one, but given that we don't know for sure if the lepto vaccine is working or stays working for very long, and knowing it does not cover all strains of lepto anyway, we can't say for certain if the risk of side effects from it are worth the risk of vaccination.
You need to do what you feel happiest with and what you believe to be the best for your individual dog there is no garruntees either way.

Thanks for the info Madmare

I still have to speak to the vet and the pathologist who did the allergy testing and then I feel I will able to make an informed decision after gathering information from all sides re vaccination. Its a tough decision