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Nomograph Testing

When is the best time to vaccinate your litter of puppies? There is not one hard and fast rule for when to vaccinate a litter of puppies.  The answer is “It depends”! Nomograph testing is a method of measuring your bitch’s antibody level to Parvovirus and Distemper.  We send a blood sample to Dr Ronald Schultz at the University of Wisconsin, where he can test and interpret that specific bitch’s antibody level and what she will pass along to her puppies.  This in turn is used to cage when both the initial and final vaccine in the series should be administered to assure a proper immune response has been achieved.  If a bitch has a high Parvo and Distemper titer herself, her puppies might not need to be vaccinated as early, but may need a vaccine even after 16 weeks of age.  This allows a more thorough evaluation of your specific litter in a simple, inexpensive method.  There are specific windows of time when a nomograph is most accurate and we can discuss this option with You at your pre-breeding exam.