Vaccinating puppy?

Question

Is it safe to buy dog vaccinations in store instead of having the vet give them their shots?

Thank you for all the great answers. I really do not want to vaccinate her myself, and in the end will probably end up taking her to the vet, but money is kind of tight at the moment... Of course her health is one of my main priorities so she will definately have her shots :)

Answer 1

to be safe i would take them to the vet.

Answer 2

Some places do not store their vaccines the proper way they should be... thus making them ineffective. I'm a Vet Tech and I've seen people bring in their dogs that end up having Parvo (contagious and not good), they got their vaccines at a feed store or such. It's better just to get them done at by a Vet or at an Animal Hospital.

Answer 3

The vaccines are safe, but they are hard to administer. You need to find the correct vein and know exactly when and where to give them. If a vein is punctured or the shot is inserted incorrectly, there is a change that the vaccine didn't go in or of internal/external bleeding.

The safest way, especially for a puppy, is to go to the vet. They are well trained.
The best place to go is a quality vet who you know will treat your puppy with respect and are well trained.
Avoid chains. They tend to hire vets with not as much experience and have high prices.

A lot of the puppy shots in the store are meant for experienced breeders who know how to give them and have more than one puppy.

Good luck!

Answer 4

The medications you buy at the stores may have sat on the shelf, in the back of the store or even in a warehouse for a few months or more.The medicine we get at a vet. may be old but not likely because they know you will come back on them if there is a problem.You also know that the vet knows exactly how much med to give 'cause he can see how small your baby is. It is worth the extra money to know the puppy is getting professional care. I would not buy a shot off the shelf to give to my son so I would not for my pup either.

Answer 5

It depends. There are different brands. Different companies have different standards for testing how good the vaccine works. Vaccines need to be stored properly. Does the store have a good reputation for handling their vaccines correctly? They arrive on ice and are stored at the correct temperature? Delivered over night directly from the company? The vaccine will only be as good as how it is handled and who makes it. I think OTC vaccines are questionable. Better to go to a low cost clinic or vet to be safe.

Answer 6

The vaccines are safe if you buy them from a drug store but you need to be aware that they need to be kept refrigerated at all times. That means taking a cooler with you when you go to buy them to get them home again. Also, you need to be skilled at giving the vaccination. And you most definitely can't skip the regular exams by the vet that all dogs need.

Answer 7

Yes, as long as they are refrigerated - and are not outdated. In most states, you can legally administer all immunizations to your dog or cat except for rabies. There are online sources where you can order vaccinations direct from a vet supply company as well as other pet products. KVVet Supply and Revival Animal Health are two companies I've done business with for many years.

Answer 8

Not really. The stores where I live don't know how to keep vaccines and if they aren't kept cold tehy go bad and just like giving the pup a dose of sterile water.Also you need to watchfor a bad reaction to teh vaccine.
Do you know how to keep teh vaccine until it is used??

I would not do it it isn't safe and where I live it isn't accepted bu teh vets and if you need to leave tehy need to get tehm all over again and ends up costing twice to three times more than normal.

so let teh vet do they know what they are doing.

Answer 9

you should really take your puppy to the vet for it's shots, it's better to be safe than sorry.