Vaccinations Recommendation For Puppies

The following are some of my recommendations concerning your companions’ health in choosing whether or not to vaccinate. Calling our office for an appointment is the best way to insure that the vaccination protocol you are choosing is the best fit for your companions’ lifestyle.

1. If you can, do not vaccinate puppies and kittens under three months of age.

Vaccinations are much more stressful on the underdeveloped immune system.  Their effects are also temporary and require subsequent boosters.  Protect your new kitten or puppy by only exposing them to other healthy dogs or cats. Do not take them to places where a lot of animals congregate and defecate, such a parks and rest-stops.  Be aware that they are highly susceptible to serious disease at this age and take responsibility for protecting their environment.

2. After three months of age, if vaccinating, I suggest the following:

Puppies – Give one Distemper/Parvo vaccination. If separate vaccines are available, space the Distemper and Parvovirus vaccinations by three to four weeks. Dobermans and Rotweilers should have the parvo vaccinations after 15 weeks of age.  Rabies vaccinations should be delayed until six months of age.  Lyme disease, Coronavirus, and Kennel Cough vaccines do not meet the criteria mentioned previously for a useful vaccine and I do not recommend giving them.

Kittens – Give one Panleukopenia combination (FRCP). If available, give the vaccine components separately spaced three to four weeks apart.  Feline leukemia and FIP vaccines do not meet the previous criteria for needed vaccines.  IF your cats go outside and you have rabies in your area, give a rabies vaccine at six months of age. Legal requirements vary from state to state.

3. Booster vaccinations are neither necessary nor required.

Studies in animal populations show that long-term immunity to distemper, parvovirus, panleukopenia, and other diseases is conferred by one vaccination for many years.  Lifetime protection is highly likely after one vaccination. If you are concerned, titers for distemper and parvovirus can be checked with a simple blood test to see if your companion is protected.  If you do choose to give boosters, wait three to five years between them and alternate between distemper and parvovirus vaccinations if single vaccines are available.  FRCP in cats is a long-lasting vaccination probably for life. Vaccination Recommendations

Quotes:

Here are some things the veterinarians and medical doctors had to say:

The first thing that must change with routine vaccinations is the myth that vaccines are not harmful…. Veterinarians and animal guardians have to come to realize that they are not protecting animals from disease by annual vaccinations, but in fact, are destroying the health and immune systems of these same animals they love and care for. Dr. Charles E Loops, DVM, Pittsboro, NC.

Injected vaccines bypass normal defenses. They implant mutated microorganisms, preservatives, foreign animal proteins and other compounds directly into the system. This is done in the name of preventing a few syndromes. If an animal is in an optimal state of health, he or she will produce the strongest immune response possible. This response offers protection against all natural challenges. The irony is that vaccine labels say they are to be given only to healthy animals. If they were truly healthy, they would not need them. Those who are not healthy are the most severely damaged. Dr. Russell Swift, DVM. Ft Lauderdale FL.

Vaccinosis is the reaction from common inoculations (vaccines) against the body’s immune system and general well being. These reactions might take months or years to show up and will cause undue harm to future generations. Dr. Pedro Rivera, DVM, Sturtevant WI.

In a general and frightening context, I see the overall health and longevity of animals deteriorating. The bodies of most animals have a tremendous capacity to detoxify poisons, but they do have a limit. I think we often exceed that limit and overwhelm the body’s immune system function with toxins from vaccines.

The most common problems I see that are directly related to vaccines on a day to day basis are ear or skin conditions, such as chronic discharges and itching. I also see behavior problems such as fearfulness or aggression. Often guardians will report that these begin shortly after vaccination, and are exacerbated with every vaccine. Dr. Pat Bradley, DVM Conway AZ

If an animal already has problems, those problems are contributed to by vaccines. So I don’t want to give any more (shots). Dr. Michael Lemmon, DVM, Renton WA.

Routine vaccinations are probably the worst thing that we do for our animals. Repeating vaccinations on a yearly basis undermines the whole energetic well-being of our animals. Animals do not seem to be decimated by one or two vaccines when they are young, and veterinary immunologists tell us that viral vaccines need only be given once or twice in an animal’s life. First, there is no need for annual vaccinations, and second, they definitely cause chronic disease. Dr. Christina Chambreau, DVM, Sparks MD

