14/08/2018
Are you over-vaccinating your pet?
SO JUST HOW LONG DO YOUR PET’S SHOTS LAST?
Definitely longer than a year!
According to the top pet immunologist (aka vaccine expert) in the world, Dr. Ronald Schultz, Ph.D. – “ Annual revaccination provides no benefit and may increase the risk for adverse reactions.”
What the heck are adverse reactions (or side effects)?
Well according to the other rock star pet immunologist Dr. Jean Dodds:
“Side effects from dog vaccinations can occur anywhere from instantly up to several weeks or months later. Vaccines can even cause susceptibility to chronic diseases that appear much later in a dog’s life (Dodd, 2001).
Severe and fatal adverse reactions include:
•Susceptibility to infections.
•Neurological disorders and encephalitis.
•Aberrant behavior, including unprovoked aggression.
•Vaccines are linked to seizures. Distemper, parvovirus, rabies and, presumably, other vaccines have been linked with poly neuropathy, a nerve disease that involves inflammation of several nerves. (Dodds,2001)”
SO HOW LONG EXACTLY DOES YOUR PET’S VACCINE LAST?
According to the recommendations of the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA), (basically the dudes who set the standards for the vets): “Among healthy dogs, all commercially available [core] vaccines are expected to induce a sustained protective immune response lasting at least 5 yr. thereafter”
Here’s the breakdown of the core vaccines from Dr. Ronald Schultz:
Minimum Duration of Immunity for Canine Vaccines:
Distemper- 7 years by challenge
Parvovirus – 7 years by challenge
Adenovirus – 7 years by challenge
Canine rabies – 3 years by challenge
The moral of the story here, if you have no idea when your pet is due or has been vaccinated, then just run a titer test and this will confirm if you are due, rather than over-vaccinate your poor pet, setting the stage for future problems!
What’s a titer test?
A titer test (pronounced tight-errr) is a laboratory or in-house veterinary test measuring the existence and level of antibodies (necessary to fight off disease) in your pet’s blood. Basically, it’s a test that will tell you whether or not you actually need to vaccinate your pet.
It’s also super useful when making a decision about vaccinating a pet with an unknown vaccination history, or for determining if pets have received immunity from vaccination.
Vaccinating your pet is super important so don’t lose the overall message here: VACCINATE, JUST DON’T OVER-VACCINATE!
According to Dr. Dodds:
“Vaccines have achieved many important benefits for companion animals, and has saved more animals' lives than any other medical advance.”
Want more on titer testing? Check it out:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153271303942028&set=pb.509362027.-2207520000.1461100680.&type=3&theater
Rodney Habib
"An educated, informed and well-researched community of pet owners can only put more pressure on the pet food industry to be better! When pet owners know better, they will only do better!"
