Titre testing for dogs

Bells21

Has anyone ever had a titre test done for their dogs before? I have held off on boosters for ours this year for various reasons but obviously I still worry that I'm leaving them compromised. I have read quite a bit about titre testing (pros and cons) but I've never come across anyone who has had this done.

tk123

We're actually going to get it done on Thurs afternoon! Bailey had it done already but getting it done again with Lucy's out of curiosity to see if it's changed since there's a few new pups around shedding vaccines in the park etc etc I paid €55 last time for vaccicheck so will report back on what we pay!

Bells21

tk123 wrote:

We're actually going to get it done on Thurs afternoon! Bailey had it done already but getting it done again with Lucy's out of curiosity to see if it's changed since there's a few new pups around shedding vaccines in the park etc etc I paid €55 last time for vaccicheck so will report back on what we pay!

Was it something that your vet offered already or did you request it? I've seen others having to pay extortionate prices as their vets don't usually do it. I'm wondering will I get some raised eyebrows if I ask about it!

tk123

Bells21 wrote: »

Was it something that your vet offered already or did you request it? I've seen others having to pay extortionate prices as their vets don't usually do it. I'm wondering will I get some raised eyebrows if I ask about it!

No our local vets don't stock the kit - if I wanted them to do it it would have been a blood test sent to the lab and it was a crazy price. Bailey was getting full bloods done at the time and the titre was more expensive from the lab than the full panel! I got it at Cara Vet here in Dublin who stock the vaccicheck kit. There's a "holistic" vet who stocks it too but charges almost twice as much(!). They just take a sample and then the kit takes a while so they call you back with the results and will print them out for you if you need them. I work around the corner so just called in to get them the next day.

Bells21

Ah that was it, if they've to send off to a lab it was dearer than if a vet stocked the kit. I'm not holding out much hope of many, if any, places in Wexford stocking it.
Hope all goes well with your two.

tk123

Bells21 wrote: »

Ah that was it, if they've to send off to a lab it was dearer than if a vet stocked the kit. I'm not holding out much hope of many, if any, places in Wexford stocking it.
Hope all goes well with your two.

I don't think any stock it except these two! Lucy's never had bloods done so hopefully she'll be ok(!)

tk123

Just to update - the vet actually sent the bloods off this time where last time the did it in-house. Might be an idea to check with your vet and see if their lab is doing the test now (compared to lab titre which costs a fortune :eek:). €62 each so not too much of an increase!

Bells21

tk123 wrote:

Just to update - the vet actually sent the bloods off this time where last time the did it in-house. Might be an idea to check with your vet and see if their lab is doing the test now (compared to lab titre which costs a fortune ). €62 each so not too much of an increase!

I wouldn't mind that cost, just didn't want to end up paying hundreds for it. I will ask when we're back with our own vet which will likely be pretty quickly as Bella had a 6 week post op check today and the vet came across a heart murmur. She recommended that we get our own vets to check too.

tk123

OK so it was Axiom it went to! So I could have just gone round the corner to our usual vets rather than driving to the other vets lol :rolleyes:

Distemper / Parvovirus / Adenovirus
4/5/4 for Lucy
3/6/4 for Bailey

Bells21

So there's no need for any more boosters then with those scores then? That's great and very quick results too!

tk123

Nah they don't need them at this stage. There's plenty of research to show that they last 7+ years. I'd always take them to the vets if they're sick even if it was just peace of mind if I'm worried at all.


I'm glad I don't have a pup though because there's just so much conflicting advice now and everyone saying whats right and wrong according to them and their studies to back it up!!! o_O
e.g...
2 x puppy jabs then 1 year and every 3 years
2 x puppy jabs then 1 year and nothing else
1 @ 16 weeks then nothing else
nothing at all
any of the above with titres thrown in.... or titres are crap don't bother!
*head explodes*

muddypaws

I don't know if this has ever been mentioned on here but the newer pet passports now have a titre test page for rabies

tk123

Lucy needed a vaccination cert for an assessment (that hasn't happened yet so i won't jinx it by going into detail ) but when I queried if we could give the titre results instead they said yes! I wonder would the likes of training centres be the same now in a few years going to classes etc etc

Bells21

I know it's so difficult to know what's the best course of action. Hopefully somewhere local to us will begin offering titre testing soon.

I think I remember reading somewhere before that a lot of centres and boarding places wouldn't be in a position to accept even if they themselves agreed with the practice as the insurers make it quite tricky.

Dubl07

tk123, do you bother with Kennel Cough 'vaccine' then? I'm waiting to hear if our vet does titre testing but wondering about KC. Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

Bells21

Dubl07 wrote:

tk123, do you bother with Kennel Cough 'vaccine' then? I'm waiting to hear if our vet does titre testing but wondering about KC. Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

I've heard various different opinions on this. Apparently the vaccine doesn't cover all forms of kennel cough, from what I can interpret. Ours don't get kennel cough vaccine, the reason being that our vet asks if it's likely that they would be in a boarding situation or otherwise, which generally they aren't.
I do think it's worth doing your own research and speaking to your vet too.

muddypaws

Dubl07 wrote: »

tk123, do you bother with Kennel Cough 'vaccine' then? I'm waiting to hear if our vet does titre testing but wondering about KC. Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

Its like the human flu vaccine, can't cover all the strains as new ones appear each year, I think it covers 75% of the strains they know about.

I wouldn't usually bother with it, but am taking dogs to the vets this afternoon for it, as its mandatory for an event we're going to.

KC isn't nice, but if you have a fit and healthy dog, they should cope with it OK, like us having a nasty cold. However, if you have a young, old or ill dog, it can be very dangerous.

tk123

I don't bother with it either. Any dog around here that had KC was vaccinated. The same with lepto - the last dog that had it in our vets was vaccinated. I haven't managed to catch it in 8 years of being splashed, having the water get into cuts and scrapes etc etc
The thing is I don't think my dogs are invincible and that vets are evil lol so the first sign that something is wrong I'll take them to be checked over.. but at that I've seen 9 vets in 6 months with Bailey's op and random ones at our local practice since our vet moved on and 7 of them were no on par with our favourite!

Latatian

I get the kennel cough vaccine yearly for my girl, she's elderly and her lungs aren't great.

Choc Chip

I have got the kc vaccine for ours as local kennels look for it, but my terrier has had reactions to it every year. The reaction is mild, but if i can avoid putting him into kennels this year I wont get it.

He's a complete monkey who eats anything he can get in his mouth and has a resulting near-death experience about once a year. Anything i can do to avoid him getting sick is a bonus!