Vaccine Crazy

(Contributed by Dr. Jessica Levy)

As I go along in practice, I am becoming more and more anti-vaccine. It amazes me how often I see animals that have been diagnosed with some dread condition - cancer, lupus, Cushing's disease, diabetes, chronic renal failure - who are then vaccinated, because they are "due." As if all is well. As if the immunity provoked by vaccines magically wears off by the assigned "expiration date." As if, when sick with a chronic or immune mediated condition (allergies, urinary tract infections, hypothyroidism, epilepsy), the immune system is not already busy/messed up/dysfunctional, and therefore may not respond at all or may respond unpredictably to the vaccines.

Then there are the "shot clinics" where unsuspecting pet owners can get their pets vaccinated for cheap. Why? Because there's no physical exam, people! That's right; your pet is getting vaccines without anybody looking at it first to make sure it is healthy enough to tolerate vaccination! What a bargain!

This is the whole point of the twice-yearly exams that we do at our hospital - to evaluate the health of your pet, to determine if any adjustments in care are necessary, and to truly act preventatively, rather than giving a bunch of vaccines and then lying to pet owners and telling them "these will keep your pet healthy!" No, they won't. Because that's not what vaccines are for. Vaccines are meant to provoke the immune system into developing immunity - sometimes very limited immunity - to very specific disease organisms. Some vaccines are better at this task than others, and that's a whole different topic.

Why do most veterinarians persist in this regrettable practice? Because of a lack of perceived harm. In other words, vaccines might prevent disease and don't cause any damage, so why not? Plus it gets the pet in the door every year for that all important physical exam. My approach is that my clients are not stupid. They easily understand the value of the physical exam and the potential harm of vaccination, and are quite capable of making the right choice.

Whose Decision Is It, Anyway?

(Contributed by Dr. Jessica Levy)

Okay, so veterinarians have been over-vaccinating animals for years. A lot of health problems and serious diseases are caused by vaccines. Many animals suffer severe reactions or even die after vaccination. It's all true.

In spite of this, I think that blasting veterinarians as the sole source of over-vaccination is overrated. How many times have I been forced against my better judgment to vaccinate an animal because the boarding kennel, the groomer, or the trainer required that the pet have "all his shots" before setting paw in their establishment? In order to take your dog to PetCo for a $5 nail trim, you have to prove that all the vaccines are up to date.

Any pet catalog will sell you any animal vaccine you want, and you can vaccinate your own pet as often as you please. In some states, the vaccines are available for purchase at farm stores or feed mills. State and municipal laws require boostering of rabies vaccines at predetermined intervals, regardless of what science tells us about post-vaccination duration of immunity.

Veterinarians play a decreasingly important role in deciding what gets done to animals and why. Yes, we're the ones conducting the research, but the information is not being disseminated to the wider public. In the past, we put so much time and effort into brainwashing people into believing that their pets would die without their annual shots, that now we've created an uncontrollable monster.

Some veterinarians may feel that if they don't follow the manufacturer's recommendation for that annual booster that they will expose themselves to legal attack. There have also been articles in the veterinary literature claiming that if I use a vaccine labeled for booster in a year, but I tell my client that it's good for three years, that I am putting my license at risk.

Hello, fellow veterinarians. We are professionals. We are highly educated. We have brains, and we can think. Can we regain control of this situation and put a stop to this nonsense? I fear that as a profession we are losing our credibility. The American Veterinary Medical Association has not shown the strong leadership I had hoped when I joined that organization. Veterinarians end up being blown around by the latest trends instead of taking a stand and upholding ourselves as the medical professionals we are.

Do day care employees determine the vaccination schedule of the children in their care? I think not.

Over vaccination (why less is more)

(by Dr. Cara White)
I have not written a blog before so as they say ' there's never a good time like the present.' I was giving a talk to the Miniature Schnauzer Club last evening and when I brought up the topic of vaccines there seemed to be a lot of questions regarding what protocol is right for their pet. I know when clients come to see us they get a lot of information and handouts regarding diet and nutrition but we haven't put one together as of yet regarding the problems of over-vaccinating your pet.
By now most people are aware of the acute vaccine reactions that can occur in their pets such as swelling at the site of injection, loss of appetite, vomiting, lethargy or even anaphylaxis but there are many more reactions that can occur 1,2,3 or more months after getting a 'shot'.
In a study done by the Vaccine Research Group at Purdue University in 1997 they found that vaccines might trigger dogs immune systems to attack their own bodies potentially causing a number of diseases such as Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia or Thrombocytopenia (destruction of red blood cells or platelets), chronic active hepatitis (inflammation of liver), Systemic Lupus Erythamatosus (inflammation and destruction of tissues), thyroiditis and other organ destruction.
Vaccines also cause inflammation, not only at the injection site but throughout the body.This can lead to arthritis, exacerbation of allergies or potential inflammation of the nervous system and can lead to nerve paralysis.
So how do we avoid these side effects? Another study published by Purdue in 2005 did find a correlation between vaccine reactions and other variables such as age , size and number of vaccines given.

• Smaller dogs are more prone to vaccine reactions than larger dogs
• Risk of reactions increased by 27% per each additional vaccine given per office visit in dogs under 22 lbs, and by 12% in dogs over 22 lbs.
• Risk increased for dogs up to 2 years old then declined after.
• Risk increased for pregnant dogs or dogs in heat.
• Also more reactions were found in small dogs given Leptospirosis vaccine.

In a 2007 Vaccine Forum presented by Dr. Alice Wolf and Dr. Richard Ford they included updated duration of immunity information for the most common vaccines which reads minimum duration of immunity for Distemper/ Parvovirus and Adenovirus (modified live vaccine) is 5-7+ years. Also the Rabies vaccines have a duration of immunity of 3+ years. There is absolutely NO BENEFIT to immunize an animal that already has immunity to a virus. This will not add extra protection to your pet, in fact this may compound the bad effects of vaccines.

In looking out for the overall health of your animal you should advocate for fewer vaccines over the life of your pet with decreasing or eliminating certain vaccines as your pet ages.

• Puppies should ONLY receive 1 vaccine at each visit and monitored for any reactions afterwards.
• DO NOT re-vaccinate any dog that has had a serious life threatening vaccine reaction.
• Vaccinate ONLY when your dog is healthy and free of skin/ ear infections, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, fever, has had or is currently being treated for ANY immune mediated disease or cancer.
• Talk to your vet about what vaccines are necessary and do ONLY the vaccines that are absolutely needed.
• DO NOT patronize any boarding facility, groomer or training facility that requires you to vaccinate your pet more than it needs.
• We recommend not giving dogs under 22lbs any more than 1 vaccine per visit.

Don't get me wrong, there are benefits to having your dog vaccinated against common viruses and Rabies, it is just not necessary to give these vaccines on a yearly basis. We as humans get our childhood immunizations then are essentially good for life, the same should be said for our dogs.

So I hope this helps make sense as to why we as holistic veterinarians wish to minimize the sad effects of over vaccination in our pets and to educate you in order to be an advocate for your own pets health.