With all the controversy over "human" vaccinations, does anyone have any thoughts on the benefits or harmfulness of dog vaccinations?  I'd love to hear from Dr. Karen on this subject.

personally i haven't vaccinated my cat as he's indoors all the time and he's doing just fine even though the vet tried to scare me into getting him vaccinated.. then again i waccinated my dog when he was a puppy, against rabies because that's a legal requirement, and against some of the more serious diseases that exist in the area where we live and from which the dog could die. but i didn't vaccinate against non-life threatening diseases and I i believe that the same goes for dogs as for animals: that the immune system gets over burdened by all the vaccinations that we are ''supposed'' to get.  

also, i read an article about a year ago in which a vet explained that the antibodies of vaccinations still work in the body for years after the vaccination, meaning that it's not neccessary to get the yearly list of vaccines. maybe more in the direction of every 3 or 4 years..

personally i'm vaccinating yearly only against rabies because i have to, and then only the more serious diseases that my dog could actually get outside in the neighborhood (every 3 years).

hope that this helped you at least a little bit.

Great you are thinking about this topic, Michelle. Animal vaccines do not "wear out," as some vets may lead you to believe. While we certainly want our pets protected against disease, there's a BIG difference between being protected, vs. toxic from vaccines. After "puppy or kitten" vaccines, animals normally carry immunologic protection for life (just as we do). You and I don't go for annual polio boosters, nor should you take your pet for annual vaccines, in my opinion. You should take your pet for annual (I recommend twice a year) wellness visits and during these exams, you can have your pet's immunologic repsonse to vaccines measured (this is called a "vaccine titer test"). Although there are all sorts of questions we can discuss about titers (which type of titer, IFA vs. HA vs. serology); the goal is to assess risks vs. benefits of all vaccines (most of them being risks). Measuring your pets immunologic response to vaccines (running titers) is one safe way to give you peace of mind about allowing your dog to go to dog parks, etc. without automatically giving multiple vaccines.

Rabies vaccines are required by law. There is an approved 1 year and 3 year rabies. They are the same product. Please ask for the 3 year vaccine, if you opt to vaccinate your dog against rabies. I also recommend you consider finding a holistic vet that will provide you with the homeopathic rabies vaccine detox, called Lyssin.

Indoor housecats should not be vaccinated annually, especially if they never go outside or have access to other cats (potentially exposing them to infectious disease). I believe this is one of the main reasons the overall health of our feline patients is deteriorating...the 10 lb. housecat receives the same vaccine as the 400 lb. lion....sad and scary.  I have a great video on this subject, coming soon. Stay tuned!

I am SO grateful to you, Dr. Becker, for standing up in the face of 'convention' and acting/speaking out on behalf of what is truly benevolent and responsible towards our pets.

Thank you for your insight!  I'll have to do some looking into holistic vets in our area.  We are new to the area and frankly have always stayed away from vets in general.  We've given our dog his shots at about a yr old by a friend who has hunting dogs and had access to the vaccines.  Other than that, we've stayed away and haven't given shots.  We might not be able to get away with it forever though.

I'm wondering when it is recommended to give teh vaccine detox, Lyssin; before, during or after the vaccine.  Our dog is an indoor dog and does not go to dog parks and only occassionally has contact with other dogs in our extended family during holidays.  So, I'm not really concerned too much.  However, we have a lot of ticks in our new area and that worries me some.  My hubby is not as concerned about it, thinking that the meds would be worse for our dog's immune system.  We've tried some sprays and the one made our dog aggressive and just not himself.  A "natural" spray that we used didn't seem to keep the ticks away at all.

I guess I've gotten off topic here.  Anyway, thank you again.

Hi Michelle C_1 - You expressed a concern regarding ticks in your area.  I know this thread is about vaccinations so I apologize if this reply is off topic. We have had terrific results with a pest and parasite solution given to us by our holisitic vet about 12-15 years ago.  We only infrequently actually "bathe" our dogs and the only shampoo we ever use is Murphy's oil soap. (Yep, you read that right).  The oils in the soap really help keep their skin moisturized and it rinses much easier than the commercial shampoos and conditioners we had tried before.  Right at the beginning of tick and flea season, we add several drops of tea tree, eucalyptus and lemon grass oils to the Murphy's and bath them with that solution. We also keep a spray bottle of those oils mixed with water handy and give them a quick spray and swipe with a brush every day or so as well.  We have not had a single tick or flea on one of our pooches in years - even when they've had a heavy weekend of field or den trials.  Their coats are always shiny and they smell great too.  We also feed only a raw diet and I know that contributes to the healthy coat too and makes them less attractive to pests and parasites as well.

