Kennel Cough Vaccination

[Jack & Co.]

I'm miffed. Jack just got sent home from doggy daycare because of his kennel cough vaccination. He was vaccinated in October with the one-year vaccine. The doggy daycare requires a vaccination every six months. I just got a call to come pick Jack up because it is 5 days over their six month cut-off for kennel cough. I had to turn around and go back and pick him up. I expressed my displeasure and asked for more explanation about how they could know that his one-year vaccination was no longer any good and the manager could only refer to their franchise's corporate policy. She did tell me that there is no difference in a one-year vaccine and a six-month vaccine--her words, "It's the same vaccination."--and I can't see how that is right. She said they will send home dogs who show "signs" of kennel cough just to be proactive (they are not veterinarians!).

 

In the past I have only gotten the KC vaccination when I absolutely had to board him. I use this doggy daycare for convenience when I am going to be gone longer than usual so he doesn't have to stay in his crate so long or if I need to travel several hours away to see my son in college for the day. I thought a year-long vaccination was smarter than having to get him stuck every 6 months. He only goes once a week.

 

So, from you veterinarians and dog experts, what's the lowdown on the kennel cough vaccination? Scam or useful preventative? Is the one-year vaccine really the same as the six-month vaccine and my beloved vet is pulling a fast one on me? I don't want Jack to get sick if I can prevent it, but I also am not a fan of over-vaccination either. The funny thing is that they have had an outbreak of kennel cough recently and the manager could not offer an explanation of who the culprit was and why, if they demand six-month vaccinations, how this could happen? What is the next step? They announce that six-month vaccines are no good and that now everyone has to get vaccinated every 4 months? GRRRR!

[juliepoudrier]

I don't bother to vaccinate for kennel cough, but then my dogs are almost never boarded anywhere.

 

As to your questions, kennel cough can be caused by several agents, of which Bordatella is just one. So, for example, a dog could be vaccinated against Bordatella but not parainfluenza or adenovirus. That would be the most likely way for a facility that requires a Bordatella vaccine to still have kennel cough outbreaks. Also, I at least have experienced situations at the vet where my dog was staying for the day and they insisted on vaccinating against kennel cough. Anyone that understands immunity knows that a vaccine doesn't provide *instant* protection, so such vaccines are largely wasted. So my dog that stayed at the vet, was vaccinated the day of, and then exposed to a dog with kennel cough could still catch and transmit the disease to other dogs.

 

As for length of vaccination, I believe that vaccines that are labeled as being good for X amount of time are required to have evidence (clinical studies) to support the efficacy of the vaccine for that length of time. That's why there's so much discussion about vaccination in general. It is believed that many of the normal vaccines provide good immunity for up to seven years (at least), but there have been no studies to actually prove this, so no one will state definitively that this is the case, and vets will still recommend a less-extended schedule of vaccination. In other words, if the vaccine is labeled that it provides immunity for a year, I would suspect that the company had to do the clinical studies to show that protection did last for a year before FDA (or USDA, whoever regulates veterinary drugs, etc.) would allow the vaccine to be labeled as such. You can't just slap a lable on a product saying it does something because you *think* it does it; you have to actually show that your claims are true.

 

J.

[2 Devils]

I think that if a dog will be around alot of other dogs then the vaccine is worth giving. The vaccine does not cover all the different strains out there though. So even if you give it every 6 months that doesn't mean a dog won't show up at the doggie daycare with a strain not covered by the vaccine.

 

There was a time I gave the KC vaccine every 6 months because of playing flyball and being around so many dogs. At the time there seemed to be an outbreak of it going on hence me doing every 6 months.

 

I no longer worry about it. My dogs have never had it and unless they are required to have it for something they don't get it. I don't think my dogs have had the vaccine in years.

 

When we adopted the acd back in Feb, we had to be careful. The shelter had been having issues with "respiratory infections" so we kept the dogs separate for a couple days. None of the dogs even the rescue ever showed signs of it. The rescue could still be a carrier though even without symptoms. We had one dog on the flyball team come down with a possible case of KC but none of the other dogs caught it. The sick dog also went to doggie daycare a couple days a week. We ended blaming it on daycare and not Nali. We have a vet on the team and she agreed that Nali was probably not the carrier for a few reasons.

 

Anyways, doggie caycare has been known to get KC and some other "diseases" even more so than actual dog events. This is not always the case but I have heard of more dogs getting sick at daycare than at flyball tourneys.

 

If you have another option for doggie caycare or get a dog walker I would look into that instead. Your current daycare is going to the extreme, rightly so, but they also have to realize that they aren't going to stop everything. They need to review dog records before dogs are dropped off and notify owners beforehand so what happened to you does not happen again.

 

Personally, I don't like doggie daycares for a few reasons so I just have a dogwalker come mid-day. They can potty my dogs and play with them. It is no more expensive than going to daycare and I know the person taking care of my dogs. If needed I will pay for 2 visits if I will be gone for a long time.

[njnovice]

Personally, I think every six months is over-vaccination. Mick has never been vaccinated for kennel cough, dog flu (they were pushing that like crazy this year) or for lyme's disease.

 

Sinead is vaccinated against kennel cough, but that's only because it was given to her at NYCACC before adopting her out to me. Nevermind the fact that she came to me with kennel cough (she caught it during her week at NYC animal control). Mick didn't catch it from her, though, even though he wasn't vaccinated. I kept them separate for three days, and Sinead was sent home with a week's worth of medicine for it, but still it's impossible to really keep two dogs in the same house separated.

 

Unless it gets required for some reason, I don't think either of them will be vaccinated for it again. I don't really board my dogs, and the only dog they're around on a regular basis is my mom's German Shepherd.

