"A practice that was started many years ago and that lacks scientific validity or verification is annual revaccinations. Almost without exception there is no immunologic requirements for annual revaccination. Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal. Successful vaccination to most bacterial pathogens produces an immunologic memory that remains for years, allowing an animal to develop a protective anamnestic (secondary) response when exposed to virulent organisms... Furthermore, revaccination with most viral vaccines fails to stimulate an anamnestic (secondary) response as a result of interference by existing antibody... The practice of annual vaccination in our opinion should be considered of questionable efficacy unless it is used as a mechanism to provide an annual physical examination or it is required by law (i.e. certain states require annual revaccinations for rabies)."

Tom Phillips and Ron Schultz, "Canine and Feline Vaccines," in Current Veterinary Therapy XI, ed. R. Kirk and J. Bonagura (Philadelphia: Saunders, 1992)

The above excerpt is from a pillar book in conventional veterinary medicine: Current Veterinary Therapy XI . If we don't vaccinate humans every year, why is it that we are advised to vaccinate our dogs annually? Many veterinarians (both conventional and holistic) nowadays are seriously questioning the current guidelines for vaccination in animals, even leading veterinary immunologists believe we're overemphasizing immunization. I understand this is a hot issue, as it challenges 50 years of rapid expansion of vaccine use and the income it provides both to vets and labs that manufacture the vaccines, so it builds controversy and presents an ethical dilemma.

History tells us that the introduction of vaccines stopped epidemics by limiting the spread of contagious diseases, both animal and human, leading to a decreased mortality. In animals, this taught us that domestic animals were living longer due to those vaccines and to their "responsible owners." But what it doesn't tell us it's that Pasteur himself ultimately recanted much of his own theories with the maxim, "the microbe is nothing, the terrain is everything", and that his success with rabies was hardly as great as he originally claimed. Furthermore, if we look into some human diseases (as there are more available data than for animal diseases) such as polio and measles, we can see that the measles death rate had declined by more than 95% before the vaccine was introduced, and that the polio death rate had declined by more than 50% before the introduction of the vaccine (data from Vaccines: Are They Really Safe and Effective by Neil Miller - New Atlantean Press, 1994), so we can infer that these diseases were diminishing just as fast before as after vaccination started. Hence, it appears that vaccination had no positive effect on these illnesses, but rather they diminished through natural resistance of the population and improved hygiene measures.

It is well known that a certain number of humans will be damaged by vaccines, but most vets claim that only a tiny minority of dogs do so and suffer adverse vaccine reactions. Veterinary homeopaths don't see it this way, in fact we believe that the risks are much higher than are admitted. There is solid scientific research to demonstrate that vaccines can be harmful. In her book, What Vets Don't Tell About Vaccines, Catherine O'Driscoll gives researched facts about that vaccines can cause encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain - encephalitis has many diverse symptoms, usually involving a highly sensitized state such as allergies, skin problems, behavioral problems, convulsions, eating disorders, and more-, they are mixed with deadly poisons, they can cause the diseases they are designed to prevent, they shed into the environment, spreading disease, and they disarm and unbalance the immune system.

In my experience as a veterinarian I have many times seen dogs getting parvovirus in spite of having been vaccinated against it (which demonstrates that vaccines are not 100% effective), and furthermore, getting it immediately after the vaccine injection from the virus contained in the vaccine - the explanation that's usually given to this is that "the dog might have had low defenses", which shows that for an animal to be able to get a disease, he must be susceptible to it, and if there's a subjacent chronic disease which weakens the immune system (such as that caused by excessive revaccination, which is even transmitted to the offspring) it is highly probable that this will occur. I have also had cases of allergic reactions to the vaccines, not only in puppies, but in older dogs that never had them in the previous years too, which may have well been due to the excessive vaccination during those previous years imbalancing their immune system. I have been fortunate that my patients never died of these "accidents" (as they are called by conventional veterinarians), but I know of colleagues having patients die from an acute anaphylactic shock to the vaccine. More and more veterinary immunologists are relating many chronic immunologic disorders such as allergies and autoimmune diseases to vaccines and this overvaccination, so they are looking into new and different protocols, that keep changing on a regular basis as they are revised, but basically point out the lack of immunologic requirements for annual revaccination. Veterinary immunologist, Jane Dodds, DVM, in her revised (April, 2000) vaccine protocol, only recommends vaccinating against parvo and distemper in puppies, and a 1 year booster in "breeds or families of dogs susceptible to or effected with immune dysfunction, immune-mediated disease, immune-reactions associated with vaccinations, or autoimmune endocrine disease (e.g., thyroiditis, Addison's or Cushing's disease, diabetes, etc.)" Thereafter, she recommends to "annually measure serum antibody titers against specific canine infectious agents such as distemper and parvovirus. This is especially recommended for animals previously experiencing adverse vaccine reactions or breeds at higher risk for such reactions (e.g., Weimaraner, Akita, American Eskimo, Great Dane)." I'm not including her recommendations for rabies, as rabies shots are a legal issue, and one must follow whatever is mandated by each own's state. The current mandatory annual rabies boosters are based more on fear than on scientific validity of such practice. If this weren't so, it would make no sense that some places only require 2- or even 3-year boosters, and that some states in the USA have started to admit titering certificates as a waiver for mandatory rabies boosters.

