My pup had her regular puppy shots (DHPP) and her last booster was when she was 4 months old. I have since titer tested her for Parvo and Distemper every year from then on and she has always been positive. She just turned 3 years old in December 2024 and she had her yearly check up last week, which included her titer testing, 4DX and psychical (she is now 118lb and should be and has been around 110lb, so does need to go on a diet - well so do I, so we both have a goal to lose about 10lb. Ugg, winter!).
The titer test came pack positive for both, so she is still covered 3 years later, which is great news, no need to revaccinate for this. I still do her rabies every 3 years and do not titer for it as we cross the border to the US and they do not accept titer for this. Plus the cost for the titer test is $500.
The sad part is the titer testing is just over $160 and the vaccine is just over $40, so I do understand why most just revaccinate instead of titer testing. Her breed (Greater Swiss Mountain Dog) is susceptible to seizures so I really do try and minimize things like vaccines (though I do believe they are important! I just weigh my pros and cons with each one). I also do not give a feed through flea/tick med due to the side effects of seizures, but do use the pour on Advantix II (vet agrees with my protocol and my hesitation of feed throughs/collars) during the warmer months (currently she is not on anything as it well below freezing in Ontario) as it covers for flea, tick and inadvertently heartworm as well. We have a lot of ticks in the area so she does need to be covered as she is what I call a “bush wacker” and is in and out of the bush all the time and loves to pick up ticks! We do not live in a high risk area for heartworm, but the pour on sort of covers her as it kills misquotes.
I did her 4DX as well and it showed she was positive for Lyme and anaplasma which I was really surprised about as she is acting totally normal. I took her back in for more bloodwork which they did a Lyme Quant C6 to see how much bacteria is in her system to see if we need to medicate her or not, and also did a test for anaplasma as well. Her Lyme Quant C6 count came back very low so no meds needed and her anaplasma test then came back negative, so no meds and she is still acting 100%. Phew.
My vet just told me to watch the weather and if it gets above 0C, to start using the Advantix on her. So hopefully we will have a better year for ticks, but I doubt that for some reason…
I just wanted to make the post in case someone was ever searching for titer testing. Someone I know has an 11 year old dog that is still testing positive for her distemper/parvo which is great to hear. No boosters ever needed for their dog after their initial puppy shots, and its still going strong 11 years later.