Hi Michelle,

This is a great question and certainly one of the most explosive and important topics of the day in both human and veterinary medicine. Like so many thing we do, we have to weigh the benefits against the drawbacks. 

One of the big differences between vaccines in pets and those of children is the potential outcome of contracting the disease. Many of the childhood diseases against which our kids are vaccinated do not carry as high of a mortality risk as the diseases we face in veterinary medicine. Distemper in the dog, for instance, carries a 50% mortality rate at best. Distemper in young kittens and parvo in young dogs can also be quite lethal. Leukemia is almost invariably fatal once contracted by a cat. Rabies is not only 100% lethal but also a public health threat. So, the vaccination of the young against these diseases is important.

But, the big question is how often do we need to vaccinate after the first shots are given to puppies and kittens? The newest recommendations by the AAHA (American Animal Hospital) is that puppies and kittens receive their normal series followed by a booster at one year of age. They then receive distemper every three years, Rabies according to state regulations (every three years in most states), parvo (dogs) every three years and leukemia (cats) annually. Those are the core vaccines. All others, including Bordatella (kennel cough) are optional and should be given according to risk assessment. If pets are truly totally indoors, then the risk is obviously low. Just remember that the indoor pet is totally dependent upon vaccination for protection whereas the outdoor pet may boost its own immunity by coming in contact with the virus naturally.

The key to avoiding unwanted vaccine reactions and consequences in keeping that pet healthy in other regards. Just like so many children, a lot of our pets have become too unhealthy to take vaccinations. The typical commercial diets are doing catastrophic harm to countless pets, setting them up for the vaccine reactions we frequently see in practice, both immediate (allergic) and delayed ("autoimmune" disorders). The autism epidemic should be a huge wake-up call and represents a "perfect storm" situation in which the offspring of the fast food generation have become too unhealthy to take the same vaccines that others can take without such horrific consequences. The vaccines are clearly not the "cause" of all such events but they are major triggers for everything of which they have been accused. Therein lies the controversy- the difference between causes and triggers. Modified live vaccines can do both. 

Yes, both the man-engineered modified live viruses and the adjuvants (chemical potentiators) of the vaccines are wreaking havoc on these immune-challenged individuals in both human and veterinary medicine. We do still see vaccine-induced distemper in the dog and recently had more cases of vaccine-induced rabies. But the adjuvants can trigger pre-existing conditions in susceptible individuals (e.g. vaccine-induced sarcomas in the cat, which are actually caused by the feline sarcoma virus residing in the cat's body at the time of vaccination). We know which breeds of dogs are at greatest risk and we should get a major clue which children are at that same risk by examining their medical history and that of their parents. The most food allergic/food intolerant breeds are at the greatest risk for vaccine reactions, just as celiac children and those intolerant of dairy, soy and corn will be.

Our diets- both human and veterinary- are clearly the single biggest factors in the demise of our health. On this subject, Dr. Mercola and fully agree. Yes, environmental pollution and lifestyle play vital roles (and there is much room for improvement there) but if we were all consuming biologically appropriate, healthy, nutritionally complete diets, we would be able to handle those other stressors (including vaccines) much better than we currently do-  as would our pets. 

I hope this helps,

John

John B. Symes, DVM (aka "Dogtor J")

Linlin, thank you very much for sharing your personal experience.  I'm off to read more on the subject!

Thank you cynrick.  I got off topic myself!  I'm glad for your reply.  I'll give them a try.  The current spray I use which seems to not be working has neem oil, soybean oil, lemongrass oil, citronella oil, clove oil, sage extract, yellowdock root extract, fennel seed extract, rosemary leaf extract, eucalyptus extract, lemongrass extract, and grapefruit seed extract.

Maybe if I used the Murphy's oil soap first and then tried the spray it would be more effective.

Thanks again!

I agree our diet is the "single biggest factor in the demise of our health".  That being said, would we (human and pet alike) not be better off eating local, organic, species appropriate diet?  For dogs and cats wouldn't that be a raw diet?

In eating a clean healthy species appropriate diet wouldn't our immune system be ready to handle the viruses that come our way.

Is there actually a need/place for vaccines in our healthy natural lifestyle?

S.

Hi hsrams,

I certainly hope that day is coming- the day in which we are all healthy enough to handle all communicable diseases without the need for pre-immunization. I share your dream and do believe that it is possible, theoretically. But what do we do in the meantime- while the average diets of pets and humans are so immunologically damaging, as are our environments and lifestyles (lack of sleep and exercise)? As you mentioned, eating organic foods is a great step in the right direction but to many, that is unimportant, too expensive, or simply impossible in their minds. And to a celiac (gluten intolerant), organic wheat is just as damaging as the usual varieties, which is true of organic dairy, soy and corn once an individual is sensitized to these dietary proteins. So, it will require a major shift in our thinking and eating habits, which thankfully is well underway. Celiac awareness has skyrocketed in the recent past as have the prenatal effects of food intolerance. Our young are being born immunologically and developmentally challenged due to the inappropriate diets being consumed by mothers, including those of my veterinary patients.

