Vaccinations again...

[Gina Heitz <brier@oregonsbest.com>]

Hi All,

I have been having a discussion with a gal who has a puppy from Judy out
of SeaJay on vaccinations and why there are so many differing
opinions...  I thought this post sums things up rather well and
thought some of you might be able to glean good information from
this:


To quote my notes: 

" As is, several veterinary teaching hospitals have modified
recommendations from vaccination yearly to every three (3) years and
currently this is my recommendation and these core vaccines are the only
vaccinations I feel any dog should receive:
· Distemper, Adenovirus, ParaInfluenza, and Parvovirus 

· Rabies at least 3 weeks from the above as required by law. "

To elaborate and clarify: Rabies is the only vaccine required by law for
interstate transport or even into Canada or Mexico. And the above is also
my personal veterinarians recommendation regarding needed core vaccines
and intervals. In other words it is my recommendation as I said, that
dogs only need to be vaccinated every 3 years after they receive the full
puppy series, and by vaccinating with a greater frequency you are
potentially harming your dog. 

See these links: WSU & UC Davis 

http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/rdvm/vaccine.html

Heres the reference to every 3 years as apposed to yearly:

" Therefore a decision is made based on factors discussed above as
to whether an individual dog will receive these vaccine components
annually or every 3 years. "

http://www.awpga.com/vaccine.htm

more meat: Oh and I particularly like this: "Please
follow your breeder and/or veterinarian's instructions" 

" *Provided for your reference only. Please follow your breeder
and/or veterinarian's instructions.
"The medical merit of routine annual boosters for common puppyhood
and kittenhood diseases is being questioned, as is the practice of
vaccinating for diseases that pose little, if any, risk to the animal
being immunized. Because vaccination is a medical and not economic
procedure, we recommend that vaccines be administered according to
medical criteria including morbidity/mortality for the particular
disease, risk of infection, and life-style and age of the animal. The
most important vaccinations are for puppyhood diseases, and then the
3-year
boosters. " 

Unfortunately not all Veterinarians are up to speed on these protocol
changes or claim otherwise that 'your' pet falls into the higher risk
category. And or they are weary of the possible negative impact these
protocols can have on their business financially. Many vet's use the
yearly vaccine 'requirement' as a pull to get clients into the office, to
sell other services, that's part of being in business. The flip side is
that most dogs should have an annual exam yearly, but is harming our pets
an ethical way to market that?

And this is why I wanted you to do your own research so that you would be
up to speed and not relying on the quote un quote professional E.G. a vet
who probably does not put as much time into this kind of research... Or
does not look for better ways to market services... 

Get it now?

Gina