Most veterinarians have noticed over the years that the diseases we so heavily vaccinate for are commonly found in younger, immature patients and far more seldom in older pets. That could be because older pets have improved their immunity through natural exposure, or it could be because of frequent vaccination when they were young.
Not necessarily. I am not one of those overzealous holistic veterinarians who believe all vaccines are evil and every disease is caused by veterinarians giving vaccines. I certainly believe some vaccinations are needed. I also acknowledge that a small percentage of patients have adverse reactions, and in those patients vaccines should be avoided.
Here is the thing. If a pet already has decent immunity, why take the risk of a reaction for a shot they do not really need?
There are now simple blood tests that tell us whether there are enough circulating antibodies against canine distemper and canine parvovirus, or feline distemper and feline leukemia virus. The science is not exact, and whether antibodies always equal immunity remains an open question. But because I do not see these diseases start in mature animals, I believe we may not have to vaccinate every year for every disease. So instead we do antibody titer testing each year and adjust vaccinations accordingly.
Most dog and cat vaccines are made from virus particles. Vaccines like injectable Bordetella, Leptospira and Lyme disease are made from bacteria. These are called bacterins and they are far more likely to cause severe reactions. We try to avoid those where possible. We do use intranasal Bordetella.
By the way, the excuse that a pet does not go outside and therefore does not need vaccines does not hold up. I believe natural exposure to street viruses is what keeps immune cells awake. Strictly indoor pets do not have that, so their immunity subsides earlier.
That is a completely different scenario. I have seen rabies cases in humans and in animals in Africa. It is a grotesque and horrible incurable disease.
Florida is a legally declared rabies area. Every year there are confirmed cases of rabies in the wildlife here, so Florida law mandates repeated rabies vaccination for all domestic dogs and cats. The law does not recognise vaccination titers for rabies. If your dog is not vaccinated and it bites a human, even slightly, they have the right to euthanize your dog and send the head off for testing.
So the best we can do is shop for the safest rabies vaccines we can find, for instance thimerosal free vaccines.
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