# Interesting article debunking titering



## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

I have always been pro titer but the more I am reading and seeing conversations in other groups on titering I am wondering if it is a waste of money. Here is an interesting article
Antibody Titer Testing as a Guide for Vaccination in Dogs and Cats | The SkeptVet


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## MMS (Aug 2, 2012)

I always suggest that people take their dog to a highly populated area (park or big box store) before going in for titers, most vets go by the "high response means good immunity" idea. Most vets also don't really understand the immune system, and just go by what the vax companies tell them. It's similar to asking a general practitioner vet for nutrition advice. 

Personally, I don't titer, I get one round of puppy shots at 16 weeks and that's it - with the exception of rabies, which we do every 3 years by law (but only bc we live in town right now). Your body doesn't just wake up one day and decide "meh, I don't think I'm going to bother fighting that disease anymore..." My dogs are very active and being constantly re-exposed, which keeps the antibodies active.


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## Corona Pup (Jan 27, 2015)

So, if I got Corona her puppy shots, which I did, and she is exposed in a regular basis, intake her everywhere and we visit the dog park often, than other than rabies by law, she should be okay without yearly vaccines? She had a slight reaction to one shot, but enough of a reaction to really concern me.


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## MMS (Aug 2, 2012)

I am not giving medical advice here. I am not an immunologist, just someone who likes to learn and does a lot of research on a lot of different topics, considering all sides. I strongly suggest you research the topic and come to your own conclusions. I have taken what I have learned and made choices as I feel are best for my family's health. Whether you want to vaccinate every year, 5, or not at all is a decision you need to make and be comfortable dealing with the consequences. 

I will say that vets know that over vaccination causes cancer, which is why the have relocated the injection site from between the shoulder blades to the back leg... So they can easily amputate when (that's right, the literature says "when") the animal shows signs of injection site cancer. 

If your dog shows reactions to the vaccine, you should talk to your vet about exemption. And make sure it gets reported (too many vets don't report when they should, which is why you see so many people on the internet talking about how their pet reacted, but the actual numbers of reported reactions are so low in the literature... Well that and too many people don't tell their vets about the reaction at all). 

I don't mean for this to sound so "anti vet."


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## Wicked Pixie (Oct 14, 2011)

Most people misunderstand the titer test. There is no test currently available that can state categorically whether an animal is immune to a disease.
It is never going to be black and white, but I agree with MMS we need to educate ourselves and not blindly follow veterinary advice. Routine boosters are a money making scheme.
Keeping our pets truly healthy by feeding a species appropriate diet and minimising chemical exposure (flea/worm treatments as well as vaccinations) is the best way to build a healthy immune system that can deal with common diseases IMO.


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

MMS I would like to know what you use for heartworms if any and your thoughts? I only do the initial puppy vaccines with mine and am about to start a different rabies vaccine if I can get my vet to order them (IMRAB 3 TF (thimerosal free) But I am reading tons of conflicting info on heart worm. I live in the south and mosquitoes are crazy here. My SIL missed one month of heartworms preventative and her Dachshund got heartworms.


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## doginthedesert (Oct 10, 2011)

Yoshismom said:


> MMS I would like to know what you use for heartworms if any and your thoughts? I only do the initial puppy vaccines with mine and am about to start a different rabies vaccine if I can get my vet to order them (IMRAB 3 TF (thimerosal free) But I am reading tons of conflicting info on heart worm. I live in the south and mosquitoes are crazy here. My SIL missed one month of heartworms preventative and her Dachshund got heartworms.


I was just talking to my holistic vet about this- she is also a friend of mine. We don't have HW here- or fleas or really any other bugs for that matter- but she is from Florida and has holistic vet friends in Florida where HW is more common. She is very concervative when it comes to conventional treatments and pro raw, only wants to do one lifetime parvo vac etc, so very holistic. She was saying that some holistic vets are thinking no HW treatment is ok, because you can naturally keep the parasite load low and treat naturally to kill a few adult worms here and there. HOWEVER, she thinks it is not something to risk with small dogs- which suprised me because she is so anti chemicals in every other way. She was saying that with a lab or something one worm might not be as deadly than with a chi- who has a tiny heart compared to the size of the worm. It is not like chis get mini sized heartworms for their mini sized hearts. I'm not sure what preventative she recommended but she did recommend one if we lived in a place with HW. She said- (in the kindest way, she loves my chis) that if we were looking for a totally holistic approach to things like that we should have thought of it before we bred 6lb dogs! Sometimes we need conventional treatments to pick up where humans have already messed with nature past a certain point.

She at least got me thinking- it never had occured to me that size was a consideration in that area.

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## MMS (Aug 2, 2012)

Yoshismom said:


> MMS I would like to know what you use for heartworms if any and your thoughts? I only do the initial puppy vaccines with mine and am about to start a different rabies vaccine if I can get my vet to order them (IMRAB 3 TF (thimerosal free) But I am reading tons of conflicting info on heart worm. I live in the south and mosquitoes are crazy here. My SIL missed one month of heartworms preventative and her Dachshund got heartworms.



I don't treat for heart worm, personally. I live in Pa where heart worm isn't a huge issue (it happens here, but not epidemically like in some warmer states). I make sure to add garlic to their food and spray them down with essential oils when it's warm enough for the mosquitoes to be a bother, but to be honest I am more worried about ticks and Lyme disease (1/4 of my dogs was already Dx-ed with it). If I were in an area that HW was a serious issue I would DEFINITELY treat for it medically. When they say "a healthy dog can handle a few worms" they're talking about medium-large sized dogs. Not tiny dogs with tiny hearts, whose ventricles are smaller then the worms themselves. Not something I would risk, for sure!

I would def check with your vet for specific med recommendations. I'm not sure if heart worms are like fleas, where some meds work better in some areas or if there even are different varieties.


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## Yoshismom (Jul 6, 2005)

doginthedesert said:


> I was just talking to my holistic vet about this- she is also a friend of mine. We don't have HW here- or fleas or really any other bugs for that matter- but she is from Florida and has holistic vet friends in Florida where HW is more common. She is very concervative when it comes to conventional treatments and pro raw, only wants to do one lifetime parvo vac etc, so very holistic. She was saying that some holistic vets are thinking no HW treatment is ok, because you can naturally keep the parasite load low and treat naturally to kill a few adult worms here and there. HOWEVER, she thinks it is not something to risk with small dogs- which suprised me because she is so anti chemicals in every other way. She was saying that with a lab or something one worm might not be as deadly than with a chi- who has a tiny heart compared to the size of the worm. It is not like chis get mini sized heartworms for their mini sized hearts. I'm not sure what preventative she recommended but she did recommend one if we lived in a place with HW. She said- (in the kindest way, she loves my chis) that if we were looking for a totally holistic approach to things like that we should have thought of it before we bred 6lb dogs! Sometimes we need conventional treatments to pick up where humans have already messed with nature past a certain point.
> 
> She at least got me thinking- it never had occured to me that size was a consideration in that area.
> 
> Sent from Petguide.com Free App


That makes sense and is definitely food for though


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