posted
I did not know that they still gave out the Lyme vaccine but last weekend my bo took our doggie to the vet.. and the vet gave him a lyme vaccine. Does the Dog vaccine have the same potential of exposing the dog to Lyme like the adult vaccine does? Help
Posts: 35 | From baltimore, md & nj | Registered: Apr 2006
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posted
I don't know. I've heard that they did it right for the ANIMALS! The human animals are of "no account"... they just want to make money on us.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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TerryK
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 8552
posted
So sorry that this has happened. Did your boyfriend specifically request the lyme vaccine? Was he told that your dog would be getting it before he actually got it? If not, I'd change vets. My dog received permenant damage from a vet who gave him shots that he did not need.
I think there is controversy about lyme in dogs just as there is in humans only maybe not quite as bad.
OK, you say, you're convinced me. This is a serious disease. Should I vaccinate my dog for it?
Unfortunately, there is no real nexus between the seriousness of a disease and the effectiveness or safety of a vaccine for that disease. In my opinion, the Lyme vaccine does not actually provide enough benefit to outweigh its substantial risks, despite the seriousness of canine Lyme Disease.
The Lyme vaccine can cause an untreatable form of Lyme disease and, like all bacterial diseases, provides short term immunity. It is not recommended at any of the vet schools in the United States. The human Lyme vaccine was withdrawn from the market. For all the reasons, I think that it's best avoided. But I have one more, very compelling reason.
There are other tick borne diseases that are much more serious than Lyme, for which we have no vaccines. So even if a very safe and effective Lyme vaccine were developed for dogs, having your dog vaccinated for Lyme isn't going to lessen the need for tick prevention. So it's hard to make the risk vs. benefit analysis for Lyme vaccination come out on the benefit side, no matter how you work the math.
For information on Lyme and all other tick diseases in dogs, there is no better resource anywhere than the Tick-L discussion list. Get more info, including many great links, and join here.
Other great websites on tick diseases in dogs:
Posts: 6286 | From Oregon | Registered: Jan 2006
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posted
I'm glad I vaccinated my baby against Lyme. I wouldn't want her to go through even the tiniest bit of the drama I've been put through.
There have been no side effects, and I freak out a little less each time I pick a tick off of her. The vet we take her to tests her for Lyme it seems every time they give her a shot of any type.
As long as she remains a vibrant, loving companion for my byfriend and me, I have no problems standing behing my decision to vaccinate.
-------------------- Sometimes when I say �Oh, I�m fine� I want someone to look me in the eyes & say �tell the truth�
posted
The Lyme Vaccine is not the only form of protection we use against ticks, fleas, etc... We give her frequent baths, check her every night, and treat her with a topical flea/tick control ointment monthly. We don't count on any one way of protection/prevention for anything.
-------------------- Sometimes when I say �Oh, I�m fine� I want someone to look me in the eyes & say �tell the truth�
Here's a question to make your head hurt this fine Monday morning:
Should you vaccinate your dog for Lyme disease?
Tick season, now in full swing, brings with it concerns about this complex disease, caused by a spiral-shaped bacterium called a spirochete. Notoriously difficult to diagnose, Lyme has diffuse symptoms - arthritis, lameness, joint pain, fever, lethargy and weight loss - and some dogs may not show any.
If you live in an area where ticks are not an issue, or your dog is a devoted couch warmer, your decision might be a simple one: Classified as "non-core" by the American Animal Hospital Association, the Lyme vaccine is "generally recommended only for use in dogs with a known high risk of exposure, living in or visiting regions where the risk of vector tick exposure is considered to be high, or where the disease is known to be endemic," according to its 2006 canine vaccine guidelines.
But for dogs that romp in fields of green in areas where the disease is entrenched, decision-making gets murkier.
"It's not black and white - it's a real dilemma," says holistic veterinarian Allen M. Schoen, author of "Kindred Spirits: How the Remarkable Bond Between Humans and Animals Can Change the Way We Live" (Broadway, 2002). "What I tell my clients is you have to weigh the risk-benefit ratio of the exposure rate of your animal versus the side effects of a vaccine."
