Definitely makes you think. I know when we got Arwen and Millie the breeders had both vaccinated themselves and said boosters were not necessary. Both were ignored and annually received their boosters. Wonder what others do?
____________ Gillian, Millie & Arya, watched over by Becky, Arwen & Amber from the Bridge. Run fast & free
Mmm, interesting Jules. But is it true? 66% of dogs became ill within 6 months of vaccination. OK, there are 12 months in a year so in half a year you could reasonably expect half the illnesses, in other words, 50% so it's not that far away from normal, and of course there could be good reasons for those extras.
I must admit, when I read articles like this I tend to look at the list of references at the end expecting to see Catherine O’Driscoll, and I’m never disappointed. Her name alone makes me question the article!
So why are we seeing the differences? Could there be other reasons? Diet, the rise in convenience “Dried Complete Foods”? Better diagnostics on the part of vets, led by expense no object because “The insurance will cover it!”? Or could it be the latest KC hobby horse, Inbreeding depression caused be those nasty breeders breeding too close? Maybe dog owners are at fault by not allowing their dogs to be “Latch Key” dogs as in the old days, which meant them regularly associating with less well dogs, so giving their immune systems a regular boost.
My own thoughts are a bit of everything, but with probably dog food and obese dogs being the biggest single things.
I would say the over vaccination is just a part of the reason why dogs seem to be getting sicker rather than healthier. The other reasons being processed foods, regular use of chemical flea and worm treatments, pups/young dogs being raised in a "Too Sterile" environment (virtually no exposure to germs which help build a healthy immune system), chemical cleaners and fragrances used in the home, various pesticides/insecticides used outside the home and a degree of inbreeding (not necessarily in Labs but in breeds with much smaller gene pools).
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Wonder what others do?
I do as my family have done for years. We have their puppy jabs done and that's it. Touch wood, we haven't had any problems not boostering our animals and our animals haven't had any major health issues.
The only time I did something different was when I was 15. I bought a beautiful Siamese cat and thinking I knew everything (as you do at that age), did everything by the book. She got wormed regularly, defleaed (even though she didn't have fleas) and boostered annually. Yet she was the sickest animal I've ever had . She developed cat flu 3 days after her first cat flu vacc, which left her with constant Rhinitis and recurrent bouts of cat flu. She later developed IBD too, which after battling with it for nearly 3 years, finally killed her. By this time she was a bag of bones and faecally incontinent, despite me spending hundreds and hundreds on special vet prescribed foods, tests and medications. She was only just 9 years old when she had to be PTS, which is no age for a cat.
I know I could just have been particularly unlucky, but I can't help but wonder if I inadvertently caused her problems. Anyway, I went back to the methods my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles used and I've had much healthier animals since. So in my mind, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".
hmm well I am pro vaccination but that's just my personal choice and weighed up in my own mind in relation to me and mine, it's up to others what they do and I am happy for others to do whatever they believe is best for theirs.
This http://www.testingtreatments.org/new-edition/ is a great read and is free to download. Makes you think about what constitutes evidence, how this is presented to us and what this can mean for us as humans and those we care for be they humans or animals.
I've been questioning the annual boosters. My own vet doesn't recommend them, but instead offers titre testing. This way I'm not vaccinating my dogs unless they need it . Anyway, their antibody levels are well within the ranges that confer protection, Melvin and Eddie only ever having had their puppy vaccinations, so to my mind do not need vaccinating. I should make it clear I am by no means anti-vaccination, if I had a kid they would without a doubt be vaccinated for everything, but the schedule for humans seems far more sensible than the annual bombardment recommended by some for our hounds
Very interesting stuff, especially as I believe my own ill health was caused by vaccinations, but that is another story.
It's very hard to buck against when kennels etc expect up to date certificates and vets push to have the income.
I shall be doing it to start with but do aim to have testing if possible to see the need in the furture.
The breeder has said that the first and booster injections must be done from the same batch, so will be travelling back to her vet for second lot. has anyone else heard of this?
Thing is, even the vaccine manufacturers do not advocate yearly vaccinations these days, saying every three years is often enough. Yet vets still push yearly vaccinations! Like I've said before, people seem to think that before vaccinations were invented dogs were dying in the streets, but that just was not so. I'm not saying that vaccines were invented to "Cure" a non existent problem, but really, until Parvo it was not a big problem. In the same way, before DNA testing GPRA was not a big problem in Labradors. (around 4 cases a year out of 44000 labradors born each year = .00909%)
Going by the book is fine, but who says the author of the book knows more than you? Feeding dog food is fine, but what is the first aim of dog food manufacturer? Why do vets insist on vaccinating every year when the manufacturers state ever 3 years?
Money is what is driving everything to do with dogs these days! Like you Jules, I treat for fleas only when I see a flea and I worm when I think I need to which is probably once a year. My vet bills are normally zero, except when my dogs get old, which I expect anyway, just as with us. My dogs eat everything from dog food to Chinese Sweet and Sour Chicken and never get a gippy tummy.
The breeder has said that the first and booster injections must be done from the same batch
Thats true. But when I was getting Anna done I took the "passport" in to my own vet to see if they could do the second jab. They checked their batch numbers and were able to match them up ok. The batch runs are very big, so there's a good chance you own vet can continue it OK.
This is something I've been looking into for a while now! As I know someone that only has her dogs vaccinated every other yr and is considering stopping altogether? The only problem for me is we need to use kennels and the one we use insist on all dogs to have been vaccinated, otherwise I would look more closely into this
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. She developed cat flu 3 days after her first cat flu vacc, which left her with constant Rhinitis and recurrent bouts of cat flu. She later developed IBD too, which after battling with it for nearly 3 years, finally killed her. By this time she was a bag of bones and faecally incontinent, despite me spending hundreds and hundreds on special vet prescribed foods, tests and medications. She was only just 9 years old when she had to be PTS, which is no age for a cat.
