"If you accidentally miss a scheduled three week vaccine booster, you should go to your veterinarian’s office as soon as you can to get back on schedule."

It's my understanding that the effectiveness of the initial vaccine drops of quickly. Hence, it's important to get the booster at the recommended time.

Is that true and, if so, if the booster is fairly late, should it be considered an initial vaccine with a booster at the appropriate time?

It depends on the vaccine being used. If it is a booster for a puppy core vaccination between 8-16 weeks, they series will be continued, but not necessarily started over.
In general, if it is the initial administration of a vaccination, and the doses are more than 6 weeks apart in total, the vaccine series should be started over.

it does not take a "series" to produce immunity, the article explains very well why the initial puppy shots are given every few weeks, it's because of the maternal antibodies that will make vaccination ineffective if they are still present. If a puppy would never get any shots and vaccination wouldn't be started until the pup is 16 weeks or older, it doesn't need a series, all it needs is one shot to produce immunity. Once a dog has antibodies, any further vaccination for the same disease will not create more immunity. I really wonder why veterinarians never recommend doing a titer a few weeks after vaccination was done to confirm that the dog had an adequate response. Well, I shouldn't say never, I recently had a young vet suggest it, I thought "wow, somebody who understands how this works".

Thank you for your comment. There is some truth to your comment, but it is not completely accurate. As I wrote the response to you, I realized that I had written an entire blog post. So, the answer to your comment will be this week's blog.

Thanks for the inspiration!!

What happened? I'm gone for three weeks and everything has changed? Dr R is now vetbehdoc? And if you're a vet aren’t you also a doc already? Just kidding!!!!!

My dog Rock J collapsed going down the stairs and so I have been fretting on him for the past month. About six months ago he was wobbling, like he had a couple of drinks so I asked my vet to check it out, he did the paw test and found nothing wrong so he told me, maybe Rock is just a big goofy dog and walks funny.

Guess what? Wobbling can be a symptom of hip dysplasia. I feel my doctor should have caught that.
So when Rock collapsed I took him in to my vets again and they diagnosed him with hip dysplasia and discharged him without any instructions on his after care. Yes he has all the drugs but right now I am really not happy with my vet, in fact I am very angry with him and the three lady vets there too.

At my work when the analysts and project directors and all the big mukity mucks launch a technical project sometimes it does not go off too smoothly. Everyone blusters and no one wants to accept fault. So my boss will often call me in to sort out what the problem is and the fix needed. What I do then is to gather all the facts and symptoms of the problem. I draw no conclusions in the beginning; I only consider possibilities and then test and link each fact until it leads me to the actual problem and solution. So far I have never been wrong when I reveal the cause.

I expect the same from my doctors. It seems they take one theory, test for that and if it does not fit they shrug and say it is a goofy dog.

I consider myself a great client, I do every test they suggest, I pay all my bills, I learn as much as I can about what the doctors have discussed with me, I take my dogs in as soon as I see something different or wrong, I follow their directions with medications etc. In return I expect attention and thought paid to my dog’s medical problems. I feel alone and afloat, it is hard because I can’t find much out there, either blogs about hip dysplasia (there are lots of web sites that want to sell potions) but not much coming from real owners that have helped their pet. I am trying to figure out my next step. I really don’t want to leave my vets because we have worked together for awhile and while I have kind of lost trust at least they are not an unknown.
Sorry to put this here but I have not really talked much about it yet and I am at the point where it is time to get busy and make a decision with these knuckle heads.

How distressing to hear that Rock J is having problems!

Please keep us in the loop and let us know how he (and you!) is doing.

but thats the problem Old Broad, Rock has no recovery plan. I have four vets and not one has given any indication of giving a damn, they did not tell me to build a ramp or elevate his food dish or get a soft bed for him. No excercise plan, no supplimet suggestions...nothing. How can Rock get better if the plan is to do nothing? Do I have to hire another vet to look at these vets? This is not the time to abandon Rock, it is the time to step up for Rocky J!

Have you considered having a specialist check him out?

I Googled Hip Dysplasia in dogs and got a lot of results. Since your regular vets are unresponsive (sounds like that's unusual), have you thought of going back or calling armed with lots of information?

