Lepto vaccine and flea/tick prevention

[MsM]

What do you do for your house dogs? My regular vet just retired!

I have a small (10#) short haired dog. We live in a small town in CT - right in town. This is his first summer as an adult and I am debating on vaccines and flea/tick prevention. He has a fenced dog yard with nothing but mown grass. Other than that, he goes on leash walks. Being small and short haired, so far I have just checked him regularly. So far, no fleas found and one early stage tick this year. So I am debating what is the safest choice for him - feed through, topical, spray, or surveillance?

Any experience with the lepto vaccine? I had a dog that developed IMPA after vaccinations (combination) so I am a bit more cautious.

[jherold]

You need to find a new vet and establish a doctor/patient relationship. You can ask what they recommend you use. It’s hard enough to get an appointment for a sick pet when you are a client. Good luck if you aren’t!

[Simkie]

I am also in CT, although we have a farm, and the dog is outside with me a bulk of the day.

Regardless, ticks are TERRIBLE this year. I can’t imagine not treating for them in some way, even in a backyard. My preference for several years has been the seresto collar. It’s quite effective, and a low, continuous, basal dose of pesticide seems to the the least worst option, over a topical monthly bolus, or a systemic oral pesticide.

I also vaccinate for Lyme. It’s not a sure thing, but every bit of protection helps. If the dog does get Lyme despite the vaccine, the pharma pays for treatment. So it’s also a little bit of insurance coverage.

I do also use lepto. When I asked about this when we were doing puppy vaccines, the vet had a dog in house at that very moment that was being treated for lepto and not doing very well. It does seem pretty prevalent here.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Not to sound the alarm, but you may THINK you don’t have fleas, but it’s possible you just don’t know it.

If the dog has dark hair, you might not see them. They’re tiny and move quickly. Even on my light-haired dog, I only spotted the Frontline wasn’t working when I saw the flea dirt.

The fact you don’t have tall grass and just walk her around the neighborhood doesn’t make a difference. Fleas are everywhere. Even houses without pets sometimes get them when they hop aboard on people’s pant legs. It’s not like heartworm, which tends to be much more pervasive in specific areas (wet, where mosquitos are more common) although now they’re recommending using preventative for that even in the desert.

You need a preventative. Even WITH a preventative with my last dog, I got fleas because it wasn’t the MOST effective prevenative for the area (I had to switch). As your vet what’s best for your area and get one ASAP. If you had one tick, that’s just one tick you know of.

Lepto is zootonic (can be transmitted between animals and humans.) Again, I would follow your vet’s direction.

[MsM]

To clarify -I do have a different vet within the practice as “our” vet at the moment. Last discussed this when we did core shots. Didnt want to do more at the time. She was pretty non-committal about the flea/tick treatment, just pointed out the options but didnt recommend. The lepto vaccine was to be discussed later - which is now.

I just wanted some ideas of what people were actually doing for their pets.

[pony_baloney]

I’ve always tried to do no chemicals with my dogs, although I used a Seresto collar on my last tiny rescue. I’m one of those owners: raw frozen diet, healthy grain-free treats, minimal vaccines, titers, etc. We’re in a development surrounded by farms so there are ticks here although I try to avoid tall grass in shady areas and woods. This time around I’m using an herbal mix from Wildly Blended called Bug Off! It provides immune and skin/coat support and alters your pet’s scent to make them unattractive to insects. Also have a homemade herbal spray if we’re venturing out of the neighborhood.

When doing research on all the available flea/tick preventatives, I wasn’t convinced that any of them were really safe for my pet. It seemed silly to be so careful with her diet and then use a chemical that could be harmful.

If I wasn’t so paranoid, I’d just throw on another Seresto, which worked great in the past.

[FjordBCRF]

We started using Simparica Trio; heartworm, flea and tick. Our mini Aussie got Lyme while on topical frontline. Hearing how bad the ticks are on the east coast, I couldn’t imagine not treating for them.

[mommy_peanut]

I live in northern WI, so may be different than what would work for you.
I use K9 Advantix topical. I like that it REPELS & kills ticks & mosquitoes, rather than only killing them after they bite.
I also use Richard’s Organics flea & tick spray on dogs & humans when venturing off the beaten path.
I also use food grade Diatomaceous Earth around the yard, kennels & house.
I personally do not give the lepto vaccine. Too many bad reactions to it.
However, if you/your vet feel it’s necessary, please make sure to give it by itself with no other medications, vaccines, treatments.