Unfortunately our society is in the grasp of a health panacea and this panacea is fueled by the biomedical and pharmaceutical industries. Vaccinations have become the modern day equivalent of leeching. First of of all, introducing foreign material via subcutaneous or intramuscular injection is extremely upsetting to the body’s defense system. In response to this violation, there have been increased autoimmune disease (allergies being one component), epilepsy, neoplasia (tumors), as well as behavioral problems in small animals. Even though man and animals have been around for thousands of years, interestingly, the increase in cancer, respiratory disorders (most air quality standards are higher today than in decades past.), and autoimmune problems have likewise escalated alarmingly during the previous decade. Vaccines are not the only culprit for these increases; however, I feel they are one of the primary offenders.  Dr. Mike Kohn, DVM, Madison Wl

Vaccines are not always effective, safety is unproven, and long term consequences are unknown. Despite this, the government requires their use, resulting in a lack of incentives for drug companies to produce better products. Additionally, mandatory vaccine laws make it impossible to conduct properly controlled studies, so we’ll never know if vaccines are truly safe, as is claimed by the government and medical profession. Similar to other procedures, the right of informed consent, i.e. the right to say ‘NO’, should apply to vaccines.  Dr. Kristine Severyn, RPH, Ph.D., Director Ohio Parents for Vaccine Safety .

I believe that vaccinations, especially the rabies vaccines, are contributing to a lot of the “allergic” skin problems seen today, leading to a problem known as vaccinosis, which is characterized by itchy, dark, thickened skin; especially over the abdomen and under the legs. It is seen in both dogs and cats, but is more obvious in the dog. Dr. Ana Maria Scholey, Holistic Veterinarian.

I think we eventually have to take a look at what is happening to animals because of repeated vaccinations. If you have an animal that within 10 days from the time he received vaccines falls back into a condition that you’d been trying to clean up for some time, you know what happened. We’re seeing a condition that is being described by some of my colleagues and myself as vaccinosis. We have to recognize it as being there. Dr. Norman C. Ralston, DVM, Mesquite, TX.

The idea of annual vaccines is really questionable. There is no scientific basis from what I’ve been able to read. There was a good article in Current Veterinary Therapy a couple of years ago. They did a literature search and the two authors were not ‘alternative’ veterinarians, and they could find no scientific basis for annual vaccines. So it’s just being done; there is no real basis for the practice. There are a lot of chronic conditions that develop some time after vaccinating. Some of these conditions that I see are chronic ear infections, digestive problems, seizures, skin problems, and behavioral problems.  Stephen R Blake, DVM, San Diego, CA.

Every time a dog is vaccinated for parvo, the number of white blood cells in the circulation decreases for a while. This means their immune system won’t work as well during that time. Every veterinarian who has been in practice long enough has seen reactions to vaccines, ranging from lethargy, mild fever, sore neck, to vomiting and sleeping for 24 hours, to total collapse and shock. In cats we now recognize that this in time can cause fibrosarcoma, a nasty cancer. This is officially recognized by the veterinary community, and if this isn’t a form of vaccinosis, I don’t know what is.  Dr. Nancy Scanlan, DVM, Chino Hills CA .

 

“A practice that was started many years ago and that lacks scientific validity or verification is annual revaccination.  Almost without exception there is no immunologic requirement for annual revaccination.  Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal…… Furthermore, revaccination with most viral vaccines fails to stimulate an anamnestic (secondary) response….  The practice of annual vaccination in our opinion  should be considered of questionable efficacy… veterinary immunologists Ronald Schultz (University of Wisconsin)

 

In a research study published in 1996, the authors looked at a deadly canine disease of a confused immune system. Known as immune-mediated hemolytic anemia (IMHA), it means the dogs’ immune systems attacked their own red blood cells as if they were foreign. Needless to say, this is life-challenging and the death rate is high, as one cannot live long without the oxygen-carrying red blood cells. In the study, 58 dogs with the illness, presenting at a veterinary teaching hospital over a two year period, were compared to a control group presenting for other problems over the same time. The question was asked, “Did anything precede the onset of IMHA?” Lo and behold, a highly statistically significant group of the sick dogs had been vaccinated with the usual yearly vaccines one month earlier. It was so significant that the authors entitled their paper, “Vaccine-Associated Immune-Mediated Hemolytic Anemia in the Dog.” (Duval and Giger, J Vet Intern Med 1996;10:290-295)

veterinary researcher and professor, Neils Pedersen, commented on the practice in a very well respected conventional magazine called AAHA Trends (AAHA is the American Animal Hospital Association).

“current vaccine practices are medically unsound.  It is time to question the wisdom of annual booster, multivalent products (combination vaccines, the most common being DHLPP for dogs and FVRCP for cats), and unnecessary vaccines.  Doing so will return companion animals’ immunization to its status as a medical and not an economical procedure.”