I know this will get moved, but if it saves one dog's life,it
is worth it, ok?
On August 3rd, we brought our happy go lucky toy poodle, Boston, to the vet for the yearly things we are told responsible pet owner's should do.
Four hours later she passed away.
How? Why?
Not all vacinnes are safe ESPECIALLY in small dogs. One of the potential side effects is the dogs wind pipe shrinks. Boston already had a problem with this and the VET knew this. The VET never told us about the risks.
Then again, I could have asked. On the other hand, when I asked if the incident was reported it to FDA, it had not been. Why?
Her