Yearly Vaccinations

[Shelley123]

It's not clear from the report what scientific eveidence there is only that no veterinary colleges in the USA reccomend a yearly vaccination protocol, this has been the case from the early 90's.
I assume the study proves that the Pets without boosters haven't contracted the disease in that time ?
If they have done the study in the USA and it is proved correct, then there should be no need for another one if the evidence is reliable.

[Velvet]

There are alternatives, i have heard folk speak of them, either herbal or homeopathic. I was surprised to hear some Show (dogs) folk use them.

Years ago a vet we went to said that a dog out walking streets by time it was 6/7 years should have enough immunity in its system for it not to matter if a booster was late or missed. One of ours had gone over its booster date ny 4 months. I do know folk who never vaccinate past puppy vaccs.

It will be interesting to see the reply from the RCVS

[farthing]

Originally Posted by Shelley123

It's not clear from the report what scientific eveidence there is only that no veterinary colleges in the USA reccomend a yearly vaccination protocol, this has been the case from the early 90's.
I assume the study proves that the Pets without boosters haven't contracted the disease in that time ?
If they have done the study in the USA and it is proved correct, then there should be no need for another one if the evidence is reliable.

That's interesting, but certainly here in recent years the distemper vaccine has been extended to 3 years, I would have assumed they others would have followed if this was the case. If it is from info from pet dogs, the chances are they are less likely to have been exposed to the diseases, due to most people having their animals vaccinated.
For a proper study you would need 2 control groups-
1/ unvaccinated
2/ vaccinated yearly
then the various 'treatments'
3/ vaccinate as a puppy and not vaccinated the next year and infect with the disease.
.....and so on for I guess 15 years.
You would need a fairly large number for each of these groups ( I worked in seeds and the minimum number we would use was 100/ treatment)
Each disease would need to have each of these treatments.

This would be a very expensive and practically impossible study because some dogs would need to be kept in a controlled environment for up to 15 years.
If you then wanted to test for reactions, like auto immune disease- there may well be a need to look at different breeds, because some breeds are more prone to developing this.

[farthing]

Originally Posted by Velvet

There are alternatives, i have heard folk speak of them, either herbal or homeopathic. I was surprised to hear some Show (dogs) folk use them.

Years ago a vet we went to said that a dog out walking streets by time it was 6/7 years should have enough immunity in its system for it not to matter if a booster was late or missed. One of ours had gone over its booster date ny 4 months. I do know folk who never vaccinate past puppy vaccs.

It will be interesting to see the reply from the RCVS

I did hear of a rabbit rescue that chose to use homeopathic treatment- she went on to lose nearly all her rabbits to VHD. Admittedly rabbits are much more exposed to their specific disease due to the vectors that spread them and that fact that there are wild rabbits who act as carriers- I suppose the same would apply to cats who go outside.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by farthing

I did hear of a rabbit rescue that chose to use homeopathic treatment- she went on to lose nearly all her rabbits to VHD. Admittedly rabbits are much more exposed to their specific disease due to the vectors that spread them and that fact that there are wild rabbits who act as carriers- I suppose the same would apply to cats who go outside.

I can well believe it Farthling. I would just be too wary not to vacc yearly. Too scared of something going wrong. Too tragic when something does go wrong.

[alexgirl73]

Well, as I've said before, my cats aren't vaccinated, and I don't intend to start now. They are all indoors only, come into no contact with any other cats and I firmly believe that vaccinating yearly is unneccesary, of course that is just my personal opinion, and each to their own lol.

[Elaine]

I personally beleive that we do over vaccinate our pets but see the arguement from both sides tbh.
Like Alex, I had one cat who was indoor only and never vaccinated and he lived a long and healthy life.
I stopped Eva and Bernies vaccs last year as they too were pretty much indoor with access to the back garden when I was home, they dont come into contact with other cats. Sadly Eva is no longer with us and we now have Milly who will be vaccinated for a few years, then I'll review as you never know when circumstances will change.
As for my dog, she will have to be vaccinated each year because of the nature of my job amongst other things.

[farthing]

I am quite interested as to why people are so against vaccination, compared to worming and flea treatment, also used as a prevenative measure. These are also chemicals that we pump into our animals' bodies, at a more frequent rate than vaccines?

[Shelley123]

Originally Posted by farthing

I am quite interested as to why people are so against vaccination, compared to worming and flea treatment, also used as a prevenative measure. These are also chemicals that we pump into our animals' bodies, at a more frequent rate than vaccines?

I am not against vaccination, Farthing. In fact it is a most wonderful discovery that we are all lucky to have.
What i personaly am questioning is if we are vaccinating uneccesarily.
As for worming and flea treatment i keep telling myself to look for more natural alternatives.
BTW i didn't realise Distemper vaccine was 3 yearly anywhere in the uk, i'm sure our vets still offer it annualy. I will have to look into it.
It's amazing what is involved in research isn't it .

[angieh]

I hate fleas - and I am so sorry Kizzy and Pip, but I'm sure you hate them too, so I treat regularly.