Vaccinations-which ones to have vet do, which ones to do yourself?

[LCDR]

I boarded for years at a barn where each horse owner arranged for her own vet care for her own horse.

EXCEPT - Coggins and vaccinations were all required to be done by a chosen (by the barn owner) small animal vet buddy who appeared once a year to do those for all the horses. And you also used the chosen farrier for the barn. No outsiders allowed.

That was in a state where boarding barns had to be licensed by the state’s Dept. of Agriculture. And there was an annual barn inspection by the state veterinarian’s office. So it did make sure that all the Coggins and vaccinations were current.

[candyappy]

@Texarkana

I have always saved A LOT of money doing my vaccines myself, no matter where I have lived or how many horses I have owned.

I don’t do it because I’m trying to cheap out on vet care, but because my horses come up with enough creative ways to create vet bills already. If I can save hundreds of dollars in the vet bill department, I’m going to seize that opportunity, especially when it works out to be a win win for my situation.

This is my feeling and experience exactly. Vaccines are something I can do.

I can’t do X-rays or colic treatment or float my horses teeth or lameness exams etc… If I ever need these services my vets are happy to oblige. They also choose to give me meds OTC instead of coming out ( even if I ask) when the case is not an emergency and they know I can handle it.

[pompeiii]

My vet does rabies and leaves the rest of the vaccines for my hot house flower thoroughbred and I spread them out as needed. More than one at a time and he spikes a 105 degree fever with banamine. So we spread them out and I dose (currently with banamine, but we’re going to try without next year). My vet does give my mini everything at once and he’s fine. I pay the same for both horses (except for extra banamine). It’s all good, vet has vaccine lot numbers on file, and my horses are happy.

[DMK]

I’d also like to point out that if cheapskates are vaccinating their animals, I, for one, can fully get behind this version of cheapskate!

If they have sacrificed their relationship with a vet so the rest of the horses (or dogs and cats) that come into contact with their animals are safer, I’m down with that.

But let’s be honest, the “cheapskates” likely as not do not have a relationship with a very OR any recent retail vax purchases.

[DMK]

@JB

Wha IS “illegal” is the recognition that the horse is vaccinated if your vet doesn’t do it, and that’s in all states. So if you DIY, and there’s a rabies exposure situation, your horse is legally unvaccinated, and then you have to deal with all the repercussions of quarantine and all that stuff

I’m not sure about this, can you elaborate?

Now in the 35 states (and territory) that it is illegal to ship rabies vaccine to non vet consumers I’m behind that statement, but my suspicion is that if you are purchasing the vaccine in the small amount of states that DO allow it, you have proof of receipt/records (and the tag, because they are shipped with tags!) that it seems unusual that a higher legal burden is applied to your animal. More importantly, in companies that distribute vax, I’ve never seen any federal law disclosure related to that risk, which really seems unusual because if you’ve played in the federal rule sand box you know that posting these sorts of requirements is often part of the rule itself.

[Texarkana]

When I used to give my own rabies vaccinations, my thought process always was even if my horses aren’t recognized as “protected” and still have to quarantine for an insanely long time, at least I know I can give them a booster and they won’t actually develop rabies. That’s way better than playing the waiting game, not knowing if your horse will need to be euthanized because they were not vaccinated.

I have about the worst luck on the planet when it comes to horses. But, in all my years, I have only personally known one livestock animal to develop rabies— a sheep. So while rabies is VERY serious, the risk is also low enough that I’m comfortable living my life knowing my animals are vaccinated and not worrying about the logistical “what ifs.”

(This is a moot point these days, I live in a state now where the vet has to give it, which is fine by me)

[LCDR]

Having been a boarder in a state with boarding facility barn licenses and annual visits from State Vet compliance folks I wonder whether owner administered vaccinations are even allowed in those licensed barns. But I never asked and just let the farm take care of the Coggins and vaccines (billed to each boarder but arranged by the barn manager)…

But then I moved to a state without any facility oversight, and was never asked about Coggins and vaccine status, or even deworming. I googled vaccines and dewormers and went to TSC, bought and gave them myself. I could have elected, I suppose, to not vaccinate. And if I were not showing, no one asked about a Coggins. Frankly, I’d rather board where there is monitoring and records.

[Texarkana]

@LCDR

Having been a boarder in a state with boarding facility barn licenses and annual visits from State Vet compliance folks I wonder whether owner administered vaccinations are even allowed in those licensed barns. But I never asked and just let the farm take care of the Coggins and vaccines (billed to each boarder but arranged by the barn manager)…

But then I moved to a state without any facility oversight, and was never asked about Coggins and vaccine status, or even deworming. I googled vaccines and dewormers and went to TSC, bought and gave them myself. I could have elected, I suppose, to not vaccinate. And if I were not showing, no one asked about a Coggins. Frankly, I’d rather board where there is monitoring and records.

In Maryland, boarding barns are licensed by the state and subject to periodic inspections. But I’ve never heard of an inspector asking about vaccination status, nor have I ever had a barn owner say the state required vaccine records. I’ve been present for inspections and they have only ever quickly spot checked that horses had access to food/water/shelter and that no one was emaciated or grossly neglected.

I’ve never had a problem with health certificates or transport across state lines because I give my own vaccines. Now, I have had some circumstances where I needed the vet to sign off on an EHV vaccine, so they have had to administer it. But that’s not a big deal. USEF doesn’t even require the vet to sign off on it, though- you just need the receipt.

I’ve boarded at barns where the barn owner required the vet to give vaccines for their own peace of mind. That’s completely fine with me; honestly, if I owned a large boarding barn with a lot of different owners, I think it would be best practice to require the same.