Then there are our environments. A quick study of air and water pollution will reveal the immunological effects of the toxins they contain. The proper diet, sun exposure, and supplements will certainly help us deal with the carcinogens and free radicals that they provide but most individuals today will still be impaired by their exposure to car exhaust, factory emissions, fluoridated water, plastics, and other environmental challenges that we face. 

I hate to be so morbid but I am simply trying to inject some realism into both of our dreams. I know that humans and pets are capable of living much longer than they do and fighting off most of the diseases with which we are all faced. One of the purposes of disease in nature is natural selection, which ensures the survival of the fittest and the perpetuation of the species. But who wants to talk about that when dealing with the lives of human babies?

The diet plays a huge role in our overall health but I'm afraid we have much more work to do before we can look parents and veterinary clients in the eye and assure them that their children and pets are going to be perfectly fine without any immunizations at all. In the meantime, we need to work hard to make the recipients of those vaccines healthy enough to take them when we deem them necessary.

Titres (the way we spell this word in New Zealand) can give you an idea of your animal's immune status for the disease being tested but they do have their limitations. The first being that it costs quite a bit more to do a titre than it does to vaccinate. I have worked in a laboratory where performing titres was part of the work performed and they are a time consuming to test to do. They also do not give you the full picture of the immune status as they only measure humoral immunity (the level of antibody present) and do not measure cellular immunity which also plays a role in fighting disease. They also do not account for the amnestic response of immunological "memory". It is possible to have a low or negative titre yet still be immune to a given organism. When the body is rechallenged, the immune memory cells can respond to the stimulus and swing into production, churning out new antibody producing cells and hence rapidly increase the level of antibody.

We have only ever given our puppies their first two jabs then the 12 month booster. Over the last couple of years, I have heard so many horror stories about the downsides of vaccination and indeed, over-vaccination. We have also lost two beautiful puppies which we exported to the US and both of died as a direct result of the rabies jab they needed to enter the country. I began to do much more research into the subject and this year, after keeping a puppy from our last litter, we made the decision to have him remain as nature intended and not vaccinate him. All our dogs are bred and reared on the raw diet too.

Nature knows best, and indeed, good nutrition equals good health!

Hi,

What a blessing it has been to be able to read about information on our pets from Dr. Becker. I've been wanting answers about vaccinations for dogs. I have an 8 ld, 7 year old silky terrier and next year he is due for the rabies shot which I do not want to do. Two years ago he had an allergic reation from the 3 year rabies vac. and my husband had to rush him ti the vet. hosiptal. (Our dog Tanner was whimpering and his eyes were swelling.) The Vet. gave him benadryl and he was okay. I beleive prayer saved him. It was overwhelming, I did not like that. So I know how you feel. My question is what do I do? Our regular vet. said when Tanner has the shot he should have benadryl, that does not comfort me. Sorry for being so long. We do not let him have other shots. He does take Heartguard, which I don't know if he should really take that? I just wanted to let you know again it bothers me about vaccinations too.

nicvanhan,

Ask your vet if he/she will write a vaccine waiver for Tanner.  If he had an allergic reaction to the shot it may be enough to exclude him from future shots?  Can't hurt to ask.  The vaccine recommendations clearly state that the vaccine should only be given to healthy animals.

I did this with two of my dogs.  One has congenital kidney disease and the other had a seizure after her one year rabies shot.  The following year when she was required to get her two year shot I took a bunch of data to the vet supporting my request and she wrote a two year waiver.  If Giz has a seizure after her next shot (which will be next year) I will ask for a lifetime waiver.

Heartworm protection is quite controversial - one of my holistic vets recommends giving while the other feels the protection is not worth the toxicity.  Do as much research on heartworm as you can and then make your choice as to what is best for you and your fur-kid/s.  A couple things to know about heartworm - heartworm transmission is based on temperature not the presence of mosquitos.  Many feel that heartworm protection lasts 45 to 60 days instead of the recommended 30 days.  The mosquito has to contract heartworm from another animal before it can infect your fur-kids - check the prevelance of heartworm in your area.  Here's some great information:  http://www.hua.org/Heartworms.html  http://www.heartwormsociety.org/article_48.html  http://www.dogs4dogs.com/blog/2009/05/13/heartworm-medication-safety/