Vaccination Guidlines

[MtnShadowsFarm]

Since this topic comes up periodically, I thought I'd post a link that lists the latest protocols suggested by Dr. David Wilson of UC Davis:

VACCINATION GUIDLINES FOR HORSES

Hope many of you find this helpful!

Felicia

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Very nice

I hope people out there are reading up on EVA and vaccinating their stallions! Pretty please? Let's wipe it out

 

[Jill]

Thank you for sharing that chart! I saved it to my computer just now for future reference.

Also, for anyone this might help, here is a how-to guide for vaccinating (as in where / how to give shots):

http://www.whinny4me.com/Horse-Info/horse%...%20how%20to.pdf

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

Please please please don't give your own vaccinations!!! Unless you have worked as a vet tech or been trained by your veterinarian, please leave it to the pros...

1) If you vaccinate a client animal you are liable for malpractice if something goes wrong.

2) If your horse reacts to the shot you may not be able to save them, whereas a vet can

3) If you give vaccines yourself and something goes wrong, your insurance will not cover it

4) Your vet makes the main portion of their income from shots... so if you take your herd off their list then want their services, they may not be interested.

5) You still need a vet to administer Rabies and EVA vaccines. While you can technically give either, the state does not recignize them unless a vet has given them. That means that if your herd is exposed to rabies, your reciept will not save them from being killed and tested, even though they were vaccinated. And the same with EVA... your horses will be branded (not literally) as EVA positive even though you know they are just positive from the vaccine.

If you do want to give your own shots, make sure you have your veterinarian's full approval and have them train you properly. They can describe the risks (however minute they are) and teach you how to address things. And if you have a very good relationship they can cover your actions under their insurance, to avoid voiding your mortality insurance.

All that said it is a great way to save some money and some stress, but you have to calculate the risks carefully. I do my own shots, knowing the risks.

 

[Jill]

Oh jeeze. I didn't even get past the first paragraph of the post right above mine. I know many if not most of us do vaccinations ourselves. My vets actually encourage this and supply the vaccines I use sometimes. Sometimes I order myself. I've been doing mine for years and have vaccinated lots of horses. Never had a problem. A shot is a shot is a shot.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

A single shot, even given properly, has the chance of killing your horse. Not a big chance, but a chance. I give my own shots, and love the idea of it, but you have to understand the risks and have your vet's cooperation. Vaccines are generally very safe, but even they have the possibility of problems. Shots are not something a beginner should be doing.

 

[MtnShadowsFarm]

It's amazing to me how topics spin out of control!

[SIZE=12pt]I posted the link as a helpful resource fro ANY horseperson, whether YOU vaccinate or have your vet do it! INFORMATION IS POWER and a well informed client makes for a better team in your horses health![/SIZE]

Now, wrt vaccinating your own horses....

I've been doing it for MANY years with never an injection reaction. Note that I'm making the distinction wrt vaccine reaction/response, which generally happens 12-24 hr post injection.

I agree that you should be trained by your vet or an expereince person as to the proper technique for giving injections, but also find that most equine vets are happy to show a client they feel has the wisdom to use good judgment!

Also, I've been concerned with anaphalatic reactions, but my vet has said that those are quite rare in vaccinations and are seen more..though rarely...with medications, such as PPG (Procaine Pennicillan)

FYI--I've seen PPG reactions and they aren't pretty! But know that it's generally the Procaine they are reacting to, not the Pennicillan)

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

The link was very good, and highly appreciated

It would make a good poster for barns!

 

[sedeh]

Thanks so much for the information. There has been so much controversy about vaccines and when they're even effective in weanlings. I've never had a stallion before and I didn't even know about EVA vaccinations...I'm surprised my vet didn't bring that up when I asked her opinion of what vaccines I should use and when. I also give my own vaccines and have for years......with my vets full knowlege and approval, she even supplies the vaccines I can't get myself. I always keep epi on hand though.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

EVA blew up in everyone's face this past breeding season. The disease has been around for ages (as has the vaccine) but it hasn't really been all that public. Then this past season one of the major QH farms stood a world-renowned QH stallion there and shipped infected semen all over the US, spreading the disease everywhere and causing hundreds upon hundreds of abortions (that's EVA's problem... the disease itself isn't much worse than rhino or flu, but it causes abortions and is harbored in stallions). Its a reportable disease like strangles and sleeping sickness, and the vaccine itself is also reportable (meaning any vet that gives a stallion the EVA vaccine must report that fact to the state vet immediately). Colorado has gone one step farther to have a new form that looks like a Coggins to certify that stallions have been tested and vaccinated. Kentucky already requires (by state law) that all stallions be vaccinated (or maybe all TB stallions, I don't know exactly what the law says). Its something to be aware of, that's for sure. If your friends who breed haven't heard about EVA, please let them know that its a big issue and there are actions they should be taking, even if its just educating themselves. Its a very complicated and confusing issue.

 

[wantminimore]

I can't check out the link

It's a pdf file and for some reason anything that's pdf won't open for me all of a sudden. But thanks for posting it anyways.

Leslie