Having recently read these guidelines [www.wsava.org] I would be interested to hear your views on them, I own and breed dogs and also run a boarding kennels, up until now I have followed the normal pattern of annual vaccinations and my puppies are given their first vaccine along with their microchip before they leave me at 8 weeks old. I am investigating whether the time may have come to review our vaccination policy ? Thoughts please.

Hi Wendy

I would say that its always wise to review your vaccination policy in line with latest scientific evidence. The WSAVA guidelines are pretty comprehensive and I doubt my answer is going to add to definitively advise you how to proceed, if indeed that is what you were hoping. I don't have many breeders in my area but I do see many puppies and advocate vaccination for puppies from 6-8 weeks plus annual vaccinations because we cannot prove if a pet has remained immune, not without blood tests or the unfortunate evidence from challenge with a disease i.e. if a dog falls ill we can confirm retrospectively its immunity must have been low. My policy is in accordance with the advice on the vaccine manufacturer's data sheet. We still unfortunately see cases of parvovirus, leptospirosis and I even had a sad case of distemper in a puppy last year. Therefore it's not currently wise to assume that these diseases are being eradicated. The issue of herd immunity is very significant i.e. if the percentage of pets being vaccinated in an area drops below a critical level then the incidence of all these preventable diseases will and does sadly rise. I think its highly responsible of you that you vaccinate and microchip your puppies before they leave.

Cathy Wickenden BVet Med MRCVS
Barton Lodge Veterinary Centre
1 Midland Road, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, HP2 5BH
Tel: 01442 216048 24 hours
[www.bartonlodgevets.co.uk]