14 year-old Shih Tzu With Recent Cushing's Diagnosis

[Roxee's Dad]

Happy Birthday Hanna

[Altira]

Happy happpy birthday, Hannah!
Happy 13th sweetie!

[labblab]

Oh no, I'm a day late , but there's still time to join the party, right????



Happy Birthday WEEK, sweet Hannah!!!!!!!!

Marianne

[addy]

Hi Julie,
Sorry you had such a scare. I hope Hannah is okay. The lazer treatments sound promising. Thank you for the link. MAybe they can zap Zoe's paws. I'm glad they help Hannah.

Sure hope today is calmer and Hannah can have a birthday week celebration to make up for yesterday!!!!!!

love,
addy

[Cyn719]

HAPPY BELATED 13 th BIRTHDAY HANNAH!!!ll

Love ya!

Cindy and Penny xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

[jmac]

Hi Everyone-

I have a question I have been meaning to ask before we get to early April when Hannah is due for her annual exam and vaccines. I have some anxiety about whether or not she should be getting vaccines. I have a feeling my regular vet would just give them without any discussion if I didn't ask, but I guess I don't know that for sure. When she had her exam/vaccines last year, the vet who worked part-time there was the one who saw her, and she was the one who talked with me about possibly opting out of some vaccines at some point in time, depending on Hannah's age and health. She is now the vet that does the laser treatment and rehab work, so I can still consult her prior to this appointment, and she is good about giving info. and pros and cons, but I don't know if she will steer me one way or the other.

First, she is due for DHPP-CV (it says it is a 2 yr. vaccine,. Is this one even negotiable?

She is also due for Bordatella. Do you think she needs this if I don't board her, and we go to an in-home groomer? The only place they come into contact with other dogs would be the vet, or the occasional trip the pet store. I adopted a dog with kennel cough and it was terrible, so we started vaccinating then.

I don't believe we got the Lyme vaccine last year, but I don't remember why that was (I'm not sure if she didn't think we should or if we didn't do it because Hannah is not outside for long).

She is not due for rabies until Nov. so I don't need to worry about that yet.

She will get her heart worm test then as well. We used Interceptor last year (switched from Sentinel and I think that was recommended by this vet because of something to do with the raccoons we frequently have in our back yard and the foxes and coyote we have seen in our neighborhood the past couple of years--and I live in a large suburb!) We use Frontline for tick prevention. I liked the Sentinel because I didn't have to do the Frontline, but I think she wanted my dogs to have some other parasite protection from the Interceptor.

Anyway, I just want to know what you think about all of this...it stresses me out. Hannah is doing well overall. We are not treating Cushing's and her symptoms are not terrible. Really, I would say that it is a desire to eat more, but she is not pushing into Izzy's dish or inhaling her food. She will just beg and bug me during the evening (while we watch t.v., etc.) and I assume she wants food. If I give her a bone to chew on, she'll be fine. She drinks more than normal probably, but she isn't emptying a water bowl in 24 hours. She can hold her urine all day while we are at work and all night. She has no pot belly, no panting, no weight gain, no hair loss. She has had some infections over the past year that may be related to Cushing's (ear and skin), but we have been able to treat them. She seems to have some rear-end weakness, but would go up steps if I would let her. I don't because of her back. She is also doing really well after the back problems. She happily trots around with a bounce in her step. Overall, her blood work looks good. The ALKP is elevated (was around 400 last time), but we are monitoring it and it has been higher in the past.

I don't want to give her something that will hurt her, but I don't want to leave her vulnerable with all of the wild animals we seem to have wandering around here. They have never encountered one, but we see the raccoons a lot in the summer by our mulberry tree, and they leave "presents" around the yard, which I hate. I'm ready to chop the dumb tree down.

Anyway, sorry for the long email. I just want some input and some time to think it over.

Thanks!

Julie & Hannah

[addy]

Hi Julie,

Vaccines are hard, every pup has a different risk. Does your vet do titers?

I stopped bortella, Zoe and Koko have no need for it. They only go out on leash with me attached to the other end, I got Zoe a rabies waiver as I felt her risk was small. If I rememeber right, I thought I titered Koko's DHPP so he did not get another one. Zoe- well, it is just me, I refuse to give her any vaccine. She just has too many problems.

With Koko, I plan to limit vaccines as much as possible and titer when I can.

