Danielle Holliday”s letter to the editor about the horrors of pet vaccination could not be further from the truth.
Unfortunately, you can find a website to “prove” absolutely anything you want.
Her first paragraph claims that the “New” vaccine protocol has been adopted by all North American Veterinary Schools, saying that dogs and cats don”t need any vaccines after six months of age and that they don”t need puppy boosters.
If you want to read U.C. Davis” vaccine protocol, check it yourself, http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/small_animal/internal_medicine/newsletters/vaccination_protocols.cfm.
Or just google any veterinary school”s vaccine protocol. She states that if a puppy or kitten is vaccinated two weeks apart, they suppress rather than stimulate immunity. Wrong again. The reason that we start vaccinating at six-eight weeks of age is because that is the age that their maternal antibodies, that they get from nursing from a vaccinated mother, start to wear off. At this age they probably only get about two to three weeks immunity from a vaccine, which is why we booster so frequently, especially here in Lake County where we see a lot of Parvovirus.
Not until they are 16 weeks of age are their immune systems mature enough to get at least a year”s worth of immunity.
With uncommon diseases such as Rabies, we simply wait until they are 16 weeks of age. If we waited to do this with the Parvo/combo vaccine there is a high-risk they would be exposed to the Parvo virus even if they never leave your yard, assuming that you do, and you don”t sterilize your shoes when you get home. After the final puppy booster, they are vaccinated a year later, and there we know that most animals have at least a three-year immunity, and yes, probably longer. If you are worried about any possible vaccine reaction as your pet ages then just ask that they do an antibody titer to check immune status. The higher cost of the titer is the main reason why people just to choose to booster it every three years.
This year we had the worst Parvo outbreak that I have seen in the 20 years that I have been a veterinarian in Lake County. I just saw another case yesterday.
We would personally like to invite Danielle Holliday to our clinics next time we are struggling to keep a family”s puppy alive, with Parvo, as they are constantly vomiting and having projectile bloody diarrhea, often going a week without eating. We would like her to explain to the family, often with kids, how they did the right thing by not vaccinating.
She can also explain it to them how we veterinarians are getting rich off of the profit margin of a Parvo/comb vaccine that we give for $22. Maybe she would be willing to help the family pay for the cost of hospitalization, IV fluids, nausea medication, IV antibiotics, and occasional blood transfusions.
Chris Holmes DVM
Wasson Memorial Veterinary Clinic
Jeff Smith DVM, Joanna Holtz DVM Brie Duff DVM
Middletown Animal Hospital
Veterinarian weighs in on issue
I”m on board with the above letter. I just want to add that vaccines given closer together than every two weeks may be ineffective from antibody interference.
Debi Sally, D.V.M.