[DiamondJubilee]

I’m also similar to a few of the people posting on here and I’m one of those people as well. I do feed raw (and apple cider vinegar, and 1 clove of fresh garlic 3 x week, all to help with bugs) and have a breed that is very susceptible to seizures so stay far, far away from any unnecessary vaccines (I speak to my vet on this one of course. She also has the same belief and would love to titer for all animals but knows the cost is very high so understands when clients can’t do so) and flea/tick meds, especially feed throughs.

I didn’t want the Lepto shot for my pup when I did her 3 x puppy shot (DDAP). One of the vets did give it to her on her 3 month shots though, even though I did not want it, and she was quite sick for a day. She did bounce back a full day afterwards though, and I did get her 4 month without Lepto and she was totally fine. No reaction there. I know there are many stains of Lepto and the vaccine only covers a few of them, and with the higher risk of my dog getting reactions, I stay away from it. To me its not worth it and my vet has no issue with me not getting it for her. I did do titers for her DDAP this year and she did not need any boosters, and she had her rabies booster, which she will be getting every 3 years now.

I like Interceptor for heartworm (not the plus as I don’t think a dog needs to be dewormed every month with the same dewormer, just asking for resistance if you ask me. I do Fecals 2 x a year and treat/deworm accordingly - similar to my horses. I do use DE as well, as someone else mentioned).

I have not done anything for flea/tick for my dog yet but I do keep a Tickless mini on my dog’s collar (ultrasonic sounds to “confuse” ticks). I use a natural tick spray when we go out for walks and feed a feed through (https://www.dogsage.ca/products/flea-and-tick-prevention) as well. Now I did find a couple of ticks on her this year (we are in a really, really bad area for ticks and my girl is a bush whacker - she loves running and jumping into the bush, all high traffic tick areas of course) and spoke with my vet more about this. I will be using Advantix II as a pour on as it has less side effects than a feed through, and my vet thought it would work best for us. I’m not a fan of a collar, but thats just me.

Ticks are terrible even in short grass and so many people are complaining that their dogs have ticks even though they don’t walk them (I know, I can’t wrap my head around this!) and they only go in their house and backyard with short grass, but are pulling ticks off of their dog all the time.

I’ve had Lyme so I do worry about this of course. Dogs do tend to do better than humans though, a lot of them asymptomatic, but its still a worry. The only thing that makes me scratch my head is that Lyme is very bad for humans (trust me I know) but why aren’t the pour on’s or feed throughs good enough for human consumption but are approved for our pets? This I don’t get…And this is why I’m hesitant on using them. I know the side effects are low, but they are there and are very concerning. A friend of mine lost her pup hours after giving Simparica Trio, my mom just gave her friends dog (she was dog sitting) a dose of Simparica for her second time, and she was vomiting and had violent diarrhea for 2 days afterwards. And it was just an hour after giving it to a small 15lb dog.

The Lyme vaccine was also approved for human use years ago but was removed from the market after so many side effects (one of them being a form of arthritis) though its still used for dogs. Its also a shot I avoid for my dog.

For sure speak to your vet and see what they think, but do a bit of reading as well to see what would work best for you and your pup. There are so many options out there!

[S1969]

You have to decide what an acceptable risk is for you and the dog.

I have three dogs, and run my dogs through tall grass 2x daily - Seresto collars on all of them.

Right now - I am picking off 8-10 live ticks per dog, per run, and still finding dead ticks on the floor, and on the dogs every day. The risk of Lyme is far greater than the risk of issue with tick prevention. I also do Lyme vaccine - even for my older dogs who sometimes don’t need additional protection from certain things.

Anyone using herbal sprays is not living my life. My dogs would be sucked dry by ticks by now if I didn’t use tick prevention. And, obviously I would also be at greater risk because I’d have live ticks in my house far more than I do now.

I honestly don’t know anyone that has purchased a legitimate Seresto collar and had any issues in the last…what…10 years? Some dogs are sensitive to chemicals, and I had two that reacted with very itchy skin at the topical treatment (Frontline) so I switched them all to Seresto several years ago. But I don’t know of anyone personally that has ever encountered a serious issue with tick prevention, and I am involved with my breed club nationally and locally, so I think I would hear if there were actual incidents that were documented.

I also vaccinate for Lepto, but obviously again - the risk factor for my dogs is greater than the risk of the vaccine. For a dog that did not venture off lead and/or in areas where exposure was likely, it’s probably safe to not vaccinate.

[trubandloki]

I have acreage, my dogs outdoor time is mainly in a fenced yard which is very mowed.
They do periodically join me in the barn.

