May I ask for everybody's input on this please.

[borderdawn]

Hello all.
Can I ask you all a couple of questions?

How often do you vaccinate your Cats/dogs?

Kitten/puppy vaccs only

Boosters every year

Boosters every few yers

No boosters

Does you Vet push for vaccination and have they ever been negative to you if you have chose not to vaccinate?

I would appreciate everyones opinion if you wouldnt mind.
Dawn.

[Donna]

My vets sent me a reminder and did not push the vaccines on me. My two had their boosters this year and presume I will continue to vaccinate when they are next due.

They are only 18 months and these are my first cats so do not have much previous experience to report!

Hope this helps!

[Luke]

Well...ours all get the puppy/kitten vaccines-and then done again about 1 year...and then on the three year "program" that our vets support.
However just to throw a spanner in the work (you know how i love to be difficult!)-my g-gran has 2 siamese, a persian and a moglet now all in their twenties and they had kitten vaccines and thats it....

[whiskey]

my little lot have there kitty/puppy vaccs and then i get a reminder every year from the vet to go back for there boosters.they have these every year because of when we go away on hols they have to up to date with the vaccs to go into a cattery.

[Mags]

Cassie gets her boosters every year....and I get a yearly reminder from the vet too.

She has to have them as she goes into a cattery every year when we go away on holiday.....

[EmmaG]

I have my cats vaccinated every year. Although the vets don't push it they do advise that the cats have their boosters.

[Moli]

Mine are done every year, I get a reminder from the vets, but they do not push them...If I said I didn't want them done they would accept it...

[Jac]

I get Blue's booster every year although my vet only gives half a dose of one of them.
The cats will get there boosters as well.

Some vets feel that the boosters arnt needed. Dont know what I think but I get them done to be on the safe side.

[borderdawn]

Thanks all so far, its just we are seeing a lot of pressure here from Vets and wonderd if it was nationwide due to the "over vaccination" problems. I understand Cattery and kennels problems though, those are unavoidable, we have tried hard to get the Environmental health to back down but they wont. Thanks so far, i have also noted the area in which you live.
Dawn.

[DiddyDawn]

I had this article through yesterday about vaccines.


Vaccinations
Reply #380 by FYI Posted: June 18, 2006 at 11:39

The Press June 16, 2006 Jean Dodds, DVM, a world renowned vaccine research
scientist, in Santa Monica, CA, told The Press many boosters are
unnecessary.

“Why should we be giving pets foreign substances when they do not need
them,” said Dodds, who has researched the vaccination guidelines for over 30
years. Veterinarians, she said, have been giving annual vaccinations simply
because it’s assumed they are needed and were recommended by the United
States Department of Agriculture.

“There never was any data that suggested vaccines must be given yearly,”
Dodds said. “Veterinarians assumed there was data but there wasn’t.”
Vaccines like parvovirus and canine distemper are responsible for many
diseases of the immune system in dogs, she contends. Anemia, arthritis,
epilepsy, thyroid disease, liver failure, diabetes, allergies and other
conditions, she believes, are linked to vaccines.

“Approximately five to 10 percent will develop problems,” Dodds said.
“That increases to 20 percent in pure breeds.” Irish Setters, Great Danes,
German Shepherds, weimaraners and akitas are at higher risk of developing
Hypertrophic Osteodystrophy, a bone disease that causes a 107 degree fever,
pain, and the inability to walk as a result of vaccinations, she said.

“But there is really no breed that is not at risk,” she said. The only
vaccination needed, she asserts, is the rabies vaccine because it is legally
required. Dogs’ and cats’ immune systems mature fully at 6 months old, she
explained. If canine distemper, feline distemper and parvovirus vaccines are
given after 6 months, a pet has immunity for the rest of its life.

No effect

However, if another vaccine is given a year later, antibodies from the
first vaccine neutralize the second vaccine, producing little or no
effect.Not only are annual boosters for parvovirus and distemper
unnecessary, they subject a pet to potential risks of allergic reactions and
immune-mediated hemolytic anemia, a life threatening disease that generally
has unknown causes, said Dodds. There is no scientific documentation to back
up label claims for annual administration of these vaccines, she said.

Dr. Bob Rogers, DVM, Critter Fixer Pet Hospital, in Texas, agrees.

“Dogs and cats no longer need to be vaccinated against distemper, parvo, and
feline leukemia every year,” Rogers said. “Once the initial series of puppy
or kitten vaccinations and first annual vaccinations are completed,
immunity…persists for life. Not only are annual boosters for parvo and
distemper unnecessary, they subject the pet to the potential risk of adverse
reactions, he added.

Vaccines against Corona virus, Leptospirosis, and Lyme disease for dogs
should be avoided, he said.

“The duration of immunity for vaccines for diseases like rabies, distemper,
and parvovirus have been shown to be 7 years,” Rogers said. “More
importantly it has been scientifically proven that, after the initial
series, when vaccines are re-administered, the immune status of the patient
is not enhanced. Antibodies from the initial vaccine block the subsequent
vaccines from having any effect. In cats, the risk of Vaccine Associated
Fibrosarcomas can be reduced by avoiding adjuvanted vaccines and unnecessary
vaccines like chlamydia for cats.”

Dodds and Rogers suggest pet owners ask their veterinarians to perform
vaccine antibody titer tests, which test antibodies for distemper and
parvovirus annually after the initial series of vaccines.