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Yet another lepto vaccine thread....

6K views 50 replies 17 participants last post by  selzer 
#1 · (Edited)
I hate to beat a dead horse but I am really back and forth on whether or not to get the lepto portion of the vaccine at Silas's next vet visit. My vet recommends it as we are in a high risk area. She also is very much ok with what I decide as if she wasn't I would certainly look else where. I read a lot and sometimes too much. I have read so many folks say not to get it and others say they have never had an issue,

According to my vet, the one they give is not a live strain....now I say thin being somewhat ignorant on the vaccine arena. She has also said they have not had any negative health related issues with it and the risk to such reactions is as much or little as with any vaccine.
I do not typically give or take my dogs to get vaccines after the first year as I worry about over vaccination, we go for annual well checks though.

I have never heard of the lepto shot until recently actually and I see some discussions on the boards here and have read Dr Karen Becker's that Mom's has posted (thanks!) and others take on it.

Ugh why am I so worried about it.....to me that may very well be my answer

Would love to hear real world experiences good and bad from the vaccine.
 
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#3 ·
Thanks, I am leaning towards getting it but every time I do that I open up something off topic but inevitably has lepto as part of the conversation and has negative feedback. Of course my instincts kick in and think the universe is trying to tell me something....LOL
 
#5 ·
I have never given the Lepto, mainly because there is more then one strain and no way to vaccinate against all.
 
#6 ·
Ive been conflicted about this for a long time. My dog got it when he got his puppy shots, I didnt know at the time. But I think I have decided to NOT vaccinate, and my dog and I hike alot, he swims. The vaccine doesnt really prevent Lepto. It just lessens the severity of the symptoms. So then if your dog does get Lepto....the symptoms might not be as noticeable. Id rather notice the symptoms right away and get treatment rather than my dog slowly go into liver/kidney failure. Plus - this vaccine apparently has alot of nasty side effects. I actually just read an article on this last night - if I can find it I will post it.
 
#10 ·
I know I was really on the fence regarding the vaccine. My dogs are off leash in forest areas regularly and with the wildlife around both vets I've worked with have agreed that the vaccine is warranted. The current vet I'm using is very holistic minded which I’m thankful for and thankfully neither dog has reacted in any way to it
 
#11 ·
My vet is wonderfully respectful of my wishes to avoid over-vaccinating. That being said, lepto (and in particular, the strain they can vaccinate against) is VERY common here. She pushed hard for me to give Echo the lepto, and after the neighbor's GSD died from it, I was glad I did. I think it depends on your geographic area and how comfortable you are with your vet.
 
#12 ·
Hi Crocky!
Glad you read Becker!;) There is a 4 part video on mercolahealthypets.com with Dr. Ron Schultz and Dr. Becker.

I'd like to mention, that there are Homeopathic Nosodes for Leptospirosis.
What is a Oral Nosode? (natural Oral Vaccine) A nosode could be described as an "oral vaccine" in the sense that its purpose is to "immunize" the body against a specific disease. It is prepared from the actual organism which is associated with the disease in question, and may derive from filtrates containing only the exotoxins of the bacteria, or from emulsions containing both bacteria and their toxins. These filtrates are then potentised a million times to produce the energy only of the disease and this energy stimulates the entire natural immune system to react against a specific disease, so this becomes an oral vaccine for humans as well as pets.”

Here is more info.
*Dr Patricia Jordan is a vet who has done a great deal of research into the vaccine issue. She added these comments: "Kidney failure is a common sequel to vaccination. The basement membrane is susceptible to damage from a clogging that results as the immune complexes are drained via the lymphatics. The kidney is a big part of the lymphatic system. The body tries to clear the toxins in the vaccines and there is damage done in this clearing mechanism."
Dr. Jordan: LEPTOMANIA - THE PROBLEM WITH LEPTOSPIROSIS VACCINE, by Patricia Jordan, DVM
“Since there are so many Leptospirosis serovar out there, and since the pathogenic strains vary, and since the vaccines cannot guarantee protection from infection, it would make better sense to not inject your dog with any Leptospira vaccines. The trade offs to avoiding adverse events from vaccination-not the least of which can be renal failure within 48 hours injection, or 4 years of dermatitis and purtis (Moms:and we wonder where ALL of these skin issues in our dogs come from!) would be the human caretakers actually knowing their dog is sick with a pathogenic strain and having their dog presented immediately for treatment.”

