Veterinary Advice For Pet Vaccinations

There is growing evidence that the common veterinary advice to get booster shots for your pet annually may have some undesired side effects. Not all veterinarians embrace this school of thought however, and this is cause for concern. Do some ignore the science for fear that a primary source of income may disappear? Or do they truly believe that repeated exposure to biological and chemical compounds is actually essential to the health and well being of your pet? The growing voice amongst the newer alternative practitioners suggests that the former is true. Holistic, organic, and natural medicine and techniques are definitely not new, they are however new to the world of pet care. It is only in the past decade that such practices have come to the forefront as pet owners seek to provide the very best care available for their animals. Yes, healthy food and lifestyle choices for your favorite pet are now perfectly acceptable and in some cases, expected.

Problems Associated with Pet Vaccinations

The New World veterinary advice is that pet vaccines actually function more closely to the human variety. This means that regular yearly booster shots may not be needed. Take for example Tetanus shots; these last for 10 years in humans before a booster is required. Let us look at some of the potential health problems (for pets) for yearly shots.

Vaccination works by stimulating the immune system – the positive effect is to protect against infectious disease. The negative effect can be a host of immune related diseases. These can include: immune mediated hemolytic anemia, immune mediated skin disease, vaccine induced skin cancer in cats, skin allergies, arthritis, leukemia, inflammatory bowel disease and neurological conditions.

– Dr. Andrew Jones DVM, Nelson Animal Hospital

Why Vaccinations for pets?

There can be little doubt that vaccines in general are very important to the health of your pet because vaccinations do help prevent serious illnesses, but they should be used with caution. It is currently too difficult to accurately assess the merits of either argument considering the lack of consensus and hard science. Just file it under the “it stands to reason” category.

Because there is not enough hard scientific data on the subject, and because not enough veterinarians agree on proper vaccination protocol, it is essential that pet owners do their own research. Make an informed choice for yourself and your pets.