In homeopathy, it has been seen for years that vaccinations are doing harm. Besides the immediate risk of vaccines' side-effects such as allergic reactions and anaphylactic shock, there are other reasons to avoid vaccinations whenever possible as vaccines represent a major assault on the body's immune system. Attentuated micro-organisms or killed viruses or bacteria are injected into the system, an antinatural route of infection. This insult to the body avoids the first line of defenses, thus flooding the system with millions of micro-organisms or viral particles, causing disorders and abnormalities in the immune system which then manifest as chronic diseases in animals. The overall effect, while potentially being able to protect the individual from a specific, acute disease (again remember that no vaccine is 100% effective in providing immunity), is to weaken or create imbalance in the immune system, so the underlying tendencies to disease are brought to the surface, which means that vaccinations represent a major stress. In a shorter or longer period of time (from days to a few weeks) after the administration of vaccines we many times see the appearance of chronic problems such as epilepsy, skin allergies, persistent respiratory infections, irritable bowel syndrome, auto-immune diseases and cancer, just to name a few. What we are now seeing are generations of over-vaccinated animals and their offspring are suffering the penalty of this medical abuse. Even when vaccines may have helped in reducing the incidence of severe, acute diseases, the result has been new epidemics of more insiduous, chronic diseases that are difficult to treat or even cure and that lower the quality of life for many individuals and animals.

The decision to vaccinate your animal companions or not, or what to vaccinate against should be carefully made based on the real risk of exposure and the actual effectiveness of the vaccines available. Jane Dodds, DVM states, "I do NOT use Bordetella, corona virus, leptospirosis or Lyme vaccines unless these diseases are endemic in the local area or specific kennel. Futhermore, the currently licensed leptospira bacterins do not contain the serovars causing the majority of clinical leptospirosis today." In fact, the effectiveness of these vaccines in dogs is seriously questionable, and they are harmful. Veterinary homeopath Charles E. Loops in the article The Vaccination Dilemma and Your Healthy Companions makes the following recommendations for cats and dogs: "...Remember, VACCINES ARE NOT HARMLESS. Only vaccinate if the threat is real. The following are some of my recommendations concerning your companions' health in choosing whether to vaccinate.
1. If you can, don't vaccinate puppies under three months of age...
2. Kittens should only be vaccinated for Panleukopenia and not before three months of age...
3. Puppies and kittens can be given homeopathic nosodes beginning at three weeks of age, if there is a potential for exposure to Distemper, Parvovirus, or Panleukopenia...
4. Booster vaccinations are completely unnecessary... Homeopathic nosodes can be given periodically if you are concerned or if you think your animals live a high risk, life style.
5. Rabies Vaccinations should be given as dictated by state laws. Lyssin, the homeopathic nosode, should be given within a few hours after the vaccination. Clearly, the rabies vaccination is effective for many years more than state laws require booster vaccination.
6. Booster vaccinations can cause SEVERE set-backs when an animal is being treated homeopathically for chronic problems...
7. My personal recommendation is NOT to vaccinate at all. The best road to good health is feeding a diet rich in fresh foods, raw meats for the carnivores, and avoiding vaccinations and allopathic medications. Antbiotics and other allopathic drugs should only be used in situations where their use is clearly indicated, and this should be only in potentially, life-threatening situations...
8. Commercial diets should be carefully chosen...
9. The best diet is a RAW FOOD DIET and we have recipes..."

So, what are these homeopathic nosodes that Dr. Loops recommends? NOSODES are remedies or medicines made from diseases material and are diluted and potentized following the homeopathic method (see Introduction to Veterinary Homeopathy) so only the energy and a lack of toxicity exists. They are administered orally as any other homeopathic remedy, and have been seen to both prevent and treat the disease they're made of (isopathy). Even when they're not officially recognized as "vaccines" and are considered an unconventional treatment, data from leading British veterinary homeopaths, such as George MacLeod and Christopher E. Day, and clinical experience in North America support its use.

More info:

• Read the Vaccination Survey of Adverse effects from Vaccines in Dogs.
• Read info on Vaccines in Weimaraners, including real life stories.

For further knowledge regarding this topic, please proceed to the books section, where you will find my suggested readings or to the links page, where you will find some links to other sites with more information on this subject.