Can our Golden get all yrly shots since she has seizures?

[goldie544]

Hey All,
I am new to this forum and in need of having some answers about our golden who has seizures.Goldie is on 1 1/2 tabs of pheno.for her seizures twice a day.She only has thank god one seizures every 4 to 6 months now and they are petite seizures that last two minutes and are very very mild as compared to the grand mal ones she started to have about 4 yrs old.I have been getting all her regular yrly shots and she has done fine well last yr a friend who dog also has seizure issues told me to only let her have the rabies vaccine so that is what I did last yr well now I am looking for a new vet and want to find out before I go to a new vet all about the vaccines for her since she has seizures.Is my friend right should Goldie only get the rabies shot and not any of the other yrly shots??My friend said on the rabies get the one that is for one yr NOT the 3 yr rabies vaccine as it is much stronger than the one yr one.I would love to hear from anyone who has a dog with seizures and about the yrly shots they get there dog.I have two wks to find a vet as Goldie is going to be out of her pheno. and no way will I let her miss even one dose.Even though her seizures are very mild I do not handle them well at all as I am sooooOooooo afraid she might die during one yes I am a worry-wart when it come to your dogs/cats..

Thanks and Take Care,
Cathy and Miss Goldie-Girl:)

[paws4prayer]

Hi Cathy,

I've done a lot of research on this subject myself, as my 2-year old English Setter went into anaphylatic shock after receiving the rabies vaccine as a puppy. I was concerned about all subsequent vaccinations for him (you can read Jonah's story at my Website: www.paws4prayer.com). After consulting with my vet, we decided that after receiving his "core" re-vaccination for adult protection against parvo, distemper, etc.we would do annual blood titers to test for continued immunity in subsequent years. While titers are not failsafe indicators of total immunity, they are reliable indicators that there are not enough antibodies against said diseases to go without a re-vaccination. Personally, I will continue to have annual titers done on my 11-year old Golden, Grace, as well as Jonah throughout their lifetimes -- vs. "routine" vaccinations. It's a little more costly than than the annual "core" vaccinations, but I personally believe we are over-vaccinating our pets. Even conservative vet groups are starting to get on-board with recent findings that so-called "annual" vaccines often provide protection well beyond the one year period (in some studies, between 3-7 years!). So I would ask your vet about doing blood titers on your Golden; if he balks, I would suggest that you find a new (and enlightened) vet who is keeping abreast of the newest studies and recommendations. As for the rabies vaccine, this is non-negotiable in most cases; but in our situation, after much consultation, we re-vaccinated Jonah with the Mariel Labs 3-year vaccine called "PureVac" -- as it does not have all the chemical preservatives that the other rabies vaccines (like Ft. Doge Rabvac) have (that's the brand that Jonah reacted to). I would ask your new vet about PureVac for your Golden. With her issue of seizures, I would think keeping themerisol (mercury-based, the same preservative that is now being removed from childhood vaccine products) and other preservatives out of her system would be beneficial. I think that PureVac might also make a 1-year version; we gave Jonah some Benedry prior to his shot to buy some time should he have another reaction. Praise God, he had none. Feel free to e-mail me if you have any other questions. Hope this helps, and I'll keep you and your Golden girl in my prayers. The heart of a Golden is...well...pure gold!!!! :)

P.S. Even the well-known organization that Jonah and I are certified through as a pet therapy team accepts paperwork showing immunity-level titers as an alternative to "core" vaccine certificates for their files. Just goes to show -- the tide is turning!