I am a registered veterinary techinician....I also agree that pets are overvaxed, and I'm lucky to work in a practice where the Dr.s also think so for the most part...In NC, state laws require that if a dog/cat has never had a rabies vax before, they get the vaccine, and it is good for one year. After that initial year, they can get a rabies vax every 3 years. It is the exact same vaccine...no seperate 1 and 3 year vaxes, so basically the first one would techically be good for 3 years as well, state law just requires otherwise. Rabies is a big problem here, and we have had several animals confirmed rabid, so this is one vaccine that I would say is a must if you live in an area like that. I have been vaccinated for rabies myself, since we work with a lot of stray animals on a daily basis. I don't do annual distemper parvo vaxes on my dogs, either,but they have had the initial puppy series...we see Parvo WAY too much. My cats don't get feline distemper combo vaxes, or feline leukemia vaxes, or FIV vaxes...They are indoors only and just aren't at risk. The vets I work for actually don't even carry the FIV vax because it's not even really that effective, and if a cat is vaxed for it, the test for FIV can't distinguish between the vax and the disease so you can imagine how many "stray" cats that people pick up are put to sleep because they think they are diseased when they are actually vaccinated. You can get your pets titers checked to see if they still have immunity instead of getting vaccines as recommened. The biggest reason why a lot of veterinarians (not all..they are greedy vets out there too) do yearly vaccines (or at least the reason why the vets at our practice do) is because they aren't approved to go longer and a lot of vets just don't want to get sued...The drug companies have labeled them for 1 year vaxes(why not? They get more $$ this way) ...We do tell people that the immunity can last much longer, but it's extra-label use, and hasn't bee approved by the drug companies, and as long as our clients are ok with that, then we'll count it as a 3 year, etc. but we make sure to document it very well. Pfizer has actually come out with a canine distemper vax that has been approved for 4 years...We've started carrying that one instead of the 1 year vaxes. Cats can get vax induced sarcomas called fibrosarcomas. They are a nasty thing, although relatively rare. This is one reason why my cats don't get vaccinated except for rabies. If they went outdoors, I would get them the leukemia vax and then check their titers. There is a new feline leukemia vax that is transdermal that reduces the risk of the fibrosarcs. If you have an indoor/outdoor cat that comes into contact with other cats, I would recommend that one, especially in a kitten....Once they are an older adult, it is usually not very common for them to contract the disease, even without vaxing. It's most common in kittens and geriatric cats. There's so many different standards at each veterinary clinic just based on each vet, and state requirements change state by state. As a whole, here's my take on the animal vaccines:
Dogs-
DHLPP- We see SOO many puppies die of parvo...it's so sad.I'd do puppy series and have titers checked thereafter.
Bord-only if your dog boards or is groomed....They require this most times for that...otherwise k9 cough isn's usually a big deal...very treatable.
Lyme/Corona- we don't even carry these vaxes. I wouldn't do them period. Even if we have a dog come up lyme positive, we dont' do anything about it unless they are clinical.
Rabies-Follow your states laws, but this is one I would keep current for many reasons,especially if you have children and live in an area where rabies is a concern. But, the vax lasts at least 3 years, so a titer check on this wouldn't be a bad idea either instead of just vaxing. We recently had a local vet that brought in a stray puppy and it ended up being rabid and the whole clinic and several other people had to go through the post exposure series...Rabies is a very scary thing!! Also, if your dog/cat bites someone/someone's pet, they can have your pet destroyed and tested for rabies if your pet is not up to date on this vaccine.
Cats-
FVRCP- I would do a kitten series then every 3 years or check titers if going outdoors,otherwise skip it all together.
FeLV- kitten series (transdermal) IF your kitten/cat IS or WILL be going outdoors, otherwise skip it all together.
FIV- we don't do this vax...the benefits aren't worth the risk.
Rabies- same applies to the dog rabies...BUT, they do have a special feline rabies vax that is safer for cats( in terms of fibrosarcomas)...I would ask if your vet carries it.
As I said, my cats are indoors only, but I do still make sure they have immunity against rabies...I have had one of them slip out the door before.
As for vaccine reactions....They do happen in cats and dogs...Most of the time they'll have vomiting/diarrhea, lethargy. Sometimes their face will swell up and the clients will bring them back in and we'll give them a benadryl injection and all is well. But Anaphylactic reactions do happen....in 5 years I've never seen one, although the vet that owns our practice has seen just a few in 36 years of practice....But if you ask a different vet,he may tell you he's seen several. One of the other RVT's in our practice doesn't get her vat vaxed for anything because he had a bad reaction, and she keeps him indoors only and has an exemption letter...it varies like with people...I vax my dogs/cats for only the things they are at risk for and nothing else and I would only get the initial series and then check titers, personally because they may never need another vaccine.. A lot of people that come into our practice don't like to check titers and would rather get the vaccine because getting the vax is a lot cheaper than checking the titers...Checking titers are much better in my opinion, because cats and dogs ARE overvaccinated. The vaccines are lasting much longer than the drug companies have labeled them for, and most vets rely on the info from the drug companies. A new drug comes out, the rep comes and tells you how great it is, and the info they give the drs. are what the drs tell you about it. The drs. don't do their own research on anything, they basically trust what the drug reps are telling them. This is what is wrong with the whole medical field. The drug companies basically rule everything.
I am having a really hard time deciding on a couple of vax for my dd right now...I have declined all at this point while I am researcing...my ped is nice about it, and has said she doesn't want to pressure me, but has urged me to do a couple of them, which i declined. I told her I worked at a vets office, and my own pets have some vaccines...and here i stand fighting her on my daughters...It's just different...I love my pets...they are my family, but I love my daughter MORE...and if she were to die or have a lasting problem from a vax, I would never forgive myself...I definately understand peoples hesitation on pet vaccines...from my experience there is more "taboo" about human vaxes, but pet vaccines can be dangerous as well. Only do what you really need to.
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I will definitely not be vaxing my cat now.
