Old pets and jabs

[loz]

Is any one else concerned about vet jabs and there effect on old pets?. I have recently lost two pets a cat and dog. The cat became lethargic within days of recieving his innoc and rabies jab and healthy to heart condition within 3 months. The dog growth on liver.

Have you lost an elderly pet after they got their jabs?

 

[Panda]

Hi

Sorry to hear of your lost, my vet advised me the last time I tool my 18 year old cat that I need not have her vaccinated as she was old and rarely left the house, he did say cats did begin to have side affects from the vaccines later in life and that after all these years she would have built up enough immunity not to need most of the jabs..  I did have the rabies jab but only in case of an emergency meaning she would have to enter a cattery.  The other jabs I left. 

My dog also was up to date on vaccines and lived to 16 so it would seem she was not affected. 

I think that perhaps it's a sad coincidence, particularly bearing in mind the things they developed.

I hope you can remember all the good times with your beloved pets and perhaps think about  giving other pets the same privileged life that I'm sure your pets have had, we have recently done that and it's wonderful to think you've freed a cat or dog from the kennels or worse.

Panda

 

[kwaito]

Can only speak for cat vaccinations. One of my older cats developed a tumour which required surgery after receiving the rabies jab.  I would recommend that if cats are going to need to travel and that they currently have a passport, that you get them innoculated in the UK where there is a rabies vaccine that is valid for 3 years. All the French ones are annual which is just too risky. The UK rabies jab is acceptable both for the French and for re-entry into the UK.

Dogs are not at risk from fibrosarcoma, a fairly rare but dreadful cancer which occurs as a result of an immune response to rabies and leukaemia jabs (particularly).  Most pet cancer specialists only advocate vaccinating older cats if the vaccinations are legally required or there is a risk of contracting the disease - eg leukaemia is a good idea if the cat goes outside and not necessary if not. They also suggest vaccinating in the leg - which requires an experienced vet - or alternatively in an area where surgical removal of a tumour is possible ie not between the shoulder blades. French vets tend to give a huge dose of annual vaccinations including typhus etc which is a massive shock to  the immune system of an older pet.

I am so sorry that you lost your pets.

 

[Panda]

Hello

Do UK rabies jabs last for 3 years now, ours were only for 2 years?

Panda

[Gail Smith]

Whether or not it was coincidental our 12 year old dog developed liver problems and eventually failiure after having his rabies jabs.  He never made it to France with us which I was devastated about.   I am not saying that the jabs caused it but I wouldnt rule it out.

Gail

 

[User no longer member.]

Sorry to hear about the loss of any pet, particularly when they have been part of the family for many years.

I'm moving to France within next 3 months and have a puppy who is innoculated & microchipped (not rabies) and an 8 yr old bitch who hasn't had anything. I also have 2 8 yr old cats who haven't had injections since they were kittens as they always seemed unwell after them.

Our vet here said that none of the pets needed any jabs to get them into France, only if they were to return to the UK - is this right?  I don't want to get to moving day and find they can't travel with me!

Any advice would be great. I can't imagine wanting to bring them back to the UK although maybe I should get them inncolulated just in case.  I will however want to have all the jabs they need for a healthy life in France - should I get those here or wait until I get there?

Also... is there such a thing as pet insurance in France? Thanks.

[cooperlola]

My understanding is that all your pets need microchips, rabies jabs (21 days min. before travel) and passports to get here.  Ms Animal will no doubt correct me if I'm wrong. Remember that you are,theoretically, only allowed to import 3 pets per household, and therefore need an import certificate.

However, few people are ever questioned by French authorities on arrival so you may get away with it.  Your call.

Pet insurance is available btw.

[Bilclarie]

http://www.canine-health-concern.org.uk/

 

Have a read of this it will open your eye's to the vacination of your pet's

[Angelite]

A few years ago we had our nine-year old GSD-cross vaccinated for rabies, with the idea of taking her with us to France in the campervan.  The next year we lost her with a stomach tumour "the size of an orange".  Somewhere at the back of my mind I thought it was a coincidence - I dislike all jabs, for humans and animals. 

