Did you know???There is an incredible amount of information out there about vaccines and their side effects. Often previously considered to be benign and harmless, now we are learning that we were wrong! Vaccines can have very many serious side effects, including autoimmune disorders, epilepsy, encephalitis, allergies, behavior problems, digestive disorders, cancer and death.
Did you know that you should NEVER give combination vaccines (a vaccine that contains more than one virus). The vast majority of vets give these combination vaccines only, so you will likely have to ask your vet to special-order your puppy's vaccines for you. They may tell you its not possible to get a single-virus vaccine, don't believe them! Many don't want to order it in because it is more work for them! Galaxy makes the "Galaxy-D" single distemper vaccine; Intervet (Proguard) and Duramune both make single Parvo vaccines.
The all-to-common multi-virus vaccines tend to confuse to immune system rather than stimulate it. Many of these combo-vaccines contain anywhere from 5-8 different diseases! Where in nature would your dog be exposed to that many diseases all at the same time? You can only imagine the dog would have a very difficult time effectively fighting that many diseases at once! Just think about the stress on the dog's immune system, and especially on a young puppy who's immune system is still developing. Excessive vaccination can actually cause the immune system to cease working altogether. I call that the "I can't handle it anymore, I quit!" response.
Did you know...There is no valid reason for giving the same vaccine over and over again to a puppy. The reason this practice was started is because puppies receive maternal antibodies from their dam while they are nursing, and these gradually wear off after weaning. But they wear off at different rates in different puppies, so we have no way of knowing for sure when they have worn off....it can be anywhere from 5-16 weeks, although the average is 6-10. Giving a puppy shots while it still has maternal antibodies is useless, as the maternal antibodies will "block" the vaccine and prevent immunity from being established. So vets in their infinite wisdom decided to give puppies vaccines over and over again so that eventually one will be given after the maternal antibodies are worn down. But since we don't know when they were down, it could leave pups unprotected for several weeks, which is why vets will tell you to keep your young puppy off the streets and away from strange dogs until it "has had all its shots" at 12-16 weeks.
So if we have to keep puppy isolated even if giving all these most-likely useless shots, then why do we bother putting all that extra stress on the poor puppy's system? Doesn't it make more sense to not give those shots (since they likely won't work anyway) and just be careful with puppy until he is a little older? Stay away from dog parks, pet stores and other areas frequented by large numbers of dogs until after 4 months old. Do your public socializing outside the grocery store, library, Home Depot, any place you can think about that has lots of people, but few dogs. Invite people over to your house to play with puppy, they can bring their adult, healthy dogs with them for playtime.
The practice of giving annual vaccinations is a practice developed by the vaccine manufacturers, so that they will sell more vaccines. Vaccines don't suddenly "expire" after a year, that's just when the manufacturer's stopped testing the immunity. ONCE IMMUNITY TO A VIRUS EXISTS, IT PERSISTS FOR YEARS OR LIFE. There is no need to keep rechecking titers and revaccinating every 3 years or whatever. You cannot add more immunity to an already immune dog. It is not immunologically possible. All you are doing is increasing the risk of chronic disease....there is no benefit.
Posted by jenny4
My vet (Banfield) gives single vaccines for this very reason, so they can watch any allergies. (we discovered my pup is allergic to lyme vaccine)
the only combo my puppy has received was a galaxy 5 way ppv which was given by the breeder before i bought the pup.
Posted by Goldengal
Thanks for the information. My vet has already changed her protocol on giving annual shots. She's a sharp cookie!
Posted by bdogg w
I DIDNT KNOW
Posted by DaveSFV
I've known about this for many years. I vaccinate once and then a booster "if" it is required to complete the immunity. Unfortunately many mis-informed boarding kennels and other places require so called "up to date shots". Also there is the every three year rabies vaccination required in my city to re-license.
Posted by ginbail
Rather than vaccinate our dogs annually, we do TITERS on our dogs. A blood sample is drawn from the dogs, and it is tested to measure a dog's resistance to common dog diseases. If the scores indicate that a vaccine is in order, you only get the vaccine you need. If the scores indicate no vaccines are needed, you're done until next year. You can also have your vet do TITERS for specific conditions that might affect your dog. The cost is the same as getting annual shots, and most vets are happy to do TITERS for dogs and their people who have concerns about over vaccination.
Remember one thing ... Rabies shots are required by law in most places, and you can't do TITERS for rabies.
Orignal From: Did you know???
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