Vaccines
Until fairly recently, vaccinating your pet annually was considered a safe practice for many devoted pet owners and veterinarians. The purpose of these vaccines is to protect our pets from viruses such as; parvo virus, feline leukemia, distemper, rabies, and others, which until recently was thought of as the only means of preventing these dangerous diseases. This sounds like a logical plan initially, however, a few vital questions must be answered.
Are Vaccines Effective?
Experts are now revealing that pets can actually retain immunity from initially modified live virus vaccines for up to seven years and more, exactly the way human beings do to their boosters. No scientific data exists that supports the manufacturer’s label directions to revaccinate annually! We must question why our human children do not require annual vaccines, yet our pets need several vaccines each year! Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital has done many studies that have led to the conclusion that when we vaccinate adult animals that were previously vaccinated with live virus vaccines (such as distemper and parvo virus), the animals' antibodies actually block the new vaccine! Neither their antibody levels nor memory cells are increased, thus providing no additional protection from the initial vaccine. This means that not only are annual boosters for parvo and distemper in most cases unnecessary, but more importantly, they put your pet in potential danger of serious adverse reactions that DO occur more than pet owners realize!!
Are Vaccines Safe?
Major veterinary colleges and many veterinarians question the risk of yearly vaccinations. However, most pet owners are unaware of the growing frequency of severe side effects from vaccines, ranging from allergic reactions to some serious health concerns. Some of these side effects are worse than the diseases we are aiming to prevent, such as Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia (a disease where a dog rejects its own blood) and sarcomas in cats. Less than 50% of dogs with Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia survive! Puppies and kittens are at even more of a risk with combination shots. When an animal is vaccinated, it is meant to introduce the disease to the body and subsequently the body is supposed to be able to fight off the disease by building an immunity to it. However, it becomes complicated with three or four way combination vaccines. For these vaccines, there is an introduction of three or four diseases into the animal's body at one time. The body can only fight one disease at a time and develop an immunity fairly easily for that particular disease. When injected with several diseases at once, the animal can begin to loose authority. When doing this to a young, immature, growing body, it can create a real problem. “With the use of multivalent (combination: 4 in 1, 6 in 1, etc.) Vaccines that are repeated year after year, the frequency and severity of these side – effects in our pets has increased dramatically.” Dr. Donna Starita Mehan
New Protocol!
As a result of these facts, the Colorado State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital has adopted a new program for how we vaccinate our pets. “Our adoption of this routine vaccination program is based on the lack of scientific evidence to support the current practice of annual vaccination and increasing documentation showing that over vaccinating has been associated with harmful side effects. Of particular note in this regard has been the association of autoimmune hemolytic anemia with vaccination in dogs and vaccine associated sarcomas in cats- both of which are often fatal.” They recommend that after the initial puppy and kitten series of shots, cats and dogs will be vaccinated one year later and every three years thereafter.
Other vaccines such as corona virus, leptospirosis, and lyme are considered unnecessary. The effectiveness of the Lyme disease vaccine is often questioned. Many veterinarians and educated breeders we have contacted, do not recommend vaccinating for these three diseases. The American Animal Hospital President, Michael Paul, DVM, stated, “The intent of the opinion paper is to encourage veterinarians to consider vaccination procedures as medical decisions and not automatic actions prompted by a calendar.”