Hi Old Broad,
Yes I googled it too, I went to the sites and discovered many are selling you something, a book or a supplement. There is very little written on an actual first hand recovery plan. It is basic info, nsaids, exercise, surgery. The problem is, for a lay person like myself It is easy to misunderstand what I'm reading. Its like if you had a cold and entered the symptoms in google. By the time your done reading it is possible to be convinced you have the plague. I will go to a specialist like you said. I was just shocked when Rock became crippled like that, it tears me apart and then to have really nothing to go on from my vets just made me tailspin. Thank you so much for your support.

Hi!!
Glad that you are back. Sorry that Rock J isn't feeling well.

Maybe I can help out?

The treatments are many for hip dysplasia.

First, you can go see an orthopedic surgeon. They are the pain specialists in veterinary medicine. They can do a good orthopedic and neurologic examination. You can find one at http://www.acvs.org/. When my dog was diagnosed with hip dysplasia, I went to a surgeon and I am a vet.

Second, your dog could also have a neurologic problem. A surgeon could figure that out for you or at least get you started.

I think that based on what you wrote, your veterinarians would like to hear how you feel. I appreciate constructive criticism. It usually changes how I do things.

Your treatments include: pain relievers, supplements, weight loss, physical therapy, acupuncture, surgery and massage therapy. Lots of options.

Hope that helps a little at least.

Thank you Dr Radosta. I had not even thought of a surgeon. At this point I don’t want Rock to have surgery so that’s why I never thought about it. But I am thinking they offer other treatments beside surgery? (I was thinking a rehab first) But now that I know the surgeon is the place to start I feel very comfortable doing that. Thank you so much, whew I feel better, it is important for me to know what I need to do. Yes I know I need to speak to my vets and let them know as a patient it is important we cover outpatient treatment (environment, exercise, suppliemts, referals and what to expect as the disease progresses and how to handle setbacks and flareups)

Glad I could help! Do you want me to write next week's blog on hip dysplasia and all of the possible treatments?

I am so glad that you are going to see a surgeon. I am concerned that you mentioned that RockJ also had arthritis around his spine. This is different than hip dysplasia. He may also have neurologic disease. A surgeon can sort this out. Be sure to bring all of your x-rays and medical records to the appointment. Talk to friends and your veterinarian to find a good surgeon.

Wobbly can mean lots of things. Drunken walking is generally neurologic, but to be weak and wobbly can be either neurologic or orthopedic because the muscles around the hip atrophy with disuse due to pain in the hips and the muscles of the back become tight as the body starts to try to compensate. Then, the dog will shift weight to the forelimbs. If you are unlucky, as my dog Sweetie was, and your dog has a forelimb issue as well, the dog can become very weak causing this wobbly gait or causing the dog to go down.

There is a lot of overlap between neurology and orthopedics so a very thorough exam is really a must. There is no law that says that your dog can only have a problem with one body system.

The surgeon will sort it out for you.

Dear Dr Radosta, I would really appreciate it if you could write about hip dysplasia and treatment, as long as it does not get you into trouble with management here. Poor Sweetie, that is terrible to have issues with all four limbs.Rock does fall sometimes on the floor and then I curse myself for not helping him off the couch or bed. I also built a ramp over the stairs and elevated his food bowl. When he was eating ( after his flare up) he would only eat half or a small part of his food so I bought an elevated food dish, now he finishes his food. I actually took his first elevated bowl away when he bloated last year.

As for surgeons , I have a lot of choices, I have the animal medical center in NY ( Lady Astor told her assistants if she ever needed to go to the hospital take her to the animal medical center because they are the best hospital in NY)I have garden State vets ( they are the ones that saved Patrick the pittbull) and are now in a custody battle over patrick with the HSUS. Rock went to the court appearance of Patrick's abuser with me when we protested,so maybe we will go there. I have Penn State and Cornell near me, so there are lots of choices.

how was Rocky's hip dysplasia diagnosed? I wouldn't think of "wobbling" and "collapsing" as typical symptoms for hip dysplasia.

Hi ASD Marlene,
I only found out after the fact that when a dog has a shaky stance or unsteady gait it can be a symptom of hip dysplasia. I did google shakey, wobble and all the words when this first started happening and nothing for hip problems came up. After I started reading about it then I read a few accounts where this wobble was noticed. There was other evidence as well. Rock had two x-rays preformed at different times ( for different problems)and the vets commented he had lots of arthritis along his spine. He is a big dog 140lbs plus, he is an older dog, so an unsteady walk should not be conclusive but add the other factors and it is surprising they never thought of it. To diagnose it they sedated him and took 25 radiographs of the hips and legs in different positions.