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Many
immunologists and veterinarians are coming to believe that
the annual vaccinations so many cats receive are unnecessary
at best and unhealthy at worst. Evidence is building that
annual vaccination of dogs and cats — performed for
diseases such as rabies, distemper and parvovirus —
may not be necessary and could even be harmful. Vaccines
licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are tested
to ensure they protect pets against disease, usually for
one year. But the tests don't detect long-term side effects,
or measure the duration of a vaccine's effectiveness. Recent
and continuing studies at several universities suggest that
protection from vaccines may last for years, which would
make annual shots for some diseases a waste of money —
at the very least.
Fears
of vaccine-induced diseases date back more than 40 years.
But a sharp increase during the past decade in cancerous
tumors among cats, between the shoulder blades where vaccines
typically are injected, has spurred studies. Some have found
a higher-than-expected incidence of side effects. The classic
one is autoimmune disease, says Larry Glickman, professor
of epidemiology at Purdue University's School of Veterinary
Medicine in West Lafayette, Ind., who is studying possible
links with vaccinations. We see an epidemic of hyperthyroidism
in cats today, and we suspect that these are happening because
we're over-vaccinating our pets.
Pet
diseases other than rabies aren't a threat to people, thus
vaccinations aren't required by law. But veterinarians and
vaccine makers have traditionally recommended annual booster
shots against potentially fatal diseases such as distemper
and parvovirus in dogs and herpes virus in cats. In a policy
statement last year, the American Veterinary Medical Association
acknowledged that the practice of annual vaccinations is
based on historical precedent and not on scientific data.
The
emerging evidence of health risks is prompting some vets
to change their practices. We're now doing 49% less vaccinations
than five years ago," says Kathleen Neuhoff, a veterinarian
in Mishawaka, Ind., and president of the American Animal
Hospital Association, Lakewood, Colo.
Some
critics of annual shots accuse some vets of ignoring research
about vaccine risks for financial reasons. Vets are afraid
they will go broke without regular vaccines, which account
for about 20% of their practice income, says Bob Rogers,
a spring, Texas, veterinarian and outspoken critic of current
practices.
No one
truly knows how long protection from vaccines lasts. Vaccine
makers say that proving their duration would be expensive
and would require large numbers of animals to be isolated
for years.
One
company, Pfizer Inc., decided to test its one-year rabies
vaccine on live animals and discovered it lasted for at
least three years. It sells the identical formula simply
packaged under different labels — Defensor 1 and Defensor
3 — to satisfy different state vaccination requirements.
ADVERSE REACTIONS
More and more animals are suffering from adverse reactions
to vaccinations. These adverse reactions can include lethargy,
fever, stiffness, sore joints, abdominal tenderness, anaphylactic
shock (an allergic reaction that causes swelling of critical
airways which can result in death within minutes), liver
and kidney problems and more. If an animal has a pre-existing
health problem, vaccinations can expedite a decline in health
of that animal, as they are known to depress the immune
system. Many animals with chronic problems fail to improve
or respond to traditional treatment. The homeopathic community
refers to these adverse reactions as vaccinosis which broadly
means the vaccinations interfere with the body's own ability
to heal itself.
HEALTH PROBLEMS
Recent studies have begun to link several chronic health
problems to vaccines. There is epidemiologic evidence linking
feline leukemia and rabies vaccines to sarcomas at the site
of injection. These soft tissue tumors are usually malignant
and quite aggressive and most often fatal. Skin problems
such as hair loss, lesions, ulcers, and indurations (hard
lumps) at and near the injection sites have been associated
with some rabies vaccines. Though the risk of these types
of adverse reactions may not be at epidemic proportions,
it is certainly real enough to warrant re-examination of
traditional vaccination practices.
Says
Michele Yasson, DVM, of Holistic Veterinary Services in
Rosendale, New York. Vaccines are believed to last a lifetime
in dogs and cats. Repeating their vaccines would be very
much like us repeating our polio and diphtheria and pertussin
vaccinations throughout our lifetime. We used to believe
that vaccines were benign, but now the standard of practice
is to go on an individual basis, not to automatically repeat
annual vaccinations.
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