Twice a year my dog gets the Botatella nasal vaccine, or whatever its called. The Doggie daycare place he goes to says they have to have to come there. Is this good or bad, cant be too bad i think cause he has never had the cough, I guess.
There is quite a bit of debate about Bordatella vaccines right now. First off, Bordatella is the primary agent that causes "kennel cough" type symptoms, but there are others infectious agents including mycoplasma, parainfluenza virus and the canine influenza virus that cause similar symptoms. The vaccinations will do nothing for preventing those infections. Second, there are anecdotal reports on "field" strains of Bordatella that have mutated, so the vaccine provides no immunity against these strains.
I personally wouldn't bother with the vaccination unless I had a dog that was in a "high risk" situation--ie one who was frequently boarded, went to groomers, doggy daycare, humane societies, exposure to new puppies, etc. The risk of a typical house dog being exposed to bordatella is relatively low.
The other thing to think about is just how effective intranasal vaccines are. The old thought is its "better" because it acts directly on the mucousal surface of the nasal tract---this is what I was taught in veterinary school. The problem is that now, the current thought is that that may not be the case. There is a more rapid initial response, but lasting immunity may not occur---making the every 6 months vaccination protocols too infrequent to be effective. The current thought is to initially give an intranasal vaccination, then booster with SQ vaccinations. This will result in a greater IgA response, which may or may not be greater immunity---there is debate on this one too becuase IgA antibody concentrations in the blood do not reflect mucosal antibodies.
The other big problem with intranasals adminstering the damned things. Unless the dog weighs 80 lbs and has a nose you can drive a bus in, you stand a very real chance of only getting about half of the vaccine into the dog on a good day---they'll just snort and blow it right back out. No one knows how effective this is on providing immunity.
I DO NOT recommend owners administering vaccinations. In my experience I've seen way more diseases with owner administered vaccines---especially parvo---than any other situation. Most vaccines have to have a strict cold chain. If that chain is broken, for example what you buy from Drs. Foster and Smith isn't packed correctly, then the vaccine is a waste of money. Its even worse if you pick it up off the shelf of the local feedstore. I've also seen some owners with no medical training who thinks that they can give vaccines cause some major fuckups with trying to give the vaccines, including vaccinating themselves and having to deal with a resultant finger abcess. Its just not a good idea unless you have at least a little bit of training on how to do it.
