If a horse is bought at a sale or an auction and his vaccination history is unknown, what is the best approach for administering routine shots? Should he be given boosters, assuming he has been vaccinated previously? Or should he be given shots as if he has no vaccination history at all? Do titers need to be pulled to see what, if any, diseases he is immune to? These are all important questions that can greatly affect a horse's health and safety.
It's best to treat a horse with no vaccination history as if he has never received any vaccines, administering both shots and their routine boosters, reports EQUUS magazine. Administering additional doses of most vaccines is not harmful, with one exception: The strangles vaccine.
In rare instances, horses that have had strangles before, or those that have been repeatedly vaccinated for strangles, may develop a potentially serious complication if administered the vaccine again: purpura hemorrhagica. This abnormal reaction is when the blood vessels of the head, legs and abdomen swell.
Owners of horses with unknown vaccination history would be wise to draw a titer to see if the horse has antibodies to the organism that causes strangles before administering the vaccine.
Read more at EQUUS magazine.
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