It is a hard call, Julie, depends what your pup is all exposed to.

Sorry I was no help

love
addy

[Jenny & Judi in MN]

Since Jenny is only around her brother and dogs at the groomer, my vet was fine with no rabies last year. Because of the groomer he gave her the nasal spray bordatella, gave my other dog the same spray (in the past they always had the shot), they both got kennel cough from the stupid spray vaccine.

Took Jenny at least a month of antibiotics to get over it.

So, I have no firm answer except avoid the nasal spray! Judi

[Altira]

We live the big city in Orange County California. Our vet stopped all of Kira's shots about a year ago. (She is 12 yrs old.) He said they have been over vacinating pets for years and it was time to put a stop to it. He was certain Kira would be fine.

My niece has worked as a vets reseptionist for over twenty years. I asked her if we really needed to dash to the vets the minute a shot is due. She said no!!! The vaccines actualy last a lot longer. Who would know better then she which dogs are getting these dreadful things and who isn't and what their history is... My vet gave me the impression that they could easily stay in effect for years. Surely for the length of time Kira has left. Rabies is the only one that we have to do.

Check out this web page:

http://www.healthyhappydogs.com/Article.PetVaccination

I have had multiple dogs for 34 years and I have long suspected that many of these vaccines have effected them badly......Check your records. If they have had even one shot of something it maybe enough. ]It's a risk of course. I love my dogs to peices, if I am wrong I'll never forgive myself.... but my Kira will get no more vaccines. That includes flee and tick prevention. Frontline and Andvantix are no better. Maybe I'll do that once or twice a year but no way will I do it every month! I never have. Please keep in mind that we do not live in a high risk area.

We also have a one and a half year old dog. She will get the basic shots now and then as seems reasonable and needed, becasue I think it makes a differance if they have never been vaccinaed for some of this stuff.... You are very wise to be stressed out over this... But as I said, I was told by my vet himself that pets are in fact being over vaccinated!!!

I too would like to know what others thoughts are on this....

[labblab]

Hi Julie,

Since you are asking for thoughts about vaccination, here's a few more to add to the hopper .

I think is sounds like a very good idea to consult with the vet with whom you had previously talked, in order to get her input and feedback about selecting the vaccination protocol that would be most appropriate for Hannah. My personal belief is that there is no single answer that is correct for all dogs, including our Cushpups. I think that a vaccination program should be tailored to the health and risk factors for each individual dog.

I do think there is general agreement that vaccines should not be administered to dogs who are acutely ill. Vaccine manufacturers include specific warnings about that. But as is the case for humans, I believe that dogs suffering from chronic conditions and compromised immune systems may actually be at a greater risk for contracting certain serious illnesses, and thus may genuinely benefit from certain vaccinations. However, for both humans and pets, the vaccines must be considered carefully in light of the underlying health status of the patient -- for instance, only vaccines prepared from "killed" viruses may be suitable for patients with compromised immune systems. And it certainly makes no sense to routinely administer vaccinations for illnesses that may not pose any risk to your pet due to geographic or lifestyle factors (such as bordetella vaccinations for a dog who is seldom exposed to others). Checking blood titers to explore the level of current immunity is also an option to be considered prior to automatically going forward with certain revaccinations. However, according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, checking titers does not yet offer a perfect solution, either: "Theoretically...serologic titers may help veterinarians determine the need for revaccination in some cases. Unfortunately, veterinarians cannot be certain that a specific concentration of antibody is always protective or that a lower concentration leaves an animal unprotected."

Since vaccination is a complicated issue, I do encourage people to discuss it thoroughly with their vets. If my own dog had just been diagnosed with Cushing's and had not yet been stabilized on treatment, I too would be very leery about moving forward with vaccination at that time. However, further down the road, if my dog's cortisol level had been lowered to a therapeutic level and his/her appearance and behavior had normalized, I would want to discuss selective vaccination with my vet. I would want to weigh relative risks and benefits based on my pet's lifestyle and risks of exposure.

I think it's true there is growing realization that certain vaccines confer immunity for a longer time than was previously known or documented. Ongoing research in that vein is helping to shape vaccination recommendations that are better informed. To aid in your decision-making, here's a link that may be helpful. It is a summary of the current vaccination recommendations of the vet school at U.C. Davis. The Davis recommendations are based on the combined input from a variety of current academic and clinical sources:

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/s..._protocols.cfm

Marianne