Vaccination and Antibody Titre Testing 

Are you confused about how often your pet needs to be vaccinated?  You are not alone.  Vaccination frequency is an important question for owners and is one of the few things we can control - whether and how much to vaccinate. 

The annual re-vaccination recommendation is a practice officially started in 1978.  Since then, a growing body of veterinary information and scientific studies indicates that immunity induced by vaccination is relatively long-lasting.  Many holistic veterinarians believe annual re-vaccination or boosters might be optional.  Over-vaccination increases the risk of vaccine adverse effects, and vaccination should be given only when necessary. Vaccinating pets with optimum protection levels can overstimulate their immune system and increase the risk of vaccine-adverse reactions. 

Although vaccine adverse effects are not often seen in day-to-day veterinary practice (or have not been reported by owners and vets enough), they can result in severe health problems when they do happen. Possible vaccination adverse effects include: 

  • Lethargy, loss of appetite, fever, nasal or ocular discharge

  • Stiffness of joints 

  • Utricaria, rashes, swelling of face/head/ears, anaphylaxis

  • Gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting and diarrhoea

  • Difficulty breathing 

  • Immune-medicated haemolytic anaemia, polyarthritis, glomerulonephritis and cutaneous ischaemic vasculopathy 

  • Hypothyroidism due to autoimmune thyroiditis 

  • Fatalities when the intranasal vaccine is given under the skin 

Once your pets are adequately vaccinated with Distemper Virus/Parvovirus/Canine adenovirus Type2 (C3, canine core vaccine) or Feline Panleukopenia Virus/Calicivirus/Herpes Virus Type1 (F3, feline core vaccine), they gain at least 3 years or lifelong protection. 

At Ogawa Vet Clinic, we want to ensure that your pets are protected from contagious infections while receiving the minimum number of vaccinations throughout their life by implementing the following minimum vaccination protocol:

Puppies 

  • 6-8 weeks old: 1st C3 vaccine 

  • 10-12 weeks old: 2nd C3 vaccine 

  • 16 weeks old: Vaccination titre testing +/- kennel cough intranasal vaccine 

  • If your puppy fails the titre test, 3rd C3 vaccine will be administered then we repeat the titre testing in 2 weeks. 

  • Repeat the titre test 6-12 months later if your puppy has developed optimum immunity. If the immunity level is stable, we recommend titre testing 12 months later to ensure optimum immunity during the yearly wellness exam. 

Adult dogs 

Titre testing at first wellness check. If proven immunity, we recommend titre testing every 3 years with a yearly wellness exam and intranasal kennel cough booster. 

If your dog fails the titre test, C3 vaccination is given, and we repeat the titre test in 2 weeks +/- kennel cough booster. 

Kittens 

  • 6-8 weeks old: 1st F3 vaccine

  • 10-12 weeks old: 2nd F3 vaccine

  • 16 weeks old: Vaccination titre testing

  • If your kitten fails the titre test, the 3rd C3 vaccine will be administered then we repeat the titre testing in 2 weeks.

  • FIV vaccination is recommended for cats at risk, but we recommend it to be given at different times from the F3 vaccination to minimise over-stimulating immune systems.

Adult cats

Titre testing at the first wellness check to ensure your cat’s immunity. 

If your cat fails the titre test, F3 vaccination is given, and we repeat the titre test in 2 weeks. 

Cats are unique compared to dogs. We will discuss the ongoing titre testing/vaccination plan during the visit with you, depending on your cat’s lifestyle and exposure to these infectious viruses. 

Because the duration of immunity after vaccination differs for each pet, we recommend vaccination titre testing at least every three years during the annual wellness exam. This blood test can tell whether your pet is keeping adequate immunity against viruses contained in the vaccination.  With titre testing, there is never any reason to give any cat or dog over 16 weeks another vaccine without a negative titre test first.  This means vets don’t have to guess when to re-vaccinate.  

The vaccination titre testing plus wellness check is $276, including GST.