Downloads by Dr.Jordan: Free Information

Dr. Patricia Jordan’s book: - This book is essential reading for pet owners, animal lovers and everyone seeking to know the truth about vaccine issues. The book title, Mark of the Beast, sums up the author's views on the medical practice of vaccination. [ame="http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/AnimalWellness/DrJordan.aspx"]Dr Patricia Jordan is a highly qualified veterinary surgeon with more than 24 years experience[/ame]. Her observations and conclusions are based upon scientific evidence as opposed to the propaganda and junk science disseminated by pharmaceutical companies in their ever increasing need to maximize profits. Dr Jordan cites research studies showing that annual vaccinations are totally unnecessary and especially in respect of rabies where over vaccination is causing genetic changes and violent behavior in animals including horses. Dr. Patricia Jordan says: vaccination is the induction into a cycle of disease and disease management that is in every way a violation of the AVMA 1969 Veterinary Oath, in every way including public health and animal welfare.

NOTE: Dr. Jordan does personal and on line consultations. Maybe you should talk this over with her to ease your mind, since she is a specialist in this field. Dr. Jordan - Natural Pet Consultations

*"Lepto is a very adverse event associated vaccine and the damndest thing is that lepto vaccines simply do not work. Dr Ron Schultz (the world's foremost independent authority on canine vaccines) hates to see them in with anything else and, in puppies, advises that they are completely finished with the viral inoculations before getting a vaccine against Lepto, which he neither recommends nor advocates - even in Lepto endemic areas.
"I have seen older dogs go into kidney failure within two days of receiving a Lepto vaccine."
Vaccines can also cause the disease you're attempting to prevent. In the Canine Health Concern vaccine survey, 100% of dogs with leptospirosis contracted it just after being vaccinated against it. Leptospirosis, of course, attacks the kidneys - and the puppy had severe kidney damage. http://www.dogsadverserea...cines/vaccineDamage.html


Here are additional articles on Lepto:
Vaccine Articles and News | Dogs Naturally Magazine
Dr. Patricia Jordan DVM: SMOKE AND MIRRORS | Dogs Naturally Magazine
Vets On Vaccinations. What they wish they had known: Vets On Vaccines | Dogs Naturally Magazine

Hope this helps!
Moms:)
 
#13 ·
I hate to beat a dead horse but I am really back and forth on whether or not to get the lepto portion of the vaccine at Silas's next vet visit. My vet recommends it as we are in a high risk area. She also is very much ok with what I decide as if she wasn't I would certainly look else where. I read a lot and sometimes too much. I have read so many folks say not to get it and others say they have never had an issue,

According to my vet, the one they give is not a live strain....now I say thin being somewhat ignorant on the vaccine arena. She has also said they have not had any negative health related issues with it and the risk to such reactions is as much or little as with any vaccine.
I do not typically give or take my dogs to get vaccines after the first year as I worry about over vaccination, we go for annual well checks though.

I have never heard of the lepto shot until recently actually and I see some discussions on the boards here and have read Dr Karen Becker's that Mom's has posted (thanks!) and others take on it.

Ugh why am I so worried about it.....to me that may very well be my answer

Would love to hear real world experiences good and bad from the vaccine.
Our beautiful, healthy, white German Shepherd was killed by the lepto vaccine 4 months ago. It caused an autoimmune reaction in him, ITP, and he spent 8 days in critical care dying a painful death. Your dog does not need this vaccine. If he gets lepto, antibiotics will cure it. Read this: [UPDATED] Read This Before You Vaccinate For Lepto
 
#19 ·
A rabies vaccine caused a massive health issue for my dog. I darn near lost her and she showed neurological symptoms as well. I still don't run around telling folks not to vaccinate.
Sometimes we get odd one of reactions. Sometimes there is an underlying issue. My dog just had bloodwork that was all perfect, but she is loosing weight and has no appetite so clearly something is wrong.
Your vet should always be your first source of info with regards to your dogs health. And sometimes we have to choose the best of two crappy options. I'm not nuts about the lepto vaccine, but since it is rather an issue here it's the lesser of two evils.
Telling people not to vaccinate is never a good answer.
And I am sorry for your loss.
 
#16 ·
You stated a dog does not need this vaccine. I stated why a dog would need one. You are should not be nonchalantly claiming dogs can be cured with abx when it's a hard disease to catch before it destroys the kidneys. People should discuss with a vet and weigh the risks, not go off what one person posts about a possible vaccine reaction.
 
#18 ·
You did not tell people to talk to their vet. You told them they didn't need the vaccines based on your claim that your dog had a reaction to the vaccine. So you got lucky by catching it on time. Many don't.

So I'll say it again....people need to discuss with their vet.

I have no desire to read an article written by someone with no credentials in a non scientific magazine.
 
#24 ·
You did not tell people to talk to their vet. You told them they didn't need the vaccines based on your claim that your dog had a reaction to the vaccine. So you got lucky by catching it on time. Many don't.

So I'll say it again....people need to discuss with their vet.

