Well actually they don’t!1
You may have questions regarding vaccines after the recent world events or you may have heard of titer testing instead of vaccinating. Some vets are still recommending a C5 or even a C7 for dogs every year and others are doing one every 3 years with just the kennel cough yearly in between. Here I have summarised what you need to know about vaccines and what the core diseases are that may or may not need to be vaccinated against. I touch on what risks are involved and what you can do instead of vaccinating every year or even every three years.
Kennel Cough vaccine is optional
It’s true the kennel cough part of the vaccine only lasts a year (or less). Dogs will require this before they go into a kennel or perhaps for some other activities such as agility competitions. However, depending on your lifestyle and preferences you may not want to get the kennel cough vac for your dog. Kennel cough is not a life-threatening illness in the majority of cases (rarely it may lead to bronchopneumonia in puppies and chronic bronchitis in senior or immunocompromised dogs).2 It is however very contagious. So if you socialise your dog a lot you need to weigh up the risk yourself. If your dog is a normal healthy adult dog with no respiratory compromise then you may choose not to vaccinate for kennel cough. The worst-case scenario in a normal adult dog is likely a bad cough that keeps you awake at night for up to 2 weeks. But only for a few days if you use herbal and homeopathic support from your integrative vet. You can book a consult here.
What about the life threatening illnesses such as parvo virus?
Parvovirus is deadly. I compare it to Ebola in humans. If there was a pandemic of Ebola I doubt anyone would want to skip this vaccine. Parvo kills puppies quickly causing them to bleed out through their gastrointestinal tract. They have bloody vomit and bloody diarrhoea and just to make sure they don’t easily recover from it; the virus also suppresses their bone marrow. This is where the majority of the immunity (white blood cells) comes from to fight disease.3 Even with treatment around 50% of puppies I have treated still die. Hence why vaccinating for parvovirus is important. Up until recently, this has been recommended every year. However, a puppy that does survive from parvo is thought to have lifelong immunity and recently the C3 vaccine has been approved for every 3 years. The C3 vaccine is the main core vaccine for dogs which vaccinates against parvo, adenovirus and distemper. It has also been suggested that likely 95% of dogs will be immune to parvovirus for as long as 7 years or more after their initial puppy vaccinations. Hence why titer testing has become popular.
What is titer testing?
Titre testing is a blood test that looks at the antibody levels the immune system has to a virus. This shows if the individual has immunity to a virus or not and whether they require a vaccination.4 This means that after the puppy C3 vaccinations you can choose to titer test instead of vaccinating! I still recommend that you get your puppy vaccinated at least once with a C3 vaccination around 12 weeks of age (due to how deadly this virus is) and then follow this up with a titer test 4 weeks later to check that they are in fact immune. The other 2 diseases (distemper and hepatitis/adenovirus) although deadly are much less of a concern these days as they are quite rare.
Holistic vets are offering titer testing as an option instead of vaccinating. I believe over-vaccination is a huge issue for dogs and cats impacting their health more than we realise. It affects the immune system which in turn can cause a lot of disruption in the body, especially over time when given yearly. There are risks involved in vaccinating your pet that you should be aware of, however, these are grossly underreported. If you think your pet has experienced an adverse reaction to a vaccine this must get reported. Please encourage your vet to do so. For more information on adverse events and reporting click here.
How to identify adverse vaccine reactions
When I see a new patient I analyse the entire history of that patient from their very first vet visit. This has allowed me to look for the cause of their issues and what may have triggered the disease when it first started. It has also highlighted to me and other wholistic vets that vaccines are often a trigger for both sudden onset and chronic diseases, particularly auto-immune disease.5 For a list of vaccine reactions and more information on vaccinosis click here.
If your pet has or has a history of auto-immune disease or is on immune-suppressing medication please consider titer testing instead of another booster vaccination. In these patients, there is growing evidence that the risk verse benefit of vaccination is heavily weighted in the risk corner.5 Another thing to note is the more vaccines given at the same time the more likely for an adverse reaction.
What if my pet doesn’t pass the titer test?
Scientific evidence shows that 1.5 – 5% of animals that are titer tested will still require a vaccine. There are also some animals (0.4 – 3.5%) that are considered non-serological responders and will always fail their titer test.6 With this knowledge allows us to tailor treatments like vaccinating to the individual rather than having the same yearly blanket approach to vaccines for all dogs.
It is still imperative to have your pet checked by a vet every year. Particularly to check on their dental health along with making sure they are healthy overall and to discuss any behavioural concerns such as anxiety. Prevention is the best cure. Finding things early before you even realise your pet has an issue makes it so much easier to cure them.
In summary;
1. You still need to take your pet to the vet for a check-up yearly.
2. Your dog may require a kennel cough vaccine yearly but this is optional.2 I prefer the intra-nasal kennel cough vaccine as this is a local instead of a systemic vaccine. It makes more sense to stimulate the immune system locally where the disease would naturally occur. This way we also avoid a systemic injection which is a major reason why vaccinations can be so problematic in the first place.
3. At a minimum make sure your puppy gets a C3 around the age of 12 weeks. This is likely the most important vaccine they will have in their whole life. (A C5 includes kennel cough together with the C3 – I don’t recommend doing this all at the same time. Spacing it out reduces the load on the immune system).
5. At 16 weeks either titer test or do the 3rd vaccine (they likely had their 1st with the breeder – then their second at 12 weeks). If needed you can get the kennel cough part of the vaccine at this stage when titer testing.
6. If your dog passes the titer test repeat this a year later, then every 3 years after that.
7. If your dog fails the titer test you will likely need to revaccinate them. This occurs in 1.5 – 5% of animals.6 Rarely some dogs won’t ever pass their titer test as they are a serological non-responder. In this case, I recommend discussing your options with your holistic vet. However, also know that a low titer test in an adult dog does not necessarily mean an animal is susceptible as we are not measuring the capacity of the immune system to respond. With no natural exposure to a virus, it is expected that the humoral antibody levels may wane. But it is the memory cells and CMI cells of the immune system which can still maintain the memory to enable the immune system to respond should they encounter the disease.4 Regardless of this though a protective titer does correlate with immunity.
8. If you live in a high-risk zone for parvovirus consider a third puppy vaccine, titer testing 6 months after the initial titer test then yearly (instead of 3 yearly).
9. It is also important to note that wholesome nutrition is key to a strong immune system and resistance to disease. Read my article here on raw feeding.
No medicine is always safe. No vaccine is always protective. We need to weigh up the risks for ourselves. Ultimately this is about educating pet owners so they can make an informed decision about what is right for their pets. It is encouraging that the World Small Animal Veterinary Association supports titer testing.7 Titre testing is becoming more popular in Australia and hopefully, the adoption of new protocols that advocate for a minimum frequency of vaccination will become commonplace in the future.
Dr. Nat’s Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only. Please consult the advice of your veterinarian for specific questions about your pet. Consult’s are available with Dr. Nat here.
Sources:
1. healthy pets, June 26, 2022
3. Cornell University, Baker Institute for Animal Health; Canine Parvo Virus, Dec 12, 2019
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