Vaccinations are a touchy subject. However, people aren’t as touchy about it, or so I thought, when referring to animals. I rescued my dog, Cooper, from the Hillsborough County Animal Shelter a.k.a “The Pound”. When Cooper got to the shelter he was completely emancipated, rugged, mean, completely beat up and tired – according to the shelter, he didn’t have much time before he was going to be put down even though he was only about a month old.
I do not vaccinate my dogs and they are my babies! Understand that my parents regularly vaccinated every dog I had growing up. It was automatic that when I got my first dog after moving away from home, I started regular vaccinations. This only lasted a couple of years. I had a friend tell me his devastating story of receiving a heart worm diagnosis from his vet. The vet admitted that the heart vaccine does not prevent any dog from getting heart worms. However, the vet sold my friend on the very expensive heart worm treatment and it was started immediately. His beloved dog got so sick from the treatment that he nearly died and ended up on IV fluids in the after hours vet hospital for several days. When he got home, he was doing great and had his bounce back. My friend struggled with the same choice cancer patients make when they choose to continue or stop treatment. Would this decision prolong or shorten his dog’s life? To make a long story short, his dog not only survived, but lived 15 long years. At the end of his healthy life, my friend had obviously changed vets and asked about that other vet’s heart worm diagnosis. His dog was tested and showed no signs of the disease or any scarring that the vet said he expected to see on xrays. My friend and his new vet concluded that it was solely a profit based diagnosis. I have not vaccinated or given heart worm pills to any dog I have owned since then. Alex, who I stopped vaccinating at age 3, lived 14 long & healthy years until she had a heat stroke in our back yard and suffered from brain damage. The vet told me that her blood work showed she was disease free at age 14 and attribute this partly to the fact that I stopped vaccinating her. Please do not misunderstand!!!! For me this is not the same as the discussion about childhood vaccinations! I had both of my children vaccinated and have never regretted that decision! The human race has come so far against certain diseases that once killed huge percentages of our children before they reached their teens. I figure it was my duty to give my children every chance to live long, healthy, and productive lives free from early preventable death and illnesses that might have scarred them for life. My point–Vaccinate your kids without question, but consider all the facts before deciding to regularly vaccinate your dog after their basic puppy shots are given. Plus consider all the facts and do your own research before you choose to give your dog a daily heart worm pill. Just as it matters what you put into your body–IT MATTERS what you put into your dog’s body! This is my opinion and I KNOW I am a human who is flawed and makes mistakes. I encourage you to form your own educated opinion and do not just do it, because your vet says so. ((stepping down off my soapbox now!)) Thank you for listening! ♥ Liz
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