Distemper, Adenovirus, Parvovirus (DAP) Titre Testing
is Now Available In-House
We
use vaccine, similar to people vaccines, to decrease the risk of serious
infectious diseases that can cause harm to the population. It has been proven that by vaccinating we can
keep serious diseases like Distemper and Parvovirus under control. There is still debate on how long the
vaccines offer immunity to a pet. The current recommendation for vaccination
against these three diseases is to vaccinate a puppy at 8, 12 and 16 weeks of
age, repeat at one year of age then every 3 years. These recommendations have been found to
maintain 95% of the dog population with immunity.
Each
pet, like humans, is likely to respond to vaccination differently. Some dogs are not able to produce an adequate
immune response to vaccine; others may have protection from two years to seven
years with the same vaccine protocol.
We
now have the ability in clinic to run titre levels to see if a pet is protected
for Distemper, Parvovirus and Adenovirus.
Previously we would have sent blood out to an external laboratory at a
significant cost. Vaccicheck was
developed in Israel and has shown to give the same results as the laboratories
here in North America. Vaccicheck allows
us to check antibody levels in the hospital and then the decision to vaccinate
can be made when results become available, often the same day.
Dogs
that should benefit from Vaccicheck include pets that have had previous vaccine
reactions, breeders who prefer a minimal vaccine regime, debilitated and
elderly pets, and running a titre on puppies after their series of vaccines to
confirm that adequate immune levels have been reached.
Vaccination
is still an important part of preventive health care; titre testing is another
aid in individualizing the vaccine for the pets we see. Please remember that the in house titre
testing is not available for Leptospirosis, Kennel cough and Rabies.
