natural pet
An Argument for Vaccinating Intelligently by Erin Holder
T
he veterinary vaccination schedule was born long ago with little scientific backing. While some vaccines were brilliantly engineered, the vaccine schedule was assigned annually with almost no research behind it. The antiquated thought of vaccinating beloved pets yearly was born out of fear. Rabies could be transmitted to humans and distemper and parvovirus were killing litters across America. Dogs that lived in the backyard were more apt to come in yearly for immunization against rabies rather than a physical examination by the vet. But times have changed and the evolution of pets sleeping in the backyard to under the covers in bed has forced doctors to rethink their care. Why should each pet be treated as a member of the same herd? The dramatic rise in chronic diseases, including cancer in companion animals, has brought vaccinations under fire and caused scientists to retrospectively evaluate the vaccine schedule. As the world watches the most frightening pandemic of a lifetime unfold and scientists are working overtime to find a vaccine that could save lives, it is impossible
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to deny the importance of vaccinations. Polio and rinderpest have been eradicated in the U.S. and many other diseases are scarcely remembered. Parvovirus and distemper cases are dramatically down. For those veterinarians that remember entire litters being wiped out, vaccinations remain a subject to cling to. But perhaps there is too much of a good thing. Are we vaccinating intelligently or out of fear? The technology of vaccines has developed through time, becoming easier to create them and combine them. Now when a new pup comes in for a
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parvovirus vaccine, the vaccine contains material to stimulate immunity to parvovirus, distemper, hepatitis and parainfluenza. In addition, rabies, Bordetella, leptospirosis, leukemia, FIP (feline infectious peritonitis), Lyme and influenza are other vaccines given to developing furry babies—each vaccine carrying its own list of side effects, potentially life threatening, with varying degrees of efficacy. So when does the risk outweigh the benefit? Vaccines work by stimulating the immune system, a magnificent orchestra of precisely timed events, to create antibodies to the antigen (disease) and memory B-cells to reactivate as soon as it comes in contact with the disease again. The antibodies bind to the antigen making it impossible for the antigen to infect the body. The memory Bcells lie in the shadows waiting for any signs of the antigen to reappear and stimulate antibody production. Why then does it make sense to vaccinate yearly? The memory Bcells don’t forget. Antibody responses don’t fade away in 12 months. Continuing to stimulate the immune system over and over again with absurd annual vaccinations will lead to an orchestra in chaos. Now simple blooms outside become an antigen and the body wages an unnecessary war—allergies. Or the body fails to recognize and
