Vaccinations.
There has been a fair amount of controversy about the relationship beween vaccinations and various illnesses in dogs and cats. Any vaccination or medication can cause side effects, so the first rule is not to give any vaccinations that aren’t necessary and don’t vaccinate any more often that is recommended.
The UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine Vaccination Guidelines is a good source of information (www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/small_animal/internal_medicine/newsletters/vaccination_protocols.cfm ). Another good link is through Healthy Pets, which discusses the latest vaccination guidelines from the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA, http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/10/27/new-canine-vaccination-guidelines.aspx ). Both of these guidelines discuss the critical vaccinations for dogs. These are parvovirus, distemper virus, adenovirus, and rabies and are recommended for all puppies and dogs. The diseases involved have significant morbidity and mortality and are widely distributed, and in general, vaccination results in relatively good protection from disease. After the 1-year booster for both DAPP and rabies, these vaccinations should be given only every three years (or longer for DAPP).
The other canine vaccines are not generally recommended unless there are special circumstances or a dog lives in an area in which the disease is prevalent. These include Leptospira, canine influenza virus, coronavirus, measles/distemper combination, Lyme, parainfluenza virus, and Bordatella. The problem with parainfluenza virus vaccine is that this is almost always included in the combo vaccine for distemper, parvo, and adenovirus. This is known as the 5-way vaccine. Many vets carry the 6-way (which includes coronavirus) or 7-way (which includes coronavirus and leptospirosis). Ask your vet to please only give the 5-way unless your pet is at risk for leptospirosis.
The vaccine for Leptospirosis has the highest percentage of side effects, sometimes serious or even fatal. The UC Davis guidelines state that: “Vaccination of dogs in suburban areas with minimal exposure to farm animals or forested areas is not recommended.”
The bordatella vaccine provides some protection against some of the causes of kennel cough. This vaccine isn’t necessary unless you are planning to board your dog or put it into a play group. Most places want this to be given between 1 week and 6 months prior to boarding.
A link with a discussion of allergic reactions to vaccinations can be found at www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=527.
Heartworm, Fleas, and Ticks.
Mosquitos that carry heartworm are ubiquitous in virtually all areas of the United States. Given the seriousness of a heartworm infection, we recommend keeping your dog on heartworm medication all year around. While all medications can have side effects, including a severe allergic reaction called anaphylaxis, there are several that have been around for years and have a track record of safety in greyhounds. These are ivermectin for heartworm and Frontline and Advantage or Advantix for fleas and/or ticks. Ivermectin is the active ingredient against heartworm in Heartguard, Iverhart, NuHart, etc.
Just as with vaccinations, the rule should be to not give your greyhound any more chemicals or medications than is necessary. It’s getting harder and harder to do this. It used to be easy to give Heartguard every month. But now the push is to use Heartguard Plus (Heartguard is still available if you do an internet search, but harder to find), where you have to give wormer (pyrantel pamoate) in addition to the heartworm medication. Iverhard Max has both pyrantel and praziquantal (for tapeworms). I don’t know about you, but my dogs don’t need to be wormed every month. The most likely parasite that they will acquire on neighborhood walks is giardia, and the wormer in these multi-purpose medications doesn’t work on this ubiquitous parasite. There are now several other medications that are multipurpose – they prevent heartworm, act as a wormer, and kill fleas and ticks (and make coffee in the morning). But in many areas, fleas and/or ticks are not a problem all year around. So why put these chemicals on your dog if it isn’t necessary? I would recommend using caution before jumping on the bandwagon of new medications – even though many vets are pushing them. There have been reports of adverse events, including death, following Trifexis administration and reports of severe skin irritation due to the Sonesta collar. As you know, greyhounds have greater sensitivities to some chemicals than other breeds. When companies are testing these new medications, I doubt that they use greyhounds in the testing. Most greyhound-savvy vets have a “wait and see” policy regarding the new products.