pet shots

Question
I want some non biased info on how often getting my pets vaccinated.  We have 2 dogs and a cat.  All adult.  One dog about 10 years old and super healthy still acts like a puppy and even recently discovered he could hop my parents 6 foot fence no problems so I took him in our home since our fence it quite higher. We also believe he is wolf hybrid but have given him the yearly shots since we have had him for many years now.  The second dog I believe is britney spaniel mix maybe with some pit or american bull dog and he also very healthy.  Bout 5 or 6 and does get little bit of allergies and scratches his eye and it gets runny once in while.  Tried different dog foods and even medication and benadryl and nothing really changed it so I just let it be.  It doesnt seem to cause him any pain and he doesnt rub it enough to hurt himself.  Other then that he is very healthy and we have had him about 3 years and had his shots done twice I believe.  It has been almost 2 years since his last round and a year for the other dog.  The cat we have had about 2 years and not really sure how old she is.  Maybe 7 or 8 and she is pretty healthy except for what we thought was respitory infection and had her treated and it didn't help so we pretty sure it is asthma.  She will have difficulty breathing a couple times a day and will kind of cower close to the floor and breath heavy for a couple minutes and then she is ok.  It's not from hairballs either because she rarely does that.  But she is a happy cat and seems very content and comfortable.  I feed the cat science diet and I started the dogs on that but switched to nutro lamb and they seem well on that.  That is there backround.  My question is should I get them more vaccinations?  They rarely leave our house and the cat is inside only since she is declawed.  I have read so much info about how often to get them the shots but it's hard to know what to do and even when people say studies have been done, who knows who has financed those studies and lab tests and influenced the results.  I don't want to harm our pets and also would like to save that money if it's uneccessary.  But then on other hand I remember we had to put our black lab down when I was a child from parvo and how horrible that was.  I think he was still a puppy or very young adult and I don't know what vaccinations he had or not but it was a tramatic experience none the less.  Most likely he was up to date on shots because my mother was very responsible and loving with our pets.  What do you suggest?  I am also concerned because my wife just visited a friend last week and she called to tell us yesterday her dogs got parvo and are dying and our dogs have not had shots in a year or two.

Answer
We recommend vaccinations based on potential exposure.  For example, unless the dog is outside, a leptospirosis shot may not be needed.  That needs to be given at least once a year.  Rabies is mandated by your state laws, so you wil have to do that.  Distemper shots provide long lasting immunity, probably at least 3 years, and parvo is rare in adult dogs, but they are carriers.  About every 3 years is OK.  If you are in a lyme disease area, then vaccinate annually.  So it is hard to answer specifically.  Cats indoors all the time never get naturally exposed to viruses to develop any immunity, so it is important to vaccinate them at least every 3 years.