Thanks for your input.

I provide the homeopathic remedies there as an alternative. There are many holistic practitioners who are adamant that they do in fact work.

I have amended the post above to make it very clear that I do not advocate the homeopathic remedies for puppies. Although there is a school of thought that says that vaccinations are not required even for puppies, I certainly do not go that far. I am interested in research in that area, but at this stage I defer to the view of the vast majority of experts (including those who say that annual vaccinations for adult dogs are never required), that puppies should always be vaccinated.

I believe that titer testing adult dogs every three years is the responsible thing to do.

Hope that clears up any misconception you may have about what I said in the post.

Regards,
Brigitte

Cost should never be a factor in determining whether to give your pets vaccinations or any type of treatment or preventive measure.

As for your question about whether all those specific shots are required, you can see what I have said about vaccinations in the post above.

There is information about heartworm prevention – here.

Regards,
Brigitte

Regards,
Brigitte

Anybody know what puts way more money into a vet's pocket than vaccines?

Treating parvo, kennel cough, heartworm, and distemper.

If you've been through any of these with your pet, you probably don't complain about the cost or risk of vaccination anymore.

The linked article by Dr. Bertani is very well informed and accurate.

While vaccines are not benign, and should not be overused, they are still critical to the health of our domestic animal population. Pet owners who don't vaccinate at all are abusing the privilege of living in a society that is generally responsible about vaccinating – this means the individual risk to one animal is low, but only as long as everyone else keeps vaccinating. Disease control in a population is a community effort. That's why animals in places without good vaccine compliance are absolutely overwhelmed with diseases that you and I will probably never have to suffer through with our pets. Vaccinating judiciously and minimally (core vaccines for everyone, at appropriate intervals, and non-core vaccines in high-risk situations) is not only intelligent and safe, but it is everyone's responsibility as members of a community. Avoiding vaccines because you have irrational and uninformed fears about them is selfish and irresponsible. Spend some time volunteering at an animal clinic or shelter in a border town to get an idea of what kinds of horrific diseases run rampant in undervaccinated populations.

Brigitte, it is fine to warn about unnecessary overvaccination, and you are mostly accurate in your statements about this. But you should refrain from suggesting "homeopathic alternatives" to vaccines. There is no such thing as a homeopathic alternative to a vaccine – these products may provide false peace of mind to the people who use them, but that is all they provide. We are not talking about supplements to keep coats shiny or breath fresh and other trivial things – the diseases we are talking about are miserable, horrific illnesses and the stakes are much, much higher. Until someone proves that pets treated with them can survive infection challenges with rabies, distemper, parvovirus, etc. then it is irresponsible to mention them in this context.

They do not roam, my yard is huge and fenced in, and they get a good workout. Nor do they mingle with other animals. When we do decide to go on Vaca our dogs get their Bordella shot.

Money is tight lately, i can no longer continue their annual shots. Having both done at the same time cost us alot of money.

Annual includes:

Exam Wellness _$61.00

Medical Waste Disposal Fee_$2.50

Rabies Canine 3 Year_ $22.00

Bordella/Para.(Kenn cough)_$22.00

Lyme Disease Booster Vaccine_$40.00

Lepto 4 Way Canine Booster_$21.00

4DX H Worm/Lyme/Ehrlic/anap_$55.00

Total___________________$425.00

Are all these shot necessary

I do make sure they get their Bordella when necessary, and their 3 yr Rabies Shot.

That's a great idea to find out what is compulsory by the law of your state, and only vaccinate if it is a legal requirement.

Poor Maggie. At least she's doing well now. The Transfer Factor products seem to be excellent for boosting immunity, and especially where steroids have been given over a prolonged period as they have with Maggie.

Regards,
Brigitte

Our Maggie, a Welsh Corgie, developed the same problem with her second set of puppy shots. She is now 1 year old and has gone through 6 months of steroids.

We did get her on 4Life transfer factor and she is doing fine. We are approaching the time for her Vet check-up and just know they will want to try the vaccinations again. I need to check into what is legally required and only allow that.

Thank you for all your newsletters.

May God Bless,
Wanda

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the cancer in your cats was caused or contributed to by the vaccinations. Cats seem particularly susceptible to developing cancer at the site of injections (any type of injection – vaccinations included), quite apart from the risk of the vaccination itself.

And yes, you're absolutely right. Giving the vaccines separately is certainly an important precaution.

Regards,
Brigitte

I stopped giving booster injections some years ago. Prior to making this decision I lost three of my favourite boy cats to cancer and I am sure this was caused by these unnecessary and dangerous injections.

Only recently did I realize that each vaccine should be given seperately so as to cause as little damage to the immune system as possible.l think the importance of this should be really stressed.(The practice of administering combi vaccines to humans is now causing all sorts of nasty health problems.)

I do still think one should give the innitial shots for the most serious diseases, but ONCE is enough !!

Hope all well down there.

Kind regards, Bill.