Is a dog with an autoimmune disease at risk from vaccinated dogs?

[Angela Casstles]

Hi please can you tell me if it's safe to have your dog with an autoimmune disease in the same house as a puppy recently vaccinated? If it is ok are there any special precautions you should follow? Many thanks.

[Catherine]

My AIHA dog was still on medication when we got a puppy (although obviously she was over the worst and had been on the road to recovery for some months). But just to be on the safe side, when our puppy was having vaccinations we had a separate part of the garden for the puppy to urinate and defecate in and did not encourage too much closeness with the AIHA dog for a few days afterwards.

I would also make sure the dog with the autoimmune disease does not get stressed by the puppy.

[Angela Casstles]

Thank you Catherine, that's a really great idea. So just really good hygiene around the toilet area, how long did you do it for? Many Thanks for your help and advice.👍🏻😀

[Catherine]

My puppy had her vaccinations in 2 lots so we did it for a few days each time. But the vaccination could be a problem for a bit longer.

We also did it when my puppy was wormed as well.

[Jo CIMDA]

Hi

If a dog has been vaccinated as an adult or after the age of sixteen weeks, when the maternal antibodies have left the body, they should be immune to the core diseases Parvovirus, hepatitis and distemper, probably for their lifetime. 

These live attenuated vaccine are modified and therefore are not an infective virus. Any encounter such as shedding non-infective virus from vaccination or the virus within the dog's environment will not cause the disease in a protected, vaccinated adult. 

You can always have an antibody titre test done and this will confirm that the dog has adequate immunity to the core diseases. 

Check out the WSAVA vaccination Guidelines.  http://www.wsava.org/guidelines/vaccination-guidelines  It really is the best guide and is much more accurate and informative than most vets information.

A problem from viral shedding is very rare but it might occur in unvaccinated pups who mix with pups that have just been vaccinated.

Many years ago a breeder, who I spoke to, had half of her litter vaccinated but not the other half.  Within 10 days the unvaccinated pups came down with parvovirus.  This case was reported to the Veterinary Medicines Directorate.

Jo