There are two types of vaccines used to prevent Lyme disease. The first, called a bacterin, contains multiple antigens that manufacturers say are necessary to best protect against Lyme. These vaccines also include preservatives called adjuvants, which some experts believe are responsible for vaccine reactions that mimic symptoms of the disease itself.
The second type, recombinant vaccine, contains only outer surface protein A, which manufacturers contend is the principle antigen required to prevent Lyme transmission. This vaccine does not contain adjuvants, and so theoretically should have a lower risk of reactions. At least one of the recombinant Lyme vaccines available has demonstrated
100 percent efficacy in clinical trials - a success rate that has not been proven with older bacterin vaccines - and been proven to provide protection for at least a year.
Veterinary immunologist Jean Dodds of Santa Monica, Calif., says owners who choose to vaccinate for Lyme should request that their vets use the recombinant form of the vaccine. But that does not mean all dogs should be reflexively vaccinated, even in high-risk areas.
Schoen reminds owners to review their individual animal's health. In a dog with an immune-mediated disease such as cancer, the administration of a vaccine may ultimately do more harm than good.
Schoen, who lives in Connecticut - whose charming town gave the disease its name - decided not to vaccinate his elderly golden retriever.
Instead, "I kept a close eye on him," Schoen says. Because tick prevention is a huge safety measure - more important than vaccination alone - he sprayed his dog daily with a nontoxic insect-repelling spray (Quantum's Skin and Coat Conditioner, available from www.catsu.com). If he saw a tick bite, or noticed symptoms, he began antibiotic treatment immediately.
"During peak tick season - the four- or five-week periods in the spring and fall when ticks were the worst - I also used Frontline," he adds. And just once, when the grounds of his practice were infested with ticks, he had the lawn sprayed to get them under control.
While it might sound anathema for a holistic vet to use a topical tick repellent or - horrors! - insecticide, Schoen notes the whole point of being holistic is doing what works.
"My attitude is don't let your dogma kill my karma," he says. "Holistic medicine is about the judicious use of everything." Schoen also gave his dog milk thistle to help the liver process the topical treatment, and researched insecticides to find an environmentally gentle one.
But Schoen cautions against thinking more is more. "My concern is that we're using a lot of different chemicals in the body simultaneously, and no one has done any studies looking at their interactions. Each can be an insult to the immune system. And at a certain point, one is the needle that breaks the camel's back."
Dodds notes that vaccinated dogs can turn up false-positive on the so-called ELISA test for a month or more after vaccination. Only a Western blot or C6 antibody test distinguishes natural infection from the vaccine.
Very occasionally, if untreated, Lyme disease can progress to renal failure or neurologic problems. But that fear-based motivation to vaccinate is a red herring, Dodds says, because of its rarity. And if Lyme is caught early enough, it is easily treated with antibiotics.
"You can get the serious stage of the disease because some people don't watch their dogs closely enough to know when they are 'off,'" she concludes. "Perhaps the danger is more about busy people having so little time, or even a cavalier attitude about their animals."
posted
I was done in by the vaccine for humans but my dog gets the dog vaccine every year.
It took several years befor I knew it was the lyme vaccine that did me in and by this time my dog had already gotten the vaccine several years in a row so I figured she wasnt genetically coded to be destroyed by the vaccine like me.
I will say every year I have a nervous pit in my stomach when its time for her to have her shot. Do I risk lyme or the vaccine?????
I do use Frontline Plus and have never seen a tick on her and I live in Ct. near Lyme Ct. so you know we have plenty of ticks.
Posts: 561 | From connecticut | Registered: May 2004
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Both my dogs have lyme and both recd lyme vaccines when puppies and every year after UNTIL this year when I specifically told the vet I didn't want it because I believe that the dogs were born with it or contracted lyme after receiving the vaccines. If there are hundreds of strains how can a vaccine gurantee that my animal won't get lyme? Better yet, how can the vet make the decision that our animals do or don't have lyme in ten minutes when we have to send our blood to IGENEX to get a test that has a higher percentage of being correct?
Posts: 547 | From Maryland | Registered: Mar 2005
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