[Dailydrool] Vaccinations - Yea or Nea?

[Pam Farris]

Although this subjects comes up on the Drool on a regular basis, I generally refrain from commenting because it is such a polarizing subject.  I believe that it is as unwise to say always as it is unwise to say never.....somewhere in between those two positions is what is best for our beloved bassets.
 
I am a big believer is educating oneself about the medical care of our bassets.  We have about 100 bassets that come through our rescue each year and most of those come with no prior medical history.  Since we do not know their vaccination history, we assume they have had none and fully vaccinate them when they are taken in by BRF.  When they are adopted to their new families, the following link is sent to them and then I discuss the vaccination issue with each family when the basset is handed over.  Over time things change.  As the veterinary profession studies issues, it is not uncommon for their stances to change - there is nothing wrong about that - they are just becoming more educated themselves - isn't that what we want for our professionals?  A very mainstream organization, the American Animal Hospital Associations did a very extensive study of vaccinations in 2003 with a revision in 2006.  This link will lead you to the full report. 
 http://www.aahanet.org/PublicDocuments/VaccineGuidelines06Revised.pdf  I believe that these guidelines are now what are taught in all vet schools.  
 
Regarding 1 year vs 3 year vaccinations.  It is true that there is no difference in the 1 year vs 3 year rabies vaccine (and now others as well) other than the manufacturer invested the time and money to demonstrate to the powers that be that the particular vaccine that they manufacture has a DOI (Duration of Immunity) of 3 years rather than the usual 1 year.  They are allowed to sell their vaccines labelled as a 3 year vaccination rather than a 1 year vaccination.  We could even see some day a vaccination labelled as a 5 year vaccination - the manufacturers will just have to invest that time and money to prove it.
 
The report at the link above is long and sometimes quite technical so if you want to get to the meat of the matter, pages 4-9 are the most relevant.
 
What do I tell our families?  I explain to them my beliefs and my practices regarding my personal basset(s), I explain to them that although vets might be using yearly vaccinations to get them into the office for checkups, I do support yearly checkups, just not unmindful procedures, so educate yourself, discuss these guidelines with your trusted vet and make the decision that is right for your basset.  
 
I am fortunate to have a vet that believes as I do and he offers titers (which indicate if a dog has the proper immunity) at the same price as the yearly vaccinations.  If any of the titres come back as not having the proper immunity, he will booster for that disease at no charge.  Common sense would tell you that vaccinating children and vaccinating bassets are very similar - we don't vaccinate our children year after year after year.  
 
So that is my opinion and I am happy to discuss it with anyone who wishes - I'm just not going to try and convert everyone to my way of thinking.  I believe as we know better, we do better and each of us wants the right think for our beloved bassets.
 
I hope someone finds this information useful - 

Pam Farris
Basset Rescue of Florida, Inc.
www.BassetRescueFlorida.com