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www.pbgv.org
Spring2015
ISaberTails
IPBGVEducation
byBobCohen
TheDr.JeanDodds
SeminarinAlbany
Note:thisarticlewaswrittenbasedonnotesItookduringthe
seminarandfromwrittenmaterials.Anyfactualortechnical
errorsshouldbeblamedonme,notDr.Dodds.
A
boutadozenyearsago,clubmembershadan
opportunitytolistentoapresentationbyveterinarian
W.JeanDoddsatoneofournationalspecialtiesinthe
southwest.Thatseminarlastedonlyacoupleofhoursand
wasjam-packedwithinformation.WhenIlearnedthat
Dr.Doddswasgoingtobegivingatwo-dayseminarnear
Albany,N.Y.,lastNovemberIjumpedattheopportunity.
Shecoveredanamazingamountofgroundinthosetwo
days.I’lltrytocoversomeofthehighlightsthatIthinkmay
beofmostinteresttoourmembers.
Tobeginwith:WhoisJeanDodds?Inthe1960sshewas
aresearchscientistwiththeNewYorkStateHealthDepart-
ment,becomingchiefoftheLaboratoryofHematology.Two
decadeslater,shemovedtoCaliforniaandestablished
Hemopet,thefirstnonprofitnationalbloodbankprogram
foranimals.Sheisaco-trusteeoftheRabiesChallengeFund
CharitableTrust.(ThePBGVHealth&RescueFoundation
hasmadeseveraldonationstotheRabiesChallengeFund.)
Manywillhaveheardofherfromherwork,alongwith
Dr.RonSchultz(whospokeatamorerecentPBGVCA
nationalspecialty,andisprincipleinvestigatoroftheRabies
ChallengeFund)gettingthewordoutthatdogsdonotneed
annualvaccinationsformostillnesses.(Google“Dodds
vaccinationprotocol”formoreinformation.)
Dr.Doddsnotesthatmodernvaccinetechnologygives
effectiveprotectionforpetsagainstseriousinfectious
diseases.Butovervaccination—vaccinationwhenitisnot
necessaryorgivingvaccinesthatmaynotbeneeded—can
actuallybringriskofadversereactions.Someofthesereac-
tionsareserious.Theycanbechronicallydebilitating,even
fatal.Thepetownermustbalancethebenefit/riskequation.
Manyvaccinationscanbeeffectiveformanyyears,perhaps
forthelifeofthedog.Measuringserumantibodytiterscan
showwhetheravaccinationisneededorwhetheranearlier
vaccinationstillprovideseffectiveprotection.Tomeasure
titers,abloodsampleistakenandthensenttoalab.
Dr.Doddsrecognizesthatreactionstovaccinescanvary
bybreed,whichaccordswiththerecommendationsofmany
PBGVbreederstogivepuppyvaccinationsindividually(i.e.
nottousevaccineswithmultiplecomponentsinonedose),
andsherecommendscommencingthevaccinationseries
laterthaniscommon,at9to10weeks.Thereafter,itis
recommendedtoperformtitertestsinsteadofautomatic
annualvaccinationstolearniffurthervaccinationis
actuallynecessaryorifthedoghassufficientprotection
fromearliervaccination.Afterpuppyhood,boostersmay
onlybeneededeverythreetosevenyears,ifeventhat
frequently,forhealthyadults(distemper,parvovirusand
adenovirusvaccinescanbeeffectiveforatleastnineyears),
andgeriatricdogsshouldbevaccinatedonlywithcaution.
Interestingly,vaccinereactionscanoccurimmediatelyor
asmuchas45daysafteradministrationofthevaccine.
Shepointedoutotherissueswithvaccines.Vaccinesare
generallyadministeredwithastandarddosewithoutregard
tothesizeorweightofthedog.Yetadversereactionsare
inversetoweight,meaningmorereactionswithsmaller
dogs.ShouldaPBGVreceivethesamevaccinedoseasa
muchlargerGoldenRetriever?Dr.Doddssaidthatthereis
nomedicalreasontogivethesameamountofvaccine
regardlessofthedog’sbodymass.Shouldvaccinesbegiven
togetherorseparatelyinthesameinjection?(Monovalentor
polyvalentproducts.)Itmaybewisertogiveevenboosters
individually.(I’vefoundthatitcanbedifficulttohaveyour
vetgivevaccinationscontainingjustoneserum.More
populararecombinationvaccineswhichimmunizeagainst
agroupofdiseaseswithjustoneshot.Forme,thishas
meantcustomorderingofmonovalentproductsasvets
aroundheredonotstockthem.)
continuedonpage34
PhotobyBobCohen
...itisrecommendedtoperformtitertestsinsteadofautomaticannual
vaccinationstolearniffurthervaccinationisactuallynecessary...