We now have a three-year old Lab and cat, and were planning to get them innoculated in readiness for when , hopefully, we buy a holiday home in France.  Although they are young now, time passes quickly and we would hate to do anything which might endanger their lives.  I find that the bigger breeds of dog don't seem so hardy as the little terriers.

Oh crumbs, what to do now?

 

 

[Deimos]

[quote user="writersblock"]

Our vet here said that none of the pets needed any jabs to get them into France, only if they were to return to the UK - is this right?  I don't want to get to moving day and find they can't travel with me!

Any advice would be great. I can't imagine wanting to bring them back to the UK although maybe I should get them inncolulated just in case.  I will however want to have all the jabs they need for a healthy life in France - should I get those here or wait until I get there?

[/quote]

Your vet is wrong, Cooperola is right.  Your pets need a Pet Passport to enter France (for which they need to be microchipped and vaccinated for rabies).  Documentation is not always checked on the French side but my dogs have had their papers checked several times - so it is not unusual.

Entry to France is a lot easier than entry into the UK.  To get back into the UK your rets need a blood test showing adequate rabies antibody levels, then a 6 month wait (after the successful blood sample was taken).  There are other entry requirements (treatments just before travelling) but the blood test thing is worth getting done because of the 6 month wait.  It is really sad when you see the "dog looking for a home" because people never bothered to have a cheap blood test done and now because of changed circumstances have to return to teh UK and cannot wait the necessary

6 months.  Saved a few quid and causes great distress (to the animal - which is what concerns me more).  Circumstances change, plans can change - fact of of life.

Also, in France you would really be wanting to have the rabies done.  In France its an every year vaccination and you get official certificates to prove its done.  I have to present these several times a year to different places, give some a photocopy, etc.  It may not be legally required but is close.

Ian

[Deimos]

I do believe pets are "over vaccinated"

these days and can see how this might affect them adversely in older

age. However, things change slowly. Vets in France and the UK tend

to use exactly the same rabies vaccine, yet when used in the UK is is

valid for 2 or 3 years but in France only for one year. This is

clearly due to France being just slow at updating its procedures (and

will probably continue to be the situation for many many years given

the speed of French bureaucracy). However, it means that pets in

France are being vaccinated at least twice as often as necessary and

I have read reports that this can actually cause a lower reaction to

the vaccine - so is probably counter productive.

Ian

[mossie]

I also feel that pets are over vaccinated.  However as we are here in France and as others have said, you never know when you might need to return to the UK, I will keep up their jabs.  However, I have a strange tale of one of my cats' vaccinations.  We had a beautiful abyssinian cat who developed what looked like an allergic reaction.  What triggered the reaction was never discovered despite rigorous testing.  This resulted over a period of more than 18 months of various courses of medication and a variety of different diets (mostly vet prescribed and very expensive).    What was worse was the distress of the cat.  He constantly licked the skin around his chest and tummy, to the point where he had removed all the fur and the skin was red raw and extremely sore and weepy.  When nothing worked, I seriously considered having him put to sleep, even though he was only 7 or 8.  His quality of life seemed so poor, he spent his entire life licking his skin and in the process licking in more bacteria which made the problem even worse.  Anyway after struggling with this for quite a  long time, I took him in for his jabs, which I had let lapse, really because I have a natural reluctance to have the jabs done anyway.  Whatever the problem was, it disappeared almost instantly after the jabs.  I spoke to my vet about it.  He was absolutely adamant that it was nothing to do with the jabs.  In fact it was the only time I had ever seen my truly excellent vet get angry.  However he couldn't shift my conviction that there was a connection.  He said it must be the diet, or something that had changed in his environment, both of which I knew to be untrue.  I never had another problem with my cat and he lived to be an extremely happy and healthy 14 year old until he was sadly knocked over and died.