OVER-VACCINATION.. IS IT REALLY A THING?

When we think of vaccines what comes to mind? Protection, prevention and keeping our pets safe from disease? Believe it or not, when it comes to vaccinations it can really can be a case of too much of a good thing.

Over-vaccinations have been a hot topic in the media as of late. Personally, we have never been keen on repeated immunizations ourselves, therefore our dogs in turn have had very little. As more and more research has come to light its only served to solidify the choice we've made, but we want to make sure you have all the information before choosing what's best for your pup.

What vaccines are necessary?

Core vaccines should be administered before your puppy is 6 months of age. These include; distemper, parvo, hepatitis and rabies. Both the Hepatitis and rabies vaccines should be given at separate appointments and specific to the Rabies at a later age.

THESE VACCINES GIVE YOUR PET A LIFETIME OF IMMUNITY. If you are truly concerned you can ask your vet for a Titer test which checks your pet's immunity, rather than repeatedly compromising his/her health by vaccinating year after year.

Surely my vet would warn me if vaccinations are dangerous.. how bad can it be?

Naturally, we want to trust our vets expertise. They're professionals after all and have years of schooling to back it up right? Now we're not saying your vet is out to deceive you but unfortunately, many are not educated about these possible adverse reactions in college. Many reactions happen days, months or even years after a vaccine is given. Vets are not told about this, and therefore they are largely unaware of the damage caused by over-vaccination. It is easier to try and blame it on genetics rather than admitting an unnecessary vaccine schedule may be the cause.

These are some of the reactions (organized by severity) that your pet may experience..

(Provided by www.petwelfarealliance.org)

Common Reactions: . Lethargy . Hair loss/hair color change at injection site . Fever . Soreness, stiffness . Refusal to eat . Conjunctivitis . Sneezing . Oral ulcers Moderate Reactions . Immunosuppression . Behavioural changes . Vitiligo (skin reactions) . Weight loss (Cachexia) . Reduced milk production . Lameness . Granulomas/abscesses . Hives . Facial edema (swelling) . Atopy (hereditary allergies) . Respiratory disease . Allergic uveitis (Blue Eye) Severe Reactions triggered by Vaccines: . Vaccine injection site sarcomas . Anaphylaxis (rapidly progressing life-threatening allergic reaction) . Arthritis, polyarthritis . HOD hypertrophy osteodystrophy . Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia . Immune mediated thrombocytopenia (IMTP) . Hemolytic disease of the newborn (Neonatal Isoerythrolysis) . Thyroiditis . Glomerulonephritis . Disease or enhanced disease which the vaccine was designed to prevent . Myocarditis . Post vaccinal encephalitis or polyneuritis . Seizures . Abortion, congential anomalies, embryonic/fetal death, failure to conceive

Now.. surely its reasonable to expect our pet to have some reaction to their shots? Yes. It is well known fact that after a vaccine our pet may experience temporary lethargy, diarrhea and/or fever. What we hear less about though is that vaccines can and do, provoke serious and life threatening adverse reactions. Unfortunately, often these are not easily connected to the vaccine itself, although scientific research does point towards the trends. The fact is, there is no test to show whether an individual dog or cat has had a vaccine reaction. To make a connection, vets must tie the onset of the disease in with a recent vaccine event, and understand the science: they need to know what vaccines have been scientifically shown to do

Few people understand the science to say that skin and digestive problems can also be vaccine-induced, or that diabetes, thyroid disease, organ failure or genetic faults can be caused by vaccines.

Not knowing this, vets can continue to push for annual vaccinations as if it was a harmless procedure.

Why shouldn't I follow my vet's prescribed vaccine schedule?

Believe it or not, vaccine schedules are actually based on nothing more than speculation. Vets often recommend yearly dosing because the companies that invent these vaccines test only for a few months and therefore don't know how long they truly last. As we already mentioned, there is a simple solution called a Titer test. It is a simple procedure that measures the antibodies present in your pet's blood. The amount and diversity corresponds to the strength of the body's immune response.

Unfortunately due to cost and convenience, to date very few of us have taken advantage of this potentially life-saving test. Thankfully, with new innovation this has recently changed and you can now put an end to dangerous over-vaccination.

Here’s how …

"There are two in-house titer tests that are now available to vets. This means the test is done right in your vet’s clinic and you get quick results. TiterCHEK and Vaccicheck are the two simple tests your vet can do right in his clinic, for about the same amount of money as a vaccine.

These two tests have been available for some time now but, just like vets are slow to change their vaccine schedules, they’re slow to start using titer tests to determine whether your dog actually needs his next vaccine. Some vets would prefer to just give the vaccine … and that one shot could be the one to cause serious and irreparable damage to your dog."

(Source.. www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com)

As the owner, the choice is up to you. We just would like for you to go forward with as much information as possible. We really are on the side of limited vaccinations and the reality is that with the Titer test it has become very easy to know exactly what is needed for your pet. Because we believe so strongly we have included over-vaccination as part of our Warranty Voids. Please visit our Policies page to learn more.