I have no desire to read an article written by someone with no credentials in a non scientific magazine.
Anyone who takes advice without talking to their vet first is a fool...isn't that obvious? Dr.Patricia Jordan is a pillar in the veterinary community and has been called as an expert witness in many court cases. Here is her resume: Dr. Patricia Jordan – Curriculum Vitae
 
#20 ·
I lost a dog to lepto...not the vaccine as I didn't vaccinate him. 4 years after contracting lepto, his kidneys failed again....slow decline to the inevitable death.
I do vaccinate my dogs now. Lepto is prevalent in many environments and I know the risk of the vaccine is not as much as the bacteria entering the system of an unprotected dog. I give the vax separated out from all other shots, give an anti-vaccinosis remedy and milk thistle. I've not had any of my dogs show symptoms due to the administering of the vaccine.
 
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#21 · (Edited)
@onyx'girl , thank you for sharing your story and bravely using your grief to help others.

@Joanne Miceli, I'm sorry for your loss. I get that you're grieving, but please don't let your grief cause you to scare people away from talking to their vets, by offering hyperbolic, blanket claims ("Your dog does not need this vaccine"). Even when the statistical risk of a severe side effect is relatively low, it REALLY SUCKS to be the unlucky one. As @Sabis mom noted, it's very important to keep that in perspective.

The gold-standard, best-researched, evidence-based advice, developed by a blue-ribbon panel of top experts, and updated regularly, is published by the AAHA here:

AAHA has designated lepto a "non-core" vaccine that may be needed based on lifestyle and regional prevalence. That means there is no one-size-fits-all advice because SOME dogs need it -- but not all of them. There is even a handy "lifestyle calculator" in the guidelines to help discuss the matter with a local vet who knows whether lepto cases are showing up. (Not all vets follow the AAHA guidelines, but the best ones do IMHO -- clients should be familiar with it, and take the guidelines with them during the visit with the vet to talk about the non-core vacccines and lifestyle calculator together.)

A woman came by our rescue's booth at an event one year, wracked with guilt over her GSD's recent passing. She "read online" that she should decline the lepto vax -- and then her dog caught lepto and died of it. The anti-vax advice caused her to make a fatal miscalculation by not trusting her vet's advice -- her vet knew we are a high lepto area and tried to educate her, but she believed random internet strangers instead of the professional she was paying to keep her dog healthy. My vet sees a lot of kidney failure in unvaxed dogs -- he wouldn't mind titering rabies or DAPP, but he begs people to get the 4-way lepto vaccine.

We've debunked the "oh, but it's treatable" anti-vaxer myth about lepto before, but here we go again:

The symptoms for lepto are so vague and mild in early, treatable stages that many good owners don't take their dog to the vet for them right away. The window for treatment with antibiotics closes quickly -- and once kidney damage sets in, the antibiotics won't fix that kidney damage. So, sure, if you're lucky, you'll get your dog on antibiotics fast enough, while it's easily cured, but many good owners don't have that chance because the symptoms aren't bad enough until the dog goes into kidney failure. Kidney damage is not curable. So if you're going to talk about cures, please talk about the full picture.

Oh, and then there's the risk of your kid picking up lepto from your dog while it's infectious. A urine accident in the house becomes a bio-hazard for the humans.

I'm all for separating vaccines to reduce the risk of reactions. I have way, way too many raccoons and other critters peeing where my dogs like to walk for me skip this vaccine entirely though.
 
#29 ·
I'm just replying to make sure Magwart's post doesn't get lost in the anti babble.

@onyx'girl , thank you for sharing your story and bravely using your grief to help others.


@Joanne Miceli, I'm sorry for your loss. I get that you're grieving, but please don't let your grief cause you to scare people away from talking to their vets, by offering hyperbolic, blanket claims ("Your dog does not need this vaccine"). Even when the statistical risk of a severe side effect is relatively low, it REALLY SUCKS to be the unlucky one. As @Sabis mom noted, it's very important to keep that in perspective.

The gold-standard, best-researched, evidence-based advice, developed by a blue-ribbon panel of top experts, and updated regularly, is published by the AAHA here:

AAHA has designated lepto a "non-core" vaccine that may be needed based on lifestyle and regional prevalence. That means there is no one-size-fits-all advice because SOME dogs need it -- but not all of them. There is even a handy "lifestyle calculator" in the guidelines to help discuss the matter with a local vet who knows whether lepto cases are showing up. (Not all vets follow the AAHA guidelines, but the best ones do IMHO -- clients should be familiar with it, and take the guidelines with them during the visit with the vet to talk about the non-core vacccines and lifestyle calculator together.)

