The vaccine is against Leptospirose, an infection. It needs to be administered in 2 doses, 3 to 4 weeks apart.
Am wondering how many dog owners have decided to have their dogs immunized for this as well.
We have made an appointment for the dogs for their annual vaccination and the vet asked us if we wanted the Lepto 6 vaccine as well. It is relatively new.
Leptospirosis is often carried by rats, and I understood it was part of the basic immunisation program, it is in the UK.
My first dog caught Leptospirosis and had to be put to sleep. It is a very nasty disease.
Wikipaedia:
Leptospirosis (also known as field fever , [[1]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-Mos2013-1) rat catcher's yellows , [[2]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-Mckay2001-2) and pretibial fever [[3]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-Andrews-3) among others names) is an infection caused by bacteria of the Leptospira type. Symptoms can range from none to mild such as headaches , muscles pains, and fevers to severe with bleeding from the lungs or meningitis . [[4]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-AFP2010-4) [[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-McB2005-5) If the infection causes the person to turn yellow , have kidney failure and bleeding it is then known as Weil's disease . [[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-McB2005-5) If it causes lots of bleeding from the lungs it is known as severe pulmonary haemorrhage syndrome . [[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-McB2005-5)
There are ten different types of Leptospira that cause disease in humans. [[6]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-Center2005-6) It is transmitted by both wild and domestic animals. [[5]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-McB2005-5) The most common animals that spread the disease are rodents . [[7]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptospirosis#cite_note-Was2013-7) I
The ship's dog nearly died from leptospirosis 3.5 years ago. I understood there were too many types of bacteria that cause it for a vaccine to be viable?
We had Bella vaccinated with this last year with her annual jabs, our vet suggested so as she does tend to drink from the streams and lakes and it has been found in the area. rather safe than sorry
Lily just had her first stage of the vaccine today, she goes back in 3 weeks for the second. I'm going to sound stupid, but in a dog without problems receiving vaccines, etc, is there a downside in having the vaccination?
Erm, no.
Cue rabid anti-vaxxers.....
My two are just about to go back for their second injection. They were up-to-date on their standard UK injections, which include leptospirosis, but the older vaccine that they received only protects against five strains so the vet recommended the new version which protects against six strains (hence the name).
Neither had any ill effects from the first jab.
And as the owner of an epileptic dog who can no longer be vacc'd, may I add a huge 'thank you, from the bottom of my heart' to all the owners who continue to vaccinate their healthy dogs.
(Mindful of herd immunity, my healthy dogs will always be fully vacc'd.)
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I think we will go ahead with it then. Better safe than sorry.
We have just switched vets and are so far very pleased. We were given an information sheet on the Lepto 6 and told we could decide on the day.
One of the nastiest things about leptospirosis in animals is that it skips the cold/flu stage where it's normally caught in humans. Which means it often only manifests once organ failure commences. If the jab prevents Tierspital ICU and 3 lots of dialysis, then JFDI is my view
Appropriate turn of phrase there, sir.
Nellie had without side effects. Better protected.
Lily seems to be fine too. The vet also gave her the squirt up the nose thing. Hope your pups are ok too, Mrs D.
All are well, thanks. First shots a few weeks ago included the nasal immunization (for kennel cough) and the dogs were not too happy about that.
Yesterday's visit was for the Lepto 6.
So now we are all done. (the rabies vaccination was not due yet).
The vet checked to see that the microchips are all in place and can be scanned.
We also got a "group discount" for having 3 dogs. Some veterinarians do this. Ours did even though we never asked.
In case anyone is interested, this is the veterinary clinic where we take our dogs now. It is in Oberhofen, PLZ 5273, about 10 minutes from our house. The farmer over the road recommended them to me.
In addition to German, they have doctors who speak French and English.
I have vaccinated my dog with lepto 6. in the combination vaccine there are only 4 serovares covered, two of those serovars that cause a severe case of leptospirosis are not included in the combination vaccine. lepto 6 includes the two serovars that have been identified as the main cause for the severe leptospirosis here in switzerland. I can only recommend lepto 6.
last year they had a clinical research study going on with leptospirosis here at the animal hospital and they had great results. it is highly recommended. leptospirosis is fairly common in CH. Do never let your dogs drink from water ponds unless the water is moving (fountain). special attention is advised in fall and spring!
Bringing this back up, because after discussion with my vet I decided to have Hooligan vaccinated against Lepto this year, using the Lepto 6 vaccine.
As per my earlier post Hooligan has epilepsy which puts her in the 'compromised' category - so we had to stop vaccinating her some years ago.
But that decision shouldn't be static. Each year we review the incidence of the various diseases and weigh the consequences of disease against Hooligan's own 'risk profile' and current health.
Hooligan is still a very active dog who lives and hikes in areas where there have been Lepto cases reported (this year is expected to be particularly bad), our garden is full of mice (rodent urine is a vector) - and she has been seizure-free for a good long time now (knock wood!). All in all, this year I felt that the benefit of having her vacc'd against Lepto far outweighs the risk. Lepto is a horrible disease, sadly often fatal.
So just wanted to say to all whose dogs are 'compromised' as Hooligan is - it's a good idea to have regular discussions with your vet, in light of current lepto incidence in your particular area and in light of your dog's individual health factors.
By the way, Hooligan has shown no signs of adverse reaction.
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Young Heffalump gets vaccinated regularly as a matter of course. With the ancient Belltie we do a similar review as to benefits/risks for his individual situation.
I've been doing a lot of research on dog vaccines and protocols, and especially of Lepto vaccines.
I've just started a thread on lepto vaccines at www.englishforum.ch/pet-corner/270504-lepto-6-adverse-reactions-lepto-vaccines-dogs.html
The internet is full of images of the vaccine bottle labels that they put on the dog's vaccination record. Labels for Lepto, Lepto 4, DHPPi and rabies. But I've not seen an image anywhere of the Nobivac L6 label.
Would like to see an example of Nobivac L6 if anyone would care to share it.
May I ask why?
What is the goal of your research?
Who are you doing this research for?
(When asking strangers on t'internet for a favor, it helps your response rate to give people some idea of how the information they give you will be used. This is even more important for a new user, without much 'background' on the forum.)
Meloncollie, if you take a look at my thread linked above you'll see that I have one dead dog and one affected dog from Lepto vaccines. You'll also see that I have a petition for Europe to suspend Lepto 4 vaccines until research is conducted into the high number of adverse reactions to L4.
With regards to Nobivac L6, Switzerland is the only country that I'm aware of that has authorised this vaccine. There is no example of the label on the internet, suggesting minimal adverse reaction. And I'd like to see what the label looks like.
Feel free to join us on Facebook where many strangers discuss vaccines. Just type in Nobivac 😏
Well my two dogs got the new L6 vaccine, including my tiny 2.5kg pinscher, and they showed absolutely zero adverse reaction to it.
Sorry to hear about your dog though. Similarly to human vaccines, in some very very rare cases the consequences can be dreadful.