janet_rose
I imagine DHLP is Distemper-Adenovirus(Hepatitis)-??-Parainfluenza, but if the "L" is not Lyme or Lepto, I don't know what it is.
It's Lepto.
The thing that gets a bit frustrating -- and I'm sure it sounds "old" to some of you who have stated your dogs are young, healthy, etc. and you've never seen a bad reaction (and LIes, I'm not picking on you -- you're just the only one who has said it *this* time -- it's a common reaction!!!) -- let me try to explain.
Sometimes I'm not just the 'dog lady' for some ... sometimes I feel like the OLD dog lady. I'm no antique really, BUT I've had dogs constantly since I was 19, and have taken care of them on my own. All rescues -- all ages, all breeds, all different types of circumstances. But cumulatively I've had many "grow old". And in that time I've learned some really hard, harsh, difficult, and painful lessons.
Prissy survived unbelievably severe pancreatitis (3 bouts of it - hospitalized each time over 13 years) but lived to be almost 21. I was single most of the time I had her and learned completely by accident. I didn't get her shots every year because I flatly couldn't afford it. But it was my training for taking care of a 'sick dog'.
From there on it was different.
With Mike tha Dog, I lost him because a foster had parasites (whips/hooks) so I learned to be vigilant about making sure that's dealt with every month - chemicals are scarey - losing a dog is heartbreaking.
With Muffin, we brought him thru cancer twice -- but I listened to a vet against my own better judgment and continued chemo as a 'precaution' because he had such a crap immune system. I listened to the vet and believed the "side effects are minimal" speech and his kidneys failed because of the medicine we gave him.
Another friend's dog died from IMHA that began immediately after vaccinations (and I knew Sandra Slayton years ago when Hunter was a puppy -- Hunter reacted to ProHeart 6 not vaccines).
Another woman I worked with lost her dog to cancer that was vaccine related.
When Billy had IMHA I literally met and spoke with countless people who all were able to tie their dog's IMHA to vaccines. Most of those dogs died.
See -- all the dogs pretty much started out as "young and healthy" and had vaccines every year. The huge risk for vaccine related illness doesn't happen until they are a few years old.
But when you see these things happen .... LATER. The dogs who get cancer LATER. The dogs who get IMHA ... later.
Where is the line? I'll do this while my dog is "young" ... and worry later? No one knows until the diagnosis happens. And often what is set in stone immune-wise when they are young, isn't reaped until years later. Billy didn't get vaccines in the 4 years he's been with me -- but he was over-vaccinated out the ying/yang just prior to coming to me. The rescue he was with gave him 3 rabies shots and 3 combo shots in 5 months because of placement over-laps and faulty record-keeping.
Maybe your breed has "other" health issues -- like shepherds have DM looming and hip problems. Except ... DM is really pretty darned close to MS in people ... and gee whiz, look at all the research there tying things like mercury poisoning and other environmental things to MS. (Think thimerisol in vaccines?)
It's just that a lot of us have learned to be less trusting because of experiences WE have gone thru and experiences other friends have gone thru. And some of us are ... let's use the words "more experienced" -- as a euphemism for "older".
I can't control my dogs' world totally -- but I can minimize what I can. And I've had enough personal experience with vets and my own doctors to simply not trust as much any more.
It breaks my heart sometimes because it's not just that some dogs are unhealthy from the get go -- some ARE truly that ... BUT, many times a dog is healthy up until that magical point in time where they have a reaction or get sick. And then no amount of "I wish I hadn't" helps.
I'm not flaming any one -- just explaining why some of us have not only made the choices we have but why we are so verbal about it.