Prevent Lyme in Dogs Month on April, 2024: Dog owners - help needed?

April, 2024 is Prevent Lyme in Dogs Month 2024.

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In my opinion, once your dog has had all it's puppy vaccinations, then the only other vaccinations it needs is the rabies vaccination as required by your state and possibly a yearly lyme vaccine, depending on where you walk your dog. I go off leash with mine, and here in NJ the deer tick is everywhere, so I choose, reluctantly, to give my dog the lyme vaccine. As far as vaccination 'Boosters' go, I don't think they're necessary. When was the last time you had a 'booster' shot? The vaccination protocol has gone from yearly boosters to every three years. Many believe, myself included, that once an animal has it's initial shots then it's protected for life. Another option is having your dog's titers checked. Checking for titers is the measuring of certain antibodies in your dog's blood. They look specifically for the distemper antibody and if it's found to be adequate then no boosters are given. My dogs and cats have not had any boosters in years

A yearly check up is also a good idea, especially as our pets age. Finding any issues early and possibly preventing them is much easier and usually less costly then waiting until it becomes a full blown problem and then having to treat whatever's wrong..

Heart worm and flea and tick preventative is important

Feeding a good, natural food is extremely important. We know not to eat foods that contain artificial ingredients and preservatives everyday, yet we think nothing of feeding our dogs a food that may contain those things. Even though natural, holistic foods are more expensive, after all you're paying for real meat protein and not just corn and low quality fillers, you can actually feed less of these foods. So the cost, over the course of a month is less, and your dog will be healthier. That means less time and money spent at the vet. Blue Buffalo, Wellness, Solid Gold and Natures Variety are just a few good holistic, natural foods that your dog would do very well on

And finally, two of the most important things that will keep your dog healthy and happy for years to come is plenty of exercise and lots of love.

Banfield Wellness plan for adult dogs or another vet?

why would you get all those shots? bordetella worthless, lyme worthless, lepto worthless, giardia very worthless.A regular on here said Banfield was ridiculous with pushing the vaccs.

hey since you're a first time dog owner, i wanted to share this link, it lists a lot of really really good books (not just about health, but i thought you might like to read more if you wanted)

Add: giardia vaccine isn't 100% effective...it's 5% effective AT BEST. it does more harm than good. I take my dogs hiking all the time, and they go in water, etc. they don't get giardia, because their immune systems are strong and they eat a good diet, and i dont let them drink from outside water sources or eat poop. That's all it takes to prevent giardia!

you can start teaching your puppy to "leave it" but as she gets older she'll eventually stop licking everything. Just always bring a water bottle so she drinks from that, and be on the lookout for feces on the ground.

I mean think about, your pup may get giardia AND hookworms AND roundworms from licking everything outside. Basically it's all the same treatment too (panacur) so it doesn't make sense to use a vaccine that hardly prevents, when your pup can get infected with another parasite anyway.

ADD: Just one last attempt to talk you out of vaccines lol..see my dog suffered vaccinosis so I really do try to drill it in about the dangers.

Healthy dogs can fight off giardia and other parasites with their immune systems. NO vet school promotes the use of giardia or lyme vaccine *anywhere* due to their side effects and lack of protection. (i'm not sure about the other vaccines with vet schools)

A side effect of giardia is lung damage (it forms granulomas in the lungs). Not to mention all vaccines weaken the immune system.

I'd really encourage you to go to a diff vet and read up on vaccines.

Oh and the bordetella with going to the pet stores, I'll tell you another story with my dog, she got kennel cough even with the vaccine (it's *very* common to) Bordetella vax only lasts 6 months and doesn't cover all the many strains of kennel cough. sorry if I sound like a broken record but..a healthy dog can fight off kennel cough (Unless you were boarding your dog in what seems like an unsanitary or unhealthy facility)

ADD2: I'm not sure what feed stores and stuff treat hookworm and etc with, but when my dogs were pups they got hookworms a lot and the vet always treated it with panacur and that seemed what everyone on the forums agreed with too (DONT use the dewormers from petco, they're chemical toxic crap). then I gave my dogs a supplement called Nupro to boost their immune system and they really haven't gotten worms since, i think it's just about good diet.

your new vacc plan sounds much much much better! I still wouldn't get bordetella though :P :)

You really only need to give bordetella 3 days before boarding if required. The dog park, well I don't like dog parks anyway, but if you can find a dog beach or dog trail or somewhere that would be less disease going around but my concern with dog parks is the dogs who don't belong there.

Anyone have testimonies of glucosamine with their dog?

I can absolutely tell you that Glucosamine works!! Not only do I actually see the improvements from clients at my work, but I own a Saint with Bilateral Hip Dysplasia. But, in order to know if Glucosamine is a recommendation for your limping dog is up to your vet. I don't know your dogs hx, I don't know why he is limping because limping can be caused by SEVERAL things!!!

Your dog could have pulled a ligament, broke a bone, fractured a bone, has Lyme Disease, has an infection, etc. First you need to have the proper diagnosis by your vet and they will dicuss the treatment plan with you. If your dog had Lyme or had broke/fractured a bone then you will need to put him on something else (he can still take Glucosamine, it will not hurt him) like antibiotics for Lyme or a pain reliever/anti-inflammatory for a bone injury. Did you have x-rays done?? A 4DX?? 4DX tests for the 4 tick born diseases which can all cause limping.

At my work we take x-rays pre-treatment and then repeat x-rays 6 months later and then 1 year after starting Glucosamine. Even the "untrained" eye can tell the difference between the x-rays! It is amazing!! But I do have to mention... you don't even need to take post-treatment x-rays to notice the different in our patients. They are less stiff, less "cracking", have less problems getting around, getting up, and are overall more comfortable. However, I do have to mention... Glucosamine is not a magical fix, you also have to be conscious of not over exercising your dog and you need to keep your dogs weight down (the more weight they carry around, the more weight their joints have to support).

Also, some dogs will immediately (3 weeks after starting) show a drastic positive change, while others will take close to a few months to notice a difference. It really depends on the age, weight, and severity of the injury/problem/diagnosis. Just like people!!!

Glucosamine supplements prevent many unnecessary euthanasia's. Some pups will only require Glucosamine for the rest of their lives to help the joints, others will need a combination of Glucosamine and a pain reliever/anti-inflammatory medication. Our clinic only prescribes Deramaxx, we do not recommend Rimadyl. Rimadyl has been directly linked to heart problems among other things in canines.

In fact, it really isn't "good" to have your dog on pain management medication the rest of his/her life or long-term (no matter what the med), but some dogs NEED the meds to be pain free. It is pretty much a catch 22 situation. Your dog needs the meds to stay pain-free, but they could be doing more harm than good. If I ever had to put my dog on any pain meds I would use Deramaxx, that is my personal opinion. It is been proven to be the safest option. Even so, your dog should have a Liver Enzyme test every 6 months to test the effects of the meds on the liver.

I start my large breeds on Glucosamine at 6 months of age because they are prone to so many joint problems. Like I mentioned before, my rescued Saint was diagnosed with Bilateral Hip Dysplasia at 6 months (I have her x-rayed while under anesthesia for her big spay!!). She had the classic hip dysplasia wobble. After being diagnosed, I brought her to an orthopediac specialist and we upped her dosage of Glucosamine (do not do this unless your vet advises you to!!) to try to avoid surgery at the age of one. Well, my pup just turned one and she will not be requiring surgery. I really contribute her success to the Glucosamine, moderate exercise, and keeping her at a moderate weight.

Many of our clients use it on their dogs and are extremely thankful and happy!!