I’ve gone from a place with no ticks and no lyme to a place with few ticks and lyme sometimes to–this fall–CT, which I hear is all ticks and all lyme, all the time.
Should I vaccinate my dog for lyme before we go? Is it effective?
I don’t know the stats on how effective it is; so maybe your vet can help you make your decision. The older forms of this vaccine (10+ years ago) had a lot more side effects, but the recent ones are quite safe so I vaccinate all my dogs for Lyme. It is not 100% and they can still get Lyme disease, but ticks are rampant and in my opinion, every bit helps. I use topical flea/tick treatment and anytime the dogs seem “off” we run a 4x tickborne panel just to check because tickborne symptoms can be tricky to dx.
I even give the Lyme vaccine to my elderly dog because Lyme on top of general old age would be tough. (I don’t vaccinate him for everything anymore, just rabies and Lyme).
I’ve known enough dogs in the Mid-Atlantic area who have gotten Lyme’s that we don’t take chances with mine. She has never had a reaction and otherwise she has a pretty sensitive system.
I think the efficacy is questionable but better than nothing. My dogs are vaccinated because we spend tons of time outside and in the woods.
I’m going to be asking my vet about this vaccine for my puppy at my appointment on Saturday.
We are having a horrible tick problem this year. The cats are coming in with multiple ticks on them, we had the puppy in the back yard for under 30 minutes and pulled three (unattached) ticks off of her. I ordered Seresto collars for one cat and the puppy, the other cat won’t wear a collar (and Frontline is no longer effective in my area), so he has topical flea meds, and I bought some kind of natural spray that is supposed to repel them for him. We are also planning to spray our backyard, but if our neighbors don’t spray theirs I’m not sure how effective it will be?
My husband has been treated for Lyme twice, I’m taking antibiotics for Lyme now, those ticks are nasty little creatures!
All good info, thank you!
Ticks totally freak me out. I am not looking forward to that part of Connecticut, AT ALL 
:no:
(Crossing subjects a little, but some vets are using the canine vaccine on horses, too, I’ve read? Any thoughts of doing the horses before I go?)
[QUOTE=Simkie;8692882]
All good info, thank you!
Ticks totally freak me out. I am not looking forward to that part of Connecticut, AT ALL :no:
(Crossing subjects a little, but some vets are using the canine vaccine on horses, too, I’ve read? Any thoughts of doing the horses before I go?)[/QUOTE]
My clinic does not use the vaccine on horses, because they don’t think it is effective…or at least that is what was said the last time we talked about it. They wish a vaccine would be developed for horses, but last I asked the general consensus was that the canine vaccine was not effective enough to use on horses.
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My equine vet doesn’t recommend the canine Lyme vaccine for horses - no proof it’s effective and it’s not designed for horses. Some vets will use it on horses but the ones I know don’t.
And yes vaccinate your dog for Lyme. Ticks are everywhere in the northeast. My dogs wear Seresto collars but I’m still finding ticks on them. I bought some Frontline Plus last night so they’ll be getting that too. Lyme vaccine is basically standard practice up here.
Also don’t forget to check yourself daily for ticks! I pulled one off of myself just the other day - took the dogs for a walk and when I got home to change I found it. And it wasn’t there that morning :dead::dead:.
[QUOTE=ryansgirl;8693100]
And yes vaccinate your dog for Lyme. Ticks are everywhere in the northeast. My dogs wear Seresto collars but I’m still finding ticks on them. I bought some Frontline Plus last night so they’ll be getting that too. Lyme vaccine is basically standard practice up here.
.[/QUOTE]
be careful. They are not approved to use together.
Okay–yes for the dog, no for the horses. Got it!
[QUOTE=ryansgirl;8693100]
Also don’t forget to check yourself daily for ticks! I pulled one off of myself just the other day - took the dogs for a walk and when I got home to change I found it. And it wasn’t there that morning :dead::dead:.[/QUOTE]
I will DIE :dead: :dead: :dead:
We do dogs and horses here in Madison. Or, at least, the practice I use recommends both.
My vet clinic will not vaccinate with it. Even with the newer vaccine they have seen tons of side effects and have to PTS several dogs because of severe side effects. I live in a tick heavy area and don’t vaccinate my dog, imo the risk of horrible side effects is not worth it and apparently it is not super effective.
[QUOTE=SAcres;8694290]
My vet clinic will not vaccinate with it. Even with the newer vaccine they have seen tons of side effects and have to PTS several dogs because of severe side effects. I live in a tick heavy area and don’t vaccinate my dog, imo the risk of horrible side effects is not worth it and apparently it is not super effective. :([/QUOTE]
My MD vet still won’t use it either.
About the ticks, you can spray the perimeter of your yard with Permethrin every 2 weeks or so. I use the 10% Permethrin and mix it according to instructions. Keep your yard mowed. If you have a woodland border, a 3’ dirt or mulch border will also keep the ticks down.
I’ve never used a Seresto collar, but I did use a Preventic collar plus Frontline Plus when I still lived in MD in addition to spraying and tick tubes. After a year with the tick tubes, I saw no evidence of ticks and our property backed up to a very wooded state park.
https://www.amazon.com/Damminix-27203-Tick-Tube-24-Pack/dp/B000OWB7ME?ie=UTF8&Version=1&entries=0
I am intentionally reviving this thread. I have never before vaccinated for Lyme but I am infested with ticks. I am getting approximately 40 a day off two dogs who wear current Serestos and are now also taking NexGuard. My dog’s face and my bedsheets look like someone shook a pepper shaker over them!
I mow every five days and spray back and front yards every two weeks. I bought guinea fowl. I mow a perimeter walking path around the property, which is mostly hayfields, some woods/treeline, and the back property line is a creek. Of course, the dogs still run through the hay and brush. I flea comb legs and heads three or four times a day. I blow em with the HV dryer once a week to see any attached ticks. It’s horror-movie level.
One dog had to go in for red, inflamed irregular patches on her skin. Vet suspected pollen allergy exacerbated by tick bites. We drew blood and tested and will test again at the end of summer. Vet is recommending the vaccine but I’ve never permitted it before because of side effects. I’m located in central VA.
Would you vaccinate?
I’ve vaccinated my dog yearly for Lyme since the start of this thread. No problems from the vaccine, and no Lyme. It’s a no brainer for me–absolutely vaccinate.
Frankly, I wish I’d vaccinated my horses for Lyme with the canine vaccine prior to moving here, and kept that up, too. Would have saved SO much trouble for them as well.
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Absolutely.
The Lyme vaccine from 20 years ago had some more common side effects. Everyone vaccinates their dogs for Lyme here. I’ve never really heard of anything serious from the vaccine in the last decade or so.
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Thanks so much for replying! I value your opinion.
I’ve vaccinated my dogs for lyme for many years with no side effects. It’s been at least three different dogs, possibly 4 or 5 (I’m not sure how far back it was when I started). I know it’s not the most effective vaccine, but I also know we have lots of ticks and I’ll take whatever protection they can get.
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