dog doctor visits

Question
i was wondering if you could tell me what shots and vacines a dog needs a year. i have three dogs that i have rescued but everytime i go to the doctors it cost almost 1000.00 for three of them. the vet wants the dogs to visit twice a year. i just don't believe it should be this expensive? thanks

Answer
Deb,

Good for you for rescuing your pets! I myself also have 3 rescue dogs.

As for the vet visits - $1000 seems absolutely outrageous. You must have one expensive veterinarian! Ideally, a dog would receive a general wellness exam from a veterinarian every 6 months - but this should only cost about $30 per dog. At the very most, I've never heard of a vet clinic charging over $50 for an exam, but it's usually closer to $30. And I've also never heard of a check up and vaccines (and usually a heartworm test) costing over $150 for one dog. And unless your dogs are around 'stranger dogs' - if you visit dog parks, etc., they do NOT need to be vaccinated every year! Most clinics overvaccinate, and this is because the bulk of a clinic's income comes from vaccines. There is a big movement in the American Animal Hospital Association to vaccinate less as a result of recent studies that are showing vaccines to hold for at least 3 years in the immune system of an adult dog. Puppies need boosters every 3 weeks until they reach 4 months - at which point they should receive their last Distemper-combo (usually a DHLPP or DHLPP-C) and their first Rabies. One year after that, they should have another Distemper and another Rabies. From that point - they only need to be vaccinated every 3 years. Any more than that will overinnoculate them. If your city has laws requiring they be done every year, you can avoid this by having a veterinarian perform a titer test on your dogs. The titer test will prove that the dog still has the vaccines in its system. SO.... an adult dog needs a check-up every 6 months, and vaccines every 3 years.  Vaccinating less should help keep your cost down! The only other veterinary care they absolutely need is heartworm prevention like Heartgard (and this is available in generic form - a product called Iverheart that would cost about $60 a year per dog), and Frontline is always beneficial during the summer to avoid flea infestations and tick-borne diseases.

Hope this helps!

Ashley