Morning low was 17 Currently it's 19 High may be 31...but I'm starting to doubt it..brrrr! This cold won't last..will be near 60 for the next few days and still no sign of any moisture. :(

Vet school- 3rd year. I have next Spring to go for classes and then a year of clinical rotations then DONE! And oddly enough, we just had a series of lectures on tick-born infectious diseases and vaccination. You guys always make my education so practical! As far as what my school recommends, the 6th author on the AAHA Canine Vaccine Guidelines is Dr. Ford (linked below), who gave us the vaccination lecture. Needless to say, they do as he says. He knows his vaccine-related stuff. Lyme vaccine is recommended only for dogs who have a high risk of getting infected. There are 2 types of vaccines available- the killed whole bacterin and the rLyme (recombinant) OpsA vaccine. I personally would use the rLyme vaccine because it does not require an adjuvent therefore carries less risk of vaccine adverse reaction. The duration of immunity for either Lyme vaccine is 1 year, so annual boosters are recommended prior to the start of tick season in your area (if there is one- here it's a year-round deal). As far as tick control, I have heard problems with overseas products. Merial does not support products purchased from non-vet sources. I don't think the problem is that the product is made in Australia; I think the problem is that it is easier to be a fake company and ship fake products routed through Australia. Australia has Frontline dosed in kilograms instead of pounds and as far as I know, that is the only difference. Saving money is good, but if your dog ends up with a tick-born infection I don't think you'll have saved anything. If your vet is too expensive, I'd use a reputable online company, such as one that requires a prescription for Rx products. But I would steer clear of products from overseas. That's how companies avoid prosecution in the US for selling fake products. For my own dogs, I know there is Lyme Disease in my area, but it is not that prevalent. I do not vaccinate for it. I vaccinted when I lived in MD which has a much higher prevalence before I started using Frontline. Once I started Frontline, I stopped vaccinating for Lyme even there. Hope that helps a bit... Here is a link that might be useful: AAHA Canine Vaccine Guidelines

I'd ask the vet about the vaccine. Everyone uses different combinations. I have no idea what the D is, but the rest should be rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia. Together they make up the common URI viruses in cats, and are also known collectively as feline distemper vaccine. But I'm not aware of any feline vaccination that starts with a D. May be whatever brand they use, so it's best to call. There's a one time ear mite treatment called Acaraxx, but you have to get it from the vet. If they gave this treatment then there is no reason to do more. Great stuff, just high dose topical ivermectin.

Marygailv, I suppose it's possible that it varies by state, but the pharmacists I spoke to in PA said no prescription is necessary. My insurance company doesn't care who administers the shot; they'll charge me $45 no matter what. Here's the article I wrote, for anyone who's interested. A lot of it concerns availability at our local pharmacies, though. Shingles Vaccine Available Locally One thing most of us know about shingles is that we don't want to get it. Shingles--an infection caused by the same virus (varicella zoster) that gives us chicken pox--is painful. It's easy to understand why, as the virus attacks nerves directly. After a case of chicken pox, the virus remains in nerve tissue near the spinal cord and brain. Many years later, the virus may reactivate as shingles. Everyone who has had chicken pox--and 90 percent of Americans over the age of 15 are in this category--are at risk for getting shingles later in life. This risk is increased in those whose immune systems are weakened by advancing age, extreme stress, diseases such as cancer, or medications like chemotherapy and steroids. Early symptoms of shingles include pain and tingling or itching, usually located on one side of the body or face. Blisters, sometimes covering a large area, appear 1 to 14 days after the onset of the early symptoms.The rash and pain from shingles usually lasts about a month. But for some, the pain lingers on. People with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), the most common complication of shingles, can have pain that hangs on for months, sometimes years, after the shingles rash has healed. Possible prevention There is no cure for shingles, but antiviral medicines can reduce the severity and duration of an attack. These include acyclovir, valacyclovir, and famcyclovir. With all of them, the earlier in the illness they are started, the more effective they will be. But prevention is also possible for some: People over the age of 50 can reduce their chances of getting shingles by getting Zostavax, the shingles vaccine. The vaccine is said to cut one's risk of shingles in half. It also cut the risk of PHN by two-thirds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone in the approved group get a single dose of Zostavax, even if they already had shingles. Hard to find The shingles vaccine was originally approved for people aged 60 and over, but in March 2011 the approved age was lowered to 50. Two issues have kept the vaccine from becoming as widely used as the medical community anticipated when it was first approved in 2006: availability and cost. Zostavax can be hard to find. For one thing, it is frozen and must be kept frozen until it is administered. Some pharmacies aren't equipped to keep it at the required 5 degrees F. For another, pharmacies have reported difficulty in obtaining supplies of the vaccine from its manufacturer, Merck. We spoke with pharmacist Bob McGowan at the K-Mart Pharmacy, who told us the Zostavax vaccine is always hard to obtain. He orders it, but can never be certain when it will arrive. His pharmacy is out of the vaccine right now, but hopes to get it soon. When they do have it, they are able to administer the shot to customers in the store. Wal-Mart doesn't carry the vaccine in their pharmacy, but pharmacist Mike Harris told us they're strongly considering it. He has a personal interest in shingles prevention, as a member of his extended family lost the sight in one eye after contracting the disease. Stephens Pharmacy carries the shingles vaccine, but doesn't administer it. That will change soon, according to pharmacist Wayne Stephens, who said they're working on becoming certified to give the shots. Stephens' biggest concern regarding the shingles vaccine is its availability. He explained that Merck supplies it irregularly. Pharmacies have been likely to receive more in the winter than during the other seasons. Wayne Stephens said his store has a waiting list of 50 people hoping to get the shingles vaccine; this is the third waiting list Stephens Pharmacy has had this year. Rite-Aid carries the vaccine and administers it. At this writing, they have it in stock. Pharmacist Mike Vaccaro of the Vaccaro Pharmacy tries to keep the vaccine in stock, and also administers it. His pharmacy presently has some, but he said availability has been an issue for the past 18 months or so. He reports an approximate three-month lag between ordering Zotavax and receiving it. His pharmacy keeps a waiting list when necessary. Cost The cost of Zostavax is a factor, too. Locally, the average price for the shot can run over $200. Insurance plans vary as to how much of this, if any, they will cover. Medicare recipients should check with their prescription Part D insurer to find out what their plan will pay. For those over 50, the shingles vaccine seems like an option worth considering.