[lenapesadie]

Does the vaccine manufacturer warranty for reactions and breakthrough infections requirement for vet administration also vary by state?

ETA: or other factors besides state?

[Montanas_Girl]

I’m somewhere in between the extremes most posters in this thread have represented.

My vet clinic is ~80 miles away - an hour and fifteen minutes without a trailer, closer to and hour and forty minutes when hauling. My farm call charge is $140. Since I breed, my vet is here with (sometimes startling) regularity through the spring and summer months. I have him do the my annual spring vaccines when he does my yearly dentals and we get started on that year’s pre-breeding diagnostics. He does fall vaccines and Coggins, and that date generally coincides with the first set of vaccines for foals/weanlings. He leaves me any boosters required, either for first-time vaccine recipients or for the pregnant mares (EHV). Yes, there is a slight markup for buying vaccines through him rather than elsewhere, but any savings would be eaten up by the overnight shipping charges to get them to me. I will not buy vaccines from a retail store, because I don’t trust their handling and storage processes.

I don’t give the Strangles IN routinely, and my vet will not give that to any horses on the same property as pregnant mares. I did have him give a booster to one mare this fall who was temporarily boarded due to the higher traffic in that barn. When my current youngster is ready to begin her show career, I’ll have him give her the Strangles series while she’s out being started under saddle.

[JB]

@DMK

Now in the 35 states (and territory) that it is illegal to ship rabies vaccine to non vet consumers I’m behind that statement, but my suspicion is that if you are purchasing the vaccine in the small amount of states that DO allow it, you have proof of receipt/records (and the tag, because they are shipped with tags!) that it seems unusual that a higher legal burden is applied to your animal.

the problem is there’s no reasonable expectation that 1) the vaccine was properly handled before it got to the recipient, 2) that the recipient properly handled it, or 3) that they actually gave it.

1 is probably not very likely, given the companies that are allowed to even have and ship the rabies vac. But, it’s possible.
2 is much more likely - how many times has anyone gotten cold-pack shipments with warm packs?
3 is also fairly likely - how many people don’t have a clue, and some of these things hang out in a hot barn for a while before being used?

It’s not a higher legal burden applied to the owner but there’s no provable record the vaccine was given

" Vaccination by a licensed veterinarian may be required by state law for rabies vaccine to be considered valid. The majority of the states require rabies to be administered by or under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian."
https://aaep.org/guidelines/vaccination-guidelines/core-vaccination-guidelines/rabies

I have done some digging in the past because I wasn’t sure if any states allowed recognition of non-vet vaccinated horses, and couldn’t find any. That might be different now.

This, or similar wording, is what I found with all the states I looked at, which was most of them. It IS possible I didn’t check the ones that allow owner vaccination as legally valid

"Rabies vaccines administered by animal owners or others not authorized by North Carolina law are not recognized.
"

So not illegal to DIY, but the horse isn’t recognized as vaccinated

[DMK]

As the AAEP points out, majority. Not all, but most. I’m not sure it’s reasonable to extrapolate that to all 50 states.

Also the care and handling of the vaccine is a red herring as it has no bearing on whether that state allows owners to vaccinate their own pets and livestock. It is an argument as to why many owners are best off letting their vet handle the task, but that’s not the same thing as subjecting your animal to quarantine if exposed in a state that legally allows owners to vaccinate for rabies.

[tabula_rashah]

I am in MD and the farm I used to work at was often used by the state inspectors to train new inspectors. We were never asked about Coggins or vaccines (I did a lot of their vaccines myself)

[omare]

Could you explain more about the (caution in giving (edit)) strangles vaccination with pregnant mares on site? Is it because it is a live vaccine? Thanks

[Montanas_Girl]

Yes, because it is a modified live vaccine, particularly with the intranasal administration route - which, as we’ve all experienced, results in the horse snorting vaccine droplets all over anyone nearby at the time.

I’m sure the risk is low. But he still advises against it. And my herd, while not closed, has limited exposure, so the risk/benefit equation favors not giving that particular vaccine most of the time.

[Angela_Freda]

@JB

1 is probably not very likely, given the companies that are allowed to even have and ship the rabies vac. But, it’s possible
2 is much more likely - how many times has anyone gotten cold-pack shipments with warm packs?
3 is also fairly likely - how many people don’t have a clue, and some of these things hang out in a hot barn for a while before being used?

Not once, but twice my cats insulin was left on my porch, in the bright sun.
Not even a knock on my door to alert me it was there.
Infuriating.

[JB]

Ugh that is SO frustrating, but proves the point Would the average owner even know that could be a problem?

The people I know in the more Southern states who DIY vaccines, order early enough in the Spring or even late Winter, AND pay some extra for extra cold packs, so that even if something gets left out, it’s not 90*. Clearly that’s an option they have, we can’t always order things in the cool days

[CanteringCarrot]

Yeah, I know someone that freezes their vaccines, and I’m not sure that’s ok? I’ve only ever seen refrigerated.

I always have a vet vaccinate my horses. I’ve competed in the past and we often move every few years, so I rather have official records.

I also feel as though if something were to happen, such as a reaction to a vaccine, the vet would “have my back” more if it were from a vaccine that they administered.

Is it more expensive? Yes, but I also only keep as many horses as I can comfortably afford (more time wise these days though since I just don’t have the time for multiples).

If some people are comfortable doing vaccines on their own then ok, but it does make me uncomfortable. I loved the system in Germany where vaccines and wormer were only given or sold by the vet and vaccines are recorded in a passport with the label/sticker directly from the vaccine, date, vet signature and stamp. Such a better system, IMO. I’d love for the US to have passports or official books like this.