Most pet owners today are finding the whole issue of pet vaccines more and more confusing. Your local conventional veterinarian is telling you that "you should, as a responsible pet owner, follow my advice - vaccinate your dog and cat every year" with annual boosters. And at the same time you've read the horrible stories about pets who develop cancer right at the site of a vaccine injection, and many other stories about adverse reactions to vaccines in both cats and dogs.



Are we vaccinating our pets too often, with too many vaccines? Are veterinarians really doing what is best for our pets, or is this all about the 'bottom line'?

There are several different points of view, and they are often contradictory. Most veterinarians are telling pet owners to vaccinate yearly, that vaccines do not and will not harm your pets. Many even tell pet owners to vaccinate casually, that "at worst, they won't cause any harm". The evidence from current studies, and the experience of many individual veterinarians and other pet health practitioners, clearly suggests otherwise.

What are the reasons for vaccinating our pets?

Why we vaccinate in the first place, and a basic understanding of vaccines, is important. The reason we give our pets vaccines is to protect them against infectious disease. When a vaccine is administered, it stimulates the immune system to produce antibodies ("Opposite Invaders"). The new antibody is produced just for the virus we have vaccinated for. Then if your dog or cat is exposed to the actual virus later on, he or she will be able to respond to the disease quickly and produce antibodies to overcome the disease before it takes hold in your pet's system.

In theory, since vaccines are able to protect our pets from life threatening diseases like rabies and parvovirus, they sound wonderful. In that sense they most are - vaccines have saved countless lives. If that's the case, why be concerned? Are there real drawbacks, reasons for caution?

The dangers of vaccines

The evidence for caution is there for us to see - we just need to simply look. The medical advancements we've achieved should be allowing our pets to be healthier than ever, but the truth is that our pets are sicker than ever before in history. It is becoming more and more common to see cancer in pets under 5 years of age, and autoimmune diseases are on the rise. Diseases that have shown a link to over-vaccination include leukemia, inflammatory bowel disease, skin cancer, immune mediated hemolytic anemia, immune mediated skin disease, skin allergies, arthritis, and neurological conditions. Links exist to most of the common chronic health diseases of both cats and dogs as a result of over-vaccination.

The reasoning for this is that when we vaccinate, the immune system can become 'over-taxed' and respond inappropriately. This is especially true when multiple vaccines are given at once. Pet owners may see adverse reactions directly (within 24 hours) after their pet has been vaccinated, with their pet having diarrhea, vomiting, or an abscess showing up at the site of the vaccine injection. In other pets, it may show up later, as an allergy, cancer, or a multitude of other diseases. One recent study has shown that the more vaccines that are given at once, the higher the risk of developing sarcoma (soft-tissue cancer). The study shows up to approximately 175% increase in cancer risk if vaccines are administered in the same location.

While over-vaccination may not be the sole reason we have so many sick pets today, it is definitely a major factor. Other reasons include low quality food, environmental toxins, and genetic deterioration due to poor quality breeding. The combination of these factors is leaving each generation more and more susceptible to disorders and chronic disease. Regardless, we are vaccinating our pets too often for more diseases than they truthfully need.

Why we over-vaccinate

The reasons are many, and include the original belief that "at worst, vaccines will not cause your pet any harm", to the bottom line of the drug companies that produce vaccines and individual veterinarians. Veterinarians might be ignoring current research because they feel vaccine benefits outweigh vaccine risks, or simply because they continue to rely on 'annual boosters' as a major source of income.

At this point, you are probably wondering if you should vaccinate your pets at all, if the risks are so high. The short answer is that in most cases, you should - just not as many and not as often as you've previously been doing, unless you are willing to make changes in how you care for your pet and how you view the risks involved. Stayed tuned for Part 2 of this series, where I'll give you my recommended vaccine schedule and discuss vaccine alternatives.