I have one dog that has short white hair and I have never seen a single flea on him, I still treat him to prevent flea and tick issues because once you have fleas in your house they are very difficult to get rid of. Ticks in my part of the world are horrible. I am not willing to risk that either.

Most* of my pets are fully vaccinated. Horse, dogs, cats. What the vet says it necessary for this part of the world to keep my animals safe, they get.

For flea and heartworm my dogs get Simparica Trio.
I did have good luck with the Seresto Collar too.

I guess it really depends on your willingness to risk things.

*All except my one horse who had a horrible vaccine reaction (laminitis) and I have worked with my vet to figure out what she can handle.

[luvmyhackney]

I have average and east coast so lots of ticks.

I wouldn’t dream of not using flea tick prevention. I use Bravecto (sp) and so far have found zero live ticks on my dogs who gets checked daily. It last for 3 months and works extremely well in my area. I’m more quality of life vs quantity of life so I’m ok giving them meds to keep them as itch free as possible. Tick diseases are way worse than anything flea/tick meds could cause for majority of dogs.

I vaccinate my horses and dogs for all the things as well. Just stagger them so they aren’t taking all the vaccines at one time. So far so good.

[Mosey_2003]

Full Lepto vaccine and Simparica Trio here.

[SimonSays]

I’ve used Bravetco for like 5-6 years now for my 4 dogs and have been extremely happy. I had been doing the lyme vaccine and 3 out of the 4 had gotten lyme the 5-6 years ago before I switched to the Bravetco. Yes the vaccine company did pay for the treatment but it really wasn’t that expensive I could have just paid out of pocket. I hate over vaccinating and wish titering was more affordable or a more common path. I almost never see ticks on my dogs- we live on a small 25 acre farm in CT, they have a fenced in dog yard and are outside whenever I’m home and it’s nice out.

I know some dogs can have side effects, luckily mine have never had any and we’ve been basically tick free for 5-6 years now. We have an 8 yr old Jack Russell, 9 yr old hound mutt, coming 11 year old Lab and a coming 12 year old German Shorthair. They get their rabies vaccines as necessary by state law.

[Simkie]

I don’t think it’s reasonable to just use surveillance to catch ticks and prevent tick borne disease here. The ticks that transmit Lyme disease are SO SMALL.

I’m embarrassingly pale, use bug spray religiously, and check for ticks VERY CAREFULLY after being outside. And then my husband looks again. I’ve had Lyme twice. I’ve never seen the tick, or had a bullseye rash. When I do manage to see a nymph deer tick, it’s just luck, and I’m always just floored at how incredibly teeny they are.

There’s just no way to pick them up on an animal. Not consistently anyway.

[phantomhorse]

I live in PA, so Lyme is endemic here, so both dogs are vaccinated for that. The dogs are outside on our farm and come trail riding with me (therefore are in all sorts of questionable water sources), so both are also vaccinated for lepto. Thankfully, neither have had an issues with either vaccines (they weigh 35 and 50 lb respectively, so I think being not-small helps with that).

We currently use Nexgard with good results. Our vet has mentioned that ticks in this area are becoming immune to it, so will look at switching products if I start finding attached ticks. I do fly spray the dogs before trail rides and hose them off when we get home, so that seems to help a lot, too.

[Casey09]

I’ve posted about this before. My dog got lepto. He definitely got it in the yard. It was in the middle of summer and had been quite hot. My dogs really never drink out of streams or standing water. I leash walk them when they’re outside as I don’t have a fence.
He was considered by my vet to be low risk for lepto. He got very very sick from it and eventually died from the effects of it, but it was several years later.
Now I do vaccinate for it. There is no easy answer. The internist I used said she frequently diagnoses little city dogs with lepto. It just doesn’t take much. However, she said she had wildlife in her yard and she didn’t vaccinate for it. She said her mentor had a dog that got it 3 times, while vaccinated. Apparently her mentor learned to catch it when the dog peed for a long time.
I don’t see the vaccine as a silver bullet because I was told many times that it’s effective against 50 percent of the strains for it.
I posted earlier about an article warning against dog parks. Based on my experience, I think all dogs are at risk for lepto. If a dog gets sick, I do bloodwork much earlier now. The whole thing made me quite paranoid, and I certainly don’t allow drinking out of standing water. I would just warn anyone that all of that doesn’t mean that a dog won’t get it.
As far as flea and tick, I do do something, but maybe not to many people’s liking. I use spot on, and find that it lasts longer than a month. I apply it in March/April and again in August/September.
My understanding is that most of it will kill ticks after they attach and have been on the dog for a while, so they can get Lyme disease with tick preventative.