Sagan got his one-year booster vaccine last week. It did not go as I had planned and now I need to release my pressure valve. Let me say up front that I am not against vaccines so please grant me the opportunity to be angry without judging me.
The picture above shows Sagan sitting happily on Mel's bed.
I do believe that dogs are over-vaccinated if the standard protocol prescribed by a conventional vet is followed. Puppy bodies are not meant to be bombarded with so many vaccines at one time. Most vets push giving many vaccines in one injection. I suppose the idea is that it makes it easier and cheaper to have one office visit instead of splitting them up. Well, this makes me livid because I know too many dogs who have developed cancers at the vaccination sights and have died too early as a result. You may know of dogs yourself who have had tumors form on the shoulder or hip. Often these cancers can’t be treated with any kind of real success. Vets will tell you that there is no correlation but I do not believe it.
I had a discussion early on with our “Integrative” vet and I felt that he heard my concerns and actually agreed with my vaccination plan for Sagan. Guide dogs are required to have certain vaccines in order to be allowed in public places. I don’t have a problem with that. I just want to split them up with plenty of time in between for the body to adjust and also to be able to observe if there is an adverse reaction. If 5 vaccines are given in one injection, there is no way to know which one is causing a problem. To me, this is common sense. So many dogs now have all kinds of skin and food sensitivities which arrive after having their vaccinations.
Why am I so upset? I thought I had an agreement to only give the Distemper vaccine and then Rabies in a couple of months. I called the office three times to make sure that he was going to get only Distemper. They assured me that this would happen. I trusted them to keep their word. I even asked again when the nurse came to give him the vaccines that it was only Distemper. She assured me that it was. Well, when I got home and looked at the paperwork it said that he got 5 vaccines in one. There was nothing I could do after the fact. I feel violated. I called them and they gave me a song and dance about the Distemper vaccination always being given that way and the separate vaccines can’t be split up. I know that they can be split up even if they have to be ordered special. I thought it was understood that I wanted them split up even if I had to jump through hoops to have it that way. Did they think I wouldn’t notice?
Sagan had no immediate problems with the injection for which I am grateful. I have no way now to control the potential outcome as he grows older. From now on he will be getting blood titers done to find out if he still has antibodies. I will not be giving any more vaccinations for as long as I can stay away from them legally. He is due for the Rabies vaccine also. You can be sure that I will pester the vet a million times to make sure something isn’t being slipped in without my knowledge.
My hope is that pet guardians will start requesting that the vaccines be split up over time so that pharmaceutical companies will decide to offer them one at a time. Vaccine plans should be made according to geography and the lifestyle of the dog. Not all dogs need all vaccines available. Do your research and find a vet who can think for themselves and are not too arrogant to listen. We need to stand up for our pets so they can live long and healthy lives.
The picture above shows Sagan laying on Mel's bed as she folds laundry behind him.