Vaccines???

[TappyShoes]

I would bet injection site tumors in dogs are more common than we think. I took my jrt in for routine shots when he was about 3. The shot area swelled up slightly within a day or so and never went away. A year or so later the bump had to be surgically removed as it was cancerous. Vet never acknoweledged this happened with the routine vaccine.

 

[GlassOnion]

O.O

Did...did ya'll even bother taking him in between the time of the lump and the next year?

There's a reason we give each shot in specific areas of the dog: so that when a bump DOES occur (generally the result of an allergic reaction to the vaccine) we know exactly which shot it was that caused the reaction and we can treat for it.



By the way I'm not arguing that there's no such thing as over vaccination. But no one has said at what point 'over vaccination' occurs. From my experience and what I've heard of my coworker's experience (and they've been in the field much longer than I), it's not a problem. At least in our area. Most of the vets give the same three vaccines in our area, just at differing prices.

 

[TappyShoes]

Did I take him in between vaccination and a year later.. - of course I did - and the vet's advice each time was just to watch it. Needless to say I don't use that vet any longer. I didn't feel the detail was as important as the point in my first post.

 

[IliamnasQuest]

As someone who worked as a vet tech for many years, and who has been very active with dogs and other animals for over 20 years, I will never vaccinate my animals on a yearly basis again.

I was really glad to see the veterinary teaching schools out there finally acknowledge that the vaccines should not be given yearly. It is counter-productive to the health of the animal to vaccinate yearly for something that they are already protected against. In fact, other than rabies (required by law) I don't vaccinate my dogs at all once they hit 5-7 years old.

GlassOnion, if your vet is still vaccinating yearly then s/he is way behind the times and NOT doing what is right for the animals. Vets who continue to promote yearly vaccinations are very simply wanting the money. It's been shown (and agreed upon by the veterinary teaching schools) that yearly vaccinations are not healthy for the animal. It's easy to find the information that comes from those veterinary teaching schools - the ones who actually do the research. Any vet still vaccinating yearly has either refused to read the veterinary journals over the last several years, or is deliberately mis-leading their clients.

It's also counter-productive to the health of an animal to vaccinate at the time the body is under stress (as in surgery, even basic surgery such as a spay or neuter). I understand why vets do this - it's easier than trying to get the client back another time, and it's more time effective than setting up a later appointment. But the good of the animal should ALWAYS come first. While some animals seem to handle the double stress of surgery and vaccinations just fine (we used to do this too, back in the "old" days), there's just no valid reason to take the chance that it could create problems.

If your vet(s) are keeping up on the current news, then they surely have read the recommendations regarding vaccines. You may want to question why they're still giving yearly vaccinations (if they are). Their clients won't be too pleased when they realize they've been lied to all this time.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

 

[GlassOnion]

And strains change also. The vaccination they got last year may not be good the next year if a new strain has evolved from a previous one.

 

[Doberluv]

I get my dogs their puppy shots (3 series) and a booster one year later. That's it for life. (rabies excluded....and even that, I fudge on, spread it out longer) I've done enough research and made my decision about 4 or 5 years ago.

 

[shadowfacedanes]

If your vet(s) are keeping up on the current news, then they surely have read the recommendations regarding vaccines. You may want to question why they're still giving yearly vaccinations (if they are). Their clients won't be too pleased when they realize they've been lied to all this time.

Great Post! And just to add to what you said (the portion I quoted), clients are now filing class action suits against veterinarians who vaccinate this way. So, your vet could very well be setting himself up for an ugly litigation.

 

[IliamnasQuest]

And strains change also. The vaccination they got last year may not be good the next year if a new strain has evolved from a previous one.

For the most part, the vaccines remain constant from year to year for parvo, distemper, leptospirosis, parainfluenza, hepatitis, rabies. They do change the bordetella vaccines from time to time, but since the strains of that can change frequently it's almost a waste (in my opinion) to vaccinate for bordetella type illnesses as they can vary so much that the vaccine is likely to not even affect them. I've had dogs get respiratory illnesses twice in the past 18 years, and once they were current on the vaccination for bordetella and still got it.

The normal distemper/parvo and rabies vaccinations given by some vets yearly are the same old thing from year to year. And any vet still vaccinating on a yearly basis does not have the good of the animals at heart.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska