| Vaccination
Vaccination
Is there a
safer way?
By Shawn Messonnier,
DVM
Recently, there has been a paradigm shift
in veterinary medicine. Over the last
few years, new research has determined
that most pets do not require annual immunizations,
since their immune systems maintain the
ability to fight off infections for several
years following immunization. Now there
are new vaccination recommendations you
should be aware of, as well as holistic
options that may help keep your animal
companion in optimum shape.
 New
vaccination protocols have been established
by a variety of medical organizations
(American Veterinary Medical Association,
American Animal Hospital Association,
Association of Feline Practitioners) as
well as the veterinary schools. These
protocols were developed in response to
the increasing occurrence of cancers in
some cats following repeated injections,
most commonly with vaccines (especially
for rabies and feline leukemia vaccines.)
The standard of immunization was an annual
set of “shots”, determined
by each individual practitioner, following
the initial puppy and kitten vaccination
series. While manufacturers of vaccines
recommended annual immunization based
upon testing to fulfill labeling requirements,
no one really knew how “long a shot
lasted” in the pet. We only knew
that the immunization would protect the
animal for at least one year.
Since the discovery of an increasing incidence
of sarcoma tumors in some cats who received
repeated immunization, researchers began
testing cats to see just how long immunity
from a vaccine might last. The goal was
to try to minimize vaccinations, and reduce
the risk of a cat developing an injection-site
sarcoma. While we still don’t know
the exact maximum duration of immunity
for the various vaccines (from a variety
of manufacturers) for cats and dogs, preliminary
research suggested that most pets maintained
immunity for at least three years for
the vaccines tested. As a result, the
veterinary community has been slowly adopting
a three-year vaccination protocol. Each
year, your animal companion will receive
an annual physical examination, necessary
laboratory testing for degenerative diseases,
and only one vaccine. The following year,
the animal would receive a different vaccine.
This cycling of vaccines would ensure
that your pet only receives each vaccine
every three years, but would receive some
immunization during each visit.
Titers
allow for a more individual approach
While this new approach is certainly preferred
to the former standard, holistic veterinarians
like myself prefer an even more personalized
approach. Using a blood antibody test
called a “vaccine titer” allows
the doctor to determine each animal’s
own level of immunity to various diseases.
In simple terms, antibodies are proteins
made by the pet's white blood cells (specifically
B lymphocytes). These antibodies are made
whenever a dog or cat contacts an infectious
organism (virus or bacteria, as a result
of a natural infection) or is vaccinated
(the vaccine uses low doses of infectious
organisms, tricking the immune system
to form protective antibodies without
causing disease. Using a titer test reveals
each pet's antibody status. These results
are then interpreted in an attempt to
determine if the animal is currently protected
against a specific infectious disease
or if he may require immunization. This
way your animal is only immunized when
his body shows a need for immunization,
rather than at arbitrary three-year intervals.
After all, if your companion only needs
one immunization every five years, even
vaccinating every three years for everything
is too much.
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