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What Dancing Paws Says About:
Vaccine practices vary from place to place and doctor to doctor. Vaccine manufacturers and groups like the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) which govern veterinary medicine purposefully avoid imposing rigid standards by which vaccines should be administered. This is in part because there are different risk regionally for diseases, as well as questions about the safety and effectiveness of certain products. This allows for broad interpretation based on the veterinarian's individual preferences, but it can cause confusion for owners who are just trying to make the best decision possible for their pets. It can be difficult to know the 'right' thing to do when there is so much conflicting information.
Additionally, annual vaccines give veterinarians a chance to examine their patients every 12 months. Doctors are concerned that owners will by-pass yearly check ups if they recommend vaccination every three years. This is partly a problem of our own making; for decades, the emphasis has been placed not on the physical examination, but on the vaccines. Therefore, owners have come to dismiss the importance of a veterinarian giving their dog or cat the once-over. It's imperative that this aspect of your pet's care is not forgotten; these visits allow your vet the chance to detect small issues before they become very big problems.
At Dancing Paws, we advocate a minimum vaccine protocol in puppies and kittens. In healthy adult dogs, we recommend checking protective immunity through vaccine titers booster them every three years. Since there are no titer options for cats, we recommend re-vaccinating every three years to maintain protective immunity. We do not advocate the use of vaccines in pet with underlying diseases or medical problems.
The Five-In-One Vaccine Many veterinary offices offer a vaccine combination, where four or five different vaccines are co-mingled in a single dose to limit the number of injections your pet receives. In theory, this sounds great: less pokes with a needle, fewer injection sites to monitor, and savings to you the consumer because you're only paying for one shot.
Right?
In a perfect world, we'd schedule our patients to receive their individual core vaccines one at a time, spread over a series of a few weeks to limit the negative side effects. Currently, the only commercially available canine and feline vaccines with limited content are manufactured by the drug company Merial, and even these vaccines have three products in one (however, unlike the other vaccines, they only include the core vaccines discussed below). These are the vaccines we administer at Dancing Paws.
Smaller Doses for Smaller Dogs
Alternatives to Traditional Vaccine Recommendations There are steps that can be taken to lessen the impact vaccines have on your pets!
Homeopathic Nosodes: Nosodes are homeopathic preparations given in place of traditional vaccines. They are derived from substances containing the illness or disease they are made to protect against; either tissue that has been infected with the agent or from pure cultures of the mircroorganism. They are then prepared using alcohol and dilution techniques so there is no risk of your pet contracting the illness. The preparations are typically liquid, and absorbed through the gum and other tissue in the mouth. The idea is that by administering the product, your pet obtains a level of protection through mild, controlled exposure to the disease. Anecdotal evidence supports the effectiveness of homeopathic nosodes, but it must be mentioned that this method of preventiving illnesses like Distemper and Parvo has not been rigorously scientifically tested.
Protective Measures Before, During and After Vaccination: There are measures that can be taken to afford your dog or cat additional protection from some of the harmful effects of vaccination. Using herbal products to protect the liver and kidneys while the preocess the chemcials and preservatives present in the vaccine is one simple step. It is also wise to use an herbal immune booster beginning at least one week before, and continuing through at least one week after, giving vaccines.
Canine Vaccine Recommendations Core Vaccines (vaccines highly recommended for healthy dogs)
Non-Core Vaccines (optional, depending on lifestyle, breed and risk of exposure)
Not Generally Recommended Vaccines (not advisable)
Feline Vaccine Recommendations Core Vaccines (highly recommended)
Non-Core Vaccines (optional, depending on lifestyle, breed and risk of exposure)
Not Generally Recommended (not advisable)
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Some of the most frequently asked questions at our office relate to vaccines. Many owners are unsure about which vaccines their pets are supposed to receive, and how often they should be vaccinated. Some owners are concerned about the risks associated with vaccine administration and are curious about alternatives. Make no doggie bones about it: vaccination is a medical procedure, and so the recommendations can and should differ depending on factors like age, breed and medical history.
But why all the confusion? Veterinary medicine can agree that vaccinations are important. Our ability to limit the spread of infectious diseases in pet has greatly lengthened their life span and improved their overall health. Early vaccines did not enjoy the same safety and effectiveness that our current vaccines do, so the recommendation for annual boosters reflected this. There was a general 'better safe than sorry' approach because the diseases we were protecting against were widespread and devastating. Now, deaths due to the illnesses have been largely preventable thanks in part to vaccines. Since the status-quo for so many years included annual boosters, many exisiting veterinarians have stuck with that program for the sake of consistency.
We wish it were that easy. The concept of administering multiple strains of vaccines in a single injection is virtually unheard of in human medicine. The reason for this is simple: this is a significant tax on the immune system. The body is forced to process four or five different diseases at one time. Additionally, the more vaccines present in a single dose, the higher the risk for adverse reactions associated with the vaccine administration.
Many owners ask questions about modifying vaccine dosage for smaller dogs. It makes perfect sense that the quantity of vaccine administered would be calculated based on the weight of your dog. Unfortunately, vaccine manufacturers have not taken this into account and vaccines are still produced in a one-size-fits-all dose. We do not alter the dosing of vaccines at Dancing Paws. Not only is it malpractice, it's not safe - there have not been studies conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of smaller doses of vaccine. There's not even any evidence to support that smaller vaccine doses pose any less risk for reactions or illness. We're hopeful that someday soon, we'll have the ability to tailor the vaccine amount to your dog's weight, but until that time, all dogs receive the same vaccine.
Vaccine Titers: Running a titer on your dog simply means that you're checking the protective immunity for Distemper, Parvo and/or Rabies via a blood test. The lab then sends a report back scoring the immunity for each disease. A high level of protective immunity indicates that a vaccine is not necessary. A low titer indicates that a booster is needed. There is no evidence to indicate that canine and feline immune systems are much different from ours, and human studies have revealed that vaccines are long lasting (in somce cases, life long). Unfortunately, there are no titers currently available to evaluate feline diseases. Also, the state of Ohio will not accept a protective Rabies titer in leiu of a current Rabies vaccination, and state law mandates that all pets must have this vaccination (barring medical illness). 