# Lepto Vaccine



## Lfollweiler (May 17, 2018)

We recently moved to North Carolina. My new vet is recommending that my dog, Dash, (a 3 year old havanese) get the lepto vaccine because they have had cases of leptospirosis in dogs in this area. My breeded said that havanese have issues with the vaccine. I am wondering if maybe the vaccines have improved over the years and may now be safe for this breed. Does anyone have advise to give? Have any of your dogs had the vaccine? Any help would be appreciated.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

I fo not give Lepto vaccine to my dogs. Ask your vet what kinds of dogs are getting Lepto and in what situations? There ARE situations where Lepto is a big enough danger that the danger of the disease outweighs the dangers of the vaccine. For me, in my area, that is definitely not the case. And just that “there have been cases in the area” is not good enough for me. Were they Labradors or other hunting dogs, spending time out in the swamps? Were they “yard dogs” allowed to drink out of puddles on a regular basis? If those are the kinds of dogs that are getting Lepto, I would not be concerned about my well cared for Havanese in the least.

OTOH, one of my puppies went to live in Brooklyn NY, where I know Lepto is a problem in street rats, and they must walk their dog on the city streets on a regular basis. While I IN GENERAL advise people to be careful about Lepto vaccine, in the case of those puppy owners, I told them they needed to have a careful conversation with their trusted vet (that they have worked with for years) and make the best decision for THEIR puppy.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

If they would size the vaccines for different dog sizes, like they're doing with COVID vaccines for children, it probably wouldn't be so much of a worry.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

I have given Perry multiple lepto shots as part of the DHLPP vaccine. It wasn't a choice - we lived in Uganda for 4 years and it was a required annual shot (and then a vet gave him one when he didn't need it when he was supposed to get a bortadella vaccine because (after the fact) he said it was "the same thing" as bordatella - frustrating story!) so he's had it many times. He's never had any problem. I just made sure that he didn't get it at the same time as his rabies (spaced them a month apart) and had benadryl at hand just in case of any reaction (didn't need it). 

Now that we're in the US (for the moment) he hasn't gotten his booster. If we move somewhere where it's a problem and/or if it's required I will give it again.


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## Ltartof (Sep 17, 2018)

We have had bad reactions to this vaccine, but we live in a city with LOTS of rats... last time we got this vaccine, he had blood streaked diarrhea for 4 days. It was not good.. next time will do more work with our vet, and thinking about titers so we don't have to have it so often. But there is no question that we need it. Anyone have any ways to pre-treat?


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Ltartof said:


> We have had bad reactions to this vaccine, but we live in a city with LOTS of rats... last time we got this vaccine, he had blood streaked diarrhea for 4 days. It was not good.. next time will do more work with our vet, and thinking about titers so we don't have to have it so often. But there is no question that we need it. Anyone have any ways to pre-treat?


You need to work with your vet on that...


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