Parvovirus outbreak in my town

[fairycakes69]

Hi my dog is 9 he had all his boosters and shots up till 4 years ago, there has been a parvo outbreak, should I take him for the shots and will we have to start again? Looked up on the net there seems to be conflicting thoughts on it. Some say every year, others every 3 and some say adult dogs dont need at all,not sure what to beleive.

[boxtops]

I'd ring a vet and ask for advice - they'll know what to do in case of an epidemic.

[lankeela]

How do you know there has been an outbreak? These reports seem to ooccur every so often and as a result loads of people get their dogs done and the vets do very nicely out of it. We had such a report and it turned out to be a couple of rescue dogs in a dogs home, yet the vets were recommending people take their dogs as a precaution. I never vaccinate my older dogs once they have had their puppy shots. Its up to the individual but annual boosters have never been proven to be necessary. There is plenty of evidence that unnecessary boosters can cause all sorts of immune problems too.

[ladybirder]

So how do you find out if there is an epidemic without asking your vet? You can't really trust the newspapers so ...?

[fairycakes69]

It was in the local paper, 3 puppies have died of it. Think I'll keep taking my dog for walks down the beach at the quiet end, for a while, he can't be bothered with other dogs anyway, he just tends to avoid them.