Vaccinations and Your Dog or Puppy

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Vaccinations and Your Dog or Puppy                                                                                                                

Until recently, in fact for the last 40 years, this has been standard practice for dogs to receive vaccinations yearly for many if not most diseases that dogs are vaccinated.  Most recently, both veterinarians and pet owners alike are questioning the need for yearly vaccinations and the possible negative effects there may be from unnecessary or too frequent vaccination.

 Immunizations at Work

Whether human or animal, vaccines work through stimulating the immune system to fight against a disease organism.  The body produces antibodies in reaction to the small amount of vaccine, then if after immunization, you or your dog is ever exposed to the disease pathogens, the built up antibodies will quickly neutralize the disease thus protecting you or your dog. 

Most veterinarians are in agreement that a single injections at the right times can give long lasting immunity to all these diseases.  The issue for puppies is that they receive some transient immunity from their mother by absorbing antibodies against these diseases depending on the immunity of the mother.
 
This transient immunity can interfere with a puppy’s ability to receive full benefit from the vaccines he may receive if given before this immunity has worn off.  It is believed that most puppies have lost most of this immunity by 8 to 12 weeks thus allowing the vaccinations to provide protection. 

This is why it is important to give the series of vaccinations for most diseases, to make sure the puppy receives the full, long-lasting benefit from the vaccination.  For some puppies the mother’s immunity can continue to interfere for up to 18 weeks of life.  Because the cost of testing a puppy’s immunity is so costly, it is felt that this is the best and safest course of action to fully protect your puppy. 
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Vaccinations for Your Puppy (suggested time table)

All products on the market for Canine Leptospirosis are all killed products.⁽¹⁾   For the rest, the vaccines are freeze-dried living virus’ that are non-pathogenic (unable to cause disease)
 

Adult Dogs and Immunizations

Here is the major place that veterinarians and pet owners are rethinking the need for vaccination.  The issue can be spelled out simply (although it is far from completely settled in everyone’s mind)
The issue is, how often should a dog be revaccinated to keep the protection active because there is risk involved in vaccinating too frequently?

The Pfizer Drug Company, a major manufacturer of canine vaccines reported on a study published in the Journal of American Veterinary Medicine in January 2004⁽²⁾ that for five of the diseases that dog’s are immunized for, the vaccine continued to protect up to and beyond four years.⁽³⁾ 

There are other studies that have documented that the protection has lasted up to seven years.   Although no two brands of vaccines is manufactured the same, so you shouldn’t assume that the one you or your veterinarian are using is the same, they will probably last longer than the year that was suggested in the past.  It would not hurt to have a discussion with your veterinarian about these studies and frequency of vaccinations.

Possible Risks of Vaccinating Your Dog Too Frequently

It is well know that every time you vaccinate your dog you are stressing their system, how much is hard to tell, but it would make some sense to extend as much as is safe to avoid as much stress as possible.  Another risk is that some dogs develop allergic reactions, including facial edema (swelling), fevers, prurititis (itching), enteritis (irritation of the intestines), lethargy (exhaustion), nausea, coughing and more.  Some believe that vaccinations can trigger diseases like Addison’s Disease or other autoimmune diseases (the body fighting itself).

The trouble can be the fact that vaccines have other ingredients in them besides the dried vaccine; some dogs are allergic to the enhancers included in the vaccine. 
Many veterinarians limit yearly vaccines to dogs they consider “high-risk” or dogs that can fit into these profiles: dogs who play with other dogs not from their household (dog park dogs for example), dog who roam or are frequent yard escapees, dogs who swim and drink from open, natural water sources (puddles, pools, and streams), contact with wild animals (skunks, raccoons), dog who are coprophagic (stool er) and dogs who attend obedience school or classes, dog shows, field trials, are boarded or kenneled at larger facilities and those who attend doggy daycare. 

There are a few diseases that you may want to immunize yearly, but again you should assess your dog’s risk to come in contact with these diseases.  The vaccines that offer the least protection are CPIV (Canine Parainfluenza Virus), Bordatella (Kennel Cough), Lyme Disease and Leptospirosis.  In fact for Bordatella is suggested that a dog be immunized 14 days prior to being kenneled etc. 

 

Allergic Reaction Risk

A very small number of dogs will have a allergic reaction from vaccination (less then 1% unless Leprospirosis vaccine is included) Most of these reactions are actually caused by the ingredients added to the vaccination as a preservative.  Interestingly, the larger the dog the less likely that they will have an allergic reaction; dogs larger than 22lbs have around half the risk. 

Small breed dogs, Chihuahua, toy poodles, Maltese, Pugs for example appear to be more likely to have a reaction.  The reactions can range from a brief period of lethargy and lack of appetite, to life threatening reactions that occur immediately after the immunization is given.  Many times the reaction doesn’t happen on the first vaccination but on subsequent vaccinations and happen most often when more vaccines are given at once.  Many veterinarians now do not vaccinate puppies under five months or dogs weighing less than 22lbs with the Leprospirosis vaccine.  

So there is a lot to consider, but keep in mind even if your dog falls into one or more of the higher risk categories you still do not have to immunize every year, it may be that every other year is sufficient for some immunizations.
 
This again is for a discussion with your vet or for you to do some research to see how you feel about the information the studies provide .  Whatever is decided, the vaccinations you give your dog should be individualized as possible (some states require yearly rabies vaccinations ) taking into account your dog’s risk at contracting the diseases these vaccinations protect against, your dog’s age, health and size, and any reactions he may have had with other immunizations or other allergic reactions in general.  Just like with your own health care, you need to be in control of your dog’s health care.

⁽¹⁾Many vets suggest using a killed three-year rated rabies virus vaccinations (i.e. Merial's Emrab-3)

⁽²⁾A perspective on vaccine guidelines and titer tests for dogs, George E. Moore, Lawrence T. Glickman.  Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, January 15, 2004, Vol. 224, No. 2, Pages 200-203

⁽³⁾Coyne M.J., Burr J.H.H., Yule T.D., Harding M.J., Tresnan D.B., McGavin D., 2001. Duration of immunity in dogs after vaccination or naturally acquired infection. Vet Rec. 149: 509-515.

⁽⁴⁾. V. Thrusfield, C. G. G. Aitken, R. H. Muirhead (1991) A field investigation of kennel cough: Incubation period and clinical signs, Journal of Small Animal Practice 32 (5) , 215–220 doi:10.1111/j.1748-5827.1991.tb00550.x

 [1] Veterinary Sciences Tomorrow website

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