[Jack & Co.]

In other words, if the vaccine is labeled that it provides immunity for a year, I would suspect that the company had to do the clinical studies to show that protection did last for a year before FDA (or USDA, whoever regulates veterinary drugs, etc.) would allow the vaccine to be labeled as such. You can't just slap a lable on a product saying it does something because you *think* it does it; you have to actually show that your claims are true.

 

J.

 

That is a great point, Julie. I'm going to do a little more digging on that.

 

The daycare manager seemed to be implying that my vet was giving a 6-month vaccination but telling me it was good for a year.

[MaggieDog]

My vet says that 6mo intervals are completely unnecessary - we had to do it for a boarding place here and she actually was giving me suggestions on how to possibly get around the requirement!

[BCjetta]

The vet I work for says the kennel cough vaccines we use (we have 2 different ones) are both good for a year, however, the efficacy decreases after 6 months. I'd have to go back and read the vaccine info on the package to see for sure what the manufacturers say. There is also no guarantee the vaccine will protect against the strain that is going around - its a bit like a flu vaccine that way. In some cases, the dog will even still get kennel cough but have a much milder case. We have seen dogs come in with kennel cough who were comming close to the vaccine being due but it had not been a year yet. I've also personally had a dog with kennel cough in my house and my dog didn't get it - we just didn't let them share water or touch each other.

[Jack & Co.]

The vet I work for says the kennel cough vaccines we use (we have 2 different ones) are both good for a year, however, the efficacy decreases after 6 months. I'd have to go back and read the vaccine info on the package to see for sure what the manufacturers say. There is also no guarantee the vaccine will protect against the strain that is going around - its a bit like a flu vaccine that way. In some cases, the dog will even still get kennel cough but have a much milder case. We have seen dogs come in with kennel cough who were comming close to the vaccine being due but it had not been a year yet. I've also personally had a dog with kennel cough in my house and my dog didn't get it - we just didn't let them share water or touch each other.

I guess I still don't understand then how a vaccine can be marketed as a "one year" but poop out after six months. Does this mean the six-month vaccine fizzles after two? If you get a chance to read the package info, BCJetta, that would be great, please let me know what it says. I think I will see who manufactured the shot that Jack got. I still go along with what Julie P. said that there would have to be some proof of protection before a vaccine could get clearance to be called a one-year vaccination.

 

I guess I have scored a small victory....the manager called me back yesterday and said corporate agreed to honor a one-year vaccination but they strongly suggest revaccination after six months. So Jack can go back when I need him to. I am going to have to board him this summer when I take my youngest son to college at the end of June, so I guess I will decide what to do about a revaccination then.

 

Thanks for all of your thoughts and opinions, everyone!

[bc4ever]

I called for an appointment to get Scooter groomed a few weeks ago and was told that he was due for his Bordatella vaccine and that he had to have it before he could be groomed. I've never had to do this before. (The groomer is located at the vet's office.) They said they could do both the same day. I asked if he shouldn't get it a few days before then and was told no, same day would be fine, but I thought it took a few days to take effect. I was a little perturbed and wondered if this was just another way of making a little extra money.

 

We originally had him vaccinated in case we had to board him when we were anticipating going out of town for a family medical emergency.

 

Anyone else heard of this being a requirement for grooming?

[Jack & Co.]

I have never had to do it for grooming, just had to provide proof of rabies vaccination. But Jack is never at the groomer's very long because she hustles him in and out because she knows he can't handle being there too long.

 

Julie P. pointed out that vaccines don't confer instant protection so that's kind of odd that that would be a requirement for a groom.

[BCjetta]

I read both the incerts today and there really isn't much information. The intra nasal one by intervet says you can vaccinate puppies older than 3 weeks and that studies have been done to show its effective in 72 hours. All it says is revaccinate annually at the end of it.

The second one is called Bronchicine...I forget the manufacturer but its an injectable one. It says if a dog has never had the kennel cough vaccine, give one and give a booster in 2-4 weeks and then it also says revaccinate annually. Nothing on either package about doing any studies saying how long it really works for, only how quick it will protect the dog.

[juliepoudrier]

I suspect that if the groomer is associated with a vet practice, that is where the requirement for the vaccine is arising. As I stated before, it makes no sense, as the vaccine doesn't confer instant immunity, and I would certainly point that out. If they want to vaccinate and then have you come back in three days for grooming, I'd have no gripe with that (well, except that I don't like being coerced into having vaccines done and so would probably go elsewhere); otherwise, it smacks of having the client over a barrel and a policy that is not in the best interest of the *dogs* but rather in the best interests of the bottom line.

 

J.

[bc4ever]

I suspect that if the groomer is associated with a vet practice, that is where the requirement for the vaccine is arising. As I stated before, it makes no sense, as the vaccine doesn't confer instant immunity, and I would certainly point that out. If they want to vaccinate and then have you come back in three days for grooming, I'd have no gripe with that (well, except that I don't like being coerced into having vaccines done and so would probably go elsewhere); otherwise, it smacks of having the client over a barrel and a policy that is not in the best interest of the *dogs* but rather in the best interests of the bottom line.

 

J.

My thoughts exactly, especially since this seems to be a new "policy."

[2 Devils]

My regular groomer does not require vacs. When I tried a new groomer at a "pet hotel" type facility they required the vaccination but I was able to sneak by without it. I won't be going there again anyways. The groomer was horrible.

 

Anyways, I would just be careful of places that require the vac every 6 months, etc...

[Jack & Co.]

Well, Jack went back to doggy daycare yesterday so I could move my son home from college. He and his one-year Bordetella vaccination were welcomed with smiles and hugs.