A woman came by our rescue's booth at an event one year, wracked with guilt over her GSD's recent passing. She "read online" that she should decline the lepto vax -- and then her dog caught lepto and died of it. The anti-vax advice caused her to make a fatal miscalculation by not trusting her vet's advice -- her vet knew we are a high lepto area and tried to educate her, but she believed random internet strangers instead of the professional she was paying to keep her dog healthy. My vet sees a lot of kidney failure in unvaxed dogs -- he wouldn't mind titering rabies or DAPP, but he begs people to get the 4-way lepto vaccine.

We've debunked the "oh, but it's treatable" anti-vaxer myth about lepto before, but here we go again:

The symptoms for lepto are so vague and mild in early, treatable stages that many good owners don't take their dog to the vet for them right away. The window for treatment with antibiotics closes quickly -- and once kidney damage sets in, the antibiotics won't fix that kidney damage. So, sure, if you're lucky, you'll get your dog on antibiotics fast enough, while it's easily cured, but many good owners don't have that chance because the symptoms aren't bad enough until the dog goes into kidney failure. Kidney damage is not curable. So if you're going to talk about cures, please talk about the full picture.

Oh, and then there's the risk of your kid picking up lepto from your dog while it's infectious. A urine accident in the house becomes a bio-hazard for the humans.

I'm all for separating vaccines to reduce the risk of reactions. I have way, way too many raccoons and other critters peeing where my dogs like to walk for me skip this vaccine entirely though.
 
#23 ·
@Magwart , you raise another great point. For my years in Alberta I gave puppy vaccines and nothing else. There had not been a case of rabies in that province in 30 years, distemper was rare, as was Lepto. We also gave no heartworm or flea/tick treatments. Nothing was needed.
Regional issues need to be discussed with your vet. I will not vaccinated simply because. No one should. You need to monitor your region, and factor whether or not you travel.
 
#33 ·
Getting vaccine advice from anti-vaxer Facebook groups, instead of a credentialed vet relying on evidence-based AAHA guidelines, is negligent pet ownership. Nothing good comes out of using FB for "research."

For those who are scared -- and I get that -- please balance your temptation to doom-scroll on FB by regularly reading the Skeptvet blog -- http://skeptvet.com/Blog/ . He regularly uses hard science to debunk scare-mongering on various topics published in Dogs Naturally (which he has occasionally referred to as "the ever-unreliable Dogs Naturally"), and elsewhere -- and when evidence changes, he notes that too.
 
#36 ·
It could be a sad coincidence, too. My neighbor’s dogs kept dying of mysterious illnesses. She lost four dogs, one after another and blamed her dog sitter. I happened to be in her yard and saw snail bait all over her garden. I pointed that out to her and she asked me to leave and then moved. I think she accidentally poisoned her own dogs. The point isn’t to blame anyone but to say it was coincidence not cause.
 
#40 · (Edited)
How long ago was this? I didn't read through all the posts so forgive me for not knowing all the facts of your situation. FWIW, my vet at the time thought she had vaccinated my dog for Lepto as she vaccinates basically 99% of the dogs in her practice for it. I was one that declined(this was in the early 2000's and the vax has become much safer since then. I am fully aware the vaccine only covers four strains, yet those are the most common strains. I am not unversed on this, I did plenty of research about the vax and the bacteria. Don't assume the people posting here are clueless. The UK Novibac group has obviously given legs to the lepto anti-vaccine movement. I would not give that one either if I was asked to.
Yet, there are other manufacturers that give it with no issues.
My dogs are healthy, no auto-immune issues. I would not vaccinate unnecessarily ever. I am all for minimal vaccinating, but pick and choose where I protect my dogs.
 
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#41 ·
I've overseen the vaccination of several hundred dogs over several years, and never seen a serious vaccine reaction to any vaccine -- once in a while there might be a temporary lump at an injection site, or being quiet/sleepy for a day, etc., but never anything we've even felt like we needed to have our vet take a look at. I have our rescue's vet's cell phone number and can text her with any worries because we are friends, so I wouldn't hesitate to reach out if I were worried about a vaccine reaction -- we've just never had to. All of that's just anecdotal too (I've just WAY got more anecdotes than most people because I oversee a rescue's vetting). So let's move beyond anecdotes:

Here's a sample size of 130,000 subjected to serious statistical analysis:

That's not even all that big a sample size though. Here's a discussion that refers research involving a sample size of 1 million dogs (key line: "in a recent study of over one million dogs, the leptospirosis vaccine was not found to be more likely to cause a reaction when compared to other vaccines"):
 
#42 ·
I would accept your study and experiences over small sample anecdotal evidence even from a single vet, because the vet could be biased and wrong. If 100 vets, or more, found the same thing, then maybe, it is best proved in a lab setting with accurate testing available and controlled samplng.
 
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