Expert: Patti - 11/4/2009

Question
I have a 17 year old Yorkshire Terrier.  Is it really necessary to have him get his DistemperHLPParvo at this age?  He is always in the house and only around my daughter's 5 year old dog when he comes for a visit.  

Answer

Hi Ann,

At seventeen, your dog probably has all the antibodies he needs to protect himself from Parvo/Distemper. In a recent study of 1200 dogs, one to two years after the initial immunization 94.4 percent of the dogs still had adequate immunities to parvovirus, and 97.3 percent were still protected against distemper.

The American Veterinary Medical Association has new vaccine protocals. They now recommend dogs receive these shots every three years now, instead of yearly.

Distemper is mostly a disease of young puppies, so it's doubtful your daughter's five year old dog is going to pass that to your dog. That dog also probably has antibodies as well.

It's really important to have an annual check-up for elderly dogs. So even if you pass on the shots, your dog still should have the exam. If you'd like to keep tabs on your dog's immunity levels, antibodies can be measured through Titer tests, and only re-vaccinate when indicated by low Titers.

I hope I've ben a help.

Patti