Did you know that dog vaccination guarantees protection against disease? Well that is at least what the pharmaceutical companies’ marketing departments would like you to believe and it certainly is working on some people. Faith left a comment on my blog about this very topic and then I went to her blog and discovered some misinformation that needs to be corrected.
Here is an excerpt from her blog Dog Health Information about dog vaccination -
Dog vaccination guarantee protection from diseases and your pet can develop strong immunity thus making vaccination a vital factor of your dog health care. Nevertheless, engaging your pets to ‘annual vaccinations’ needs to be consulted from veterinarians. It is important that you know what and how often to give your dog a vaccination, for his total safety.
I totally agree with her about consulting with your veterinarian about what to give and how often as long as they are giving you the most current recommendations and information on the subject -
Is your vet STILL overvaccinating your dog? : The 2006 canine vaccination guidelines
But do vaccines actually guarantee protection? The simple answer is ‘no’. Vaccines do not guarantee protection against disease. A quick look at the research shows that vaccines protect anywhere from 85% to 95% of the time, which of course is good but it is definitely not a guarantee. Even being properly vaccinated your dog may still become infected by the diseases they are vaccinated for, it is not complete protection. It is the best protection available especially against diseases such as Distemper, Hepatitis and Parvo, but it is not a guarantee.
I am not suggesting that you forgo vaccinating your puppy because it does not guarantee protection but just be aware of the actual facts that vaccines are very powerful immune system stimulants but they do not offer 100% protection of the diseases. Because of this it is important to protect your dog in other ways, such as proper nutrition, exercise, and annual exams and blood tests from your veterinarian to supplement a proper vaccination protocol for your dog. Basically focus on all the other aspects of dog health to help protect your dog the best way possible.
dog health, vaccination
Hello , I am a little confused about Lyme Tick Disease. We had our Chessadore (1/2 chocolate lab & 1/2 chessapeake retriever) puppy vaccinated for Lyme disease and were using frontline too. But after a day on the outer beach (we live on the cape) the “Lakota” starting limping on his front leg, we took that in stride as he was very active on the beach. The next day though he could not even stand up, I had to carry him from the upstairs bedroom to the truck to bring him to the vet. Anyway he had lyme disease and is being treated for it now. He seems to be fine. We live in the woods and the vet says he will most likely get the disease again, the vet bill was over $300. Does any body have any preventive measures I do not know of for preventing this disease to occur again. Looking forward to your comments.
Best regards, Jim