Ram and I both omitted to mark the date for Tikva's yearly booster as she needed a new medical card - and her yearly booster was due on 10 August. It is not too important but she is due her three-monthly Parkworm shot shortly, and then four weeks after her booster it will be time for her yearly rabies shot. None of them are that desperate [I hope] but with so many loose/stray/dumped dogs I do not want to risk missing any of them. Ram did think about leaving the booster and bringing forward the Parkworm shot, but when I said I think that would be too much for a small dog to have so much at one time - and she has her Bracevto at the same time as the Parkworm shot... yes, I know she is strong, she is healthy, and Ram knows the same. It was just unfortunate that he had not marked the date on her new card and also not on his computer - and I had not marked it either. Both our faults. I just do not want Tikki to be flooded with vaccinations and stuff all at one time. She is only a little girl, strong though she is, but I do not want to risk it. Especially as she had such a very bad start to life. Would you?
I really don't think a month or two is at all critical. I am not a fan of annual boosters though. My vets have been using the 3 year protocol since 2004, and Eddie's last vaccine was six years ago. He should have been due for a booster at seven, but our vet recommended that he had no further vaccinations because of his auto-immune conditions. My two are out and about every day, and must be subject to constant challenges from these diseases, so I would only panic if there was a parvo outbreak.
It is the many loose/stray and dumped dogs that concern me. The sort of people who just let unwanted dogs loose or dumped on the nearest Moshav, Kibbutz or Army base, are not the sort of people who would bother with any vaccinations at all. How do you think that Parkworm, which started, somehow, in a small area in the centre of the country, turned up here? As far as the three year protocol - the same. So until the protocol is acted on, Tikva will carry on with yearly boosters. How many people bother to even get puppy shots? Rabies, at the moment, is still a yearly mandatory shot [again, how many people bother?] The same people who let their dogs run free but would never dream of neutering/spaying, and then the unwanted pups "disappear". Vets are currently trying to get the Ministry of Agriculture to change the yearly rabies shot to two-yearly but have no idea whether it might happen. And do not forget that a few days after I brought Tikki home, Michal, her then primary vet, told me not to put her down outside to try and house-train her because they had a bad case of Parvo at the surgery and there was an unknown number of affected dogs in town. Again, so many people treat dogs as throwaway "you can always get another one" temporary pets, so they had any idea of the extent of it or whether it had come to the Moshav. I am just not prepared to risk anything happening to Tikva. Not after Pereg and then the person "looking after" Baby Ziva "lost" her. And the other puppies she could not find homes for. Same with Lexi's litter mates and the non-stop puppies that just vanished. As for Tikva's unwanted litter mates... they also just vanished. I know a month or two will not matter but I just do not want Tikki to have too much at the same time. And one of these days I will learn how to spell Bravecto properly - and pronounce it properly as well! At least that, being three-monthly, fits in fine with her Parkworm shot! And to cap it all, I forgot to remind Ram that his computer had not noted that Tik is due her six-monthly wormer when she has her booster, this all being due to the fact that she needed a new medical card and he had not updated his computer [neither had I ]
I share your thoughts on this one Juli. It's bad enough that we have to load them up with chemicals (for their own good), but overloading them by giving them all at the same time, must be worse.
I have just spoken with Ram again, and we are going to change the dates for shots. But Tikva must have yearly boosters, three-monthly Parkworm shots, and her yearly rabies shot 4 weeks after her yearly booster. There is just so much. Tikva. Means Hope. Hope that the Monster who took my beloved Pereg would never come visiting again. The shots and drugs did not kill Pereg - she had to be given peace. But Tikva, Hope, I am always worried that something might happen to her. Especially when she came to me far too young.
She has to have them. Too many loose, stray, dumped here. No microchip, no recorcord of owners or if they even their dogs had basic puppy shots. I am NOT going to risk losing Tikva for the selfishness of people who treat dogs as throwaway toys.
Tikva will not be getting her yearly booster until she has she Parkworm shot - Ram says it will be fine for them both be given at the same time. He did have correct dates on his computer - I messed up because when he brought her new medical card I did not check all dates on the computer. September is a confusing time. School goes back on 1 September although of course that being Shabbat they went back today. Been off since the end of June. Then there is Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, then Yom Happurim, The Day of Atonement, then Succot - is it any wonder that all these dates confused me and I do not always correct them on my computer? I am still not sure if I have all Tikki's dates correct but at least I know that Ram does. Oh how I love that Vet - and so does Tikki.
