Vaccine Spacing Response
We recently had someone complain about our vaccine spacing policies. Here is the response…
I am sorry to hear that you have had a disappointing experience at our clinic but your review is not entirely correct. Your dog was 4 WEEKES and two days overdue and you were also rude, swearing to the staff when they were trying to assist you.
While vaccination schedules can be frustrating for owners it is important that they are followed as per label instructions for the vaccine that your pet is receiving. We follow these for two reasons: 1) it is the only way to ensure that your pet will be protected from deadly disease 2) if there is a problem with the vaccine or if your pet gets sick despite the vaccine then the vaccine company will help with treatment and diagnosis. Also, it protects us because owners can get upset about their pet being sick despite being told that their animal was properly boostered and boarding kennels and boarder crossings depend on our word to ensure that the animals that they deal with are properly vaccinated. If your pet was not boostered properly and we said that it was then we are liable.
At our clinic we try and help clients make their vaccine schedules by 1) telling the owner that the animal will need a booster no later than 4 weeks 2) offering to make that appointment for them right then 3) calling to remind that the pet is due. Also, the vaccine is labeled as follows: a booster is required in two to three weeks. We already extend this period to four weeks to try and accommodate our clients which we were told by the vaccine’s technical veterinarian that we could do. However, any period after the four weeks may result in an insufficient boostering effect. The immune system, when it is first introduced to a vaccine, needs a little reminder and if this reminder (i.e. booster) does not happen soon enough the white cells will forget again. It is important that animals are boostered properly in order to prevent illness.
I am also sorry to hear that you feel we are money grubbing. We simply follow the rules set out by the vaccine company and basic biology of the immune system. At our clinic we attempt to keep costs as low as possible to make sure that more people can afford pet care and I think that if you did any price comparison you would find that we are one of the least expensive clinics on the entire island.
As a side note, while veterinarians have the same level of schooling as other professions such as lawyers, doctors and dentists, and incur the same costs to practice we do not get paid the same. It is the lowest paid profession of them all with most vets often taking decades to pay off their student loans. While pet care does cost money, the service and advice that you receive from your veterinarian is well worth the price and if you were to pay to see your own doctor or use the health care facilities in the province you would find that what we charge for our skills and services is well below that of comparable human care.
