I had already decided to hold off on the vaccine. Last week my veterinarian's office, a very large one in my area of town, sent out an email telling the clientele that they were not recommending the vaccine. See the message at the end of this email. Today on TV a report, a clinic about 3 miles away is recommending the vaccine. They interviewed a CLIENT, not a VET (grrrr) and she states the flu is rampant in the area with many confirmed cases. I wish the news would be more responsible about reporting and use verifiable sources, like a veterinarian!
One thing to note: our dogs' veterinarian has a doggie day camp and boarding facility on the premises and they don't even recommend it for boarding, yet.
I am curious about the free monitoring service they are offering--hope we never need to use it.
Unfortunately my Toby is in the clinic for some other issues and I will ask his veterinarian today what the true story is about the flu being in our area.
Here is the email they sent:
Recently, local print and television media have brought attention to canine influenza (H3N8). **** would like to take this opportunity to give our stance on vaccination and testing for canine influenza.
Although the vaccine is readily available to us, because the canine flu has not yet been identified in Dallas or Tarrant County, and the vaccine is so new, we are not currently recommending vaccination for the canine flu.
However, if you feel your pet has greater risk factors, travels to areas where the risk is greater, or is often in close quarters with dogs from other areas of the country we are happy to provide the vaccine to your pet.
Additionally, at ******* we are offering free surveillance testing for dogs that are showing respiratory symptoms and for dogs not yet showing symptoms but have had a known exposure to dog flu.
Canine flu is not transmissible to humans. Symptoms include:
•Runny nasal discharge
•Sneezing
•Coughing
•Fever
If you have any questions or would like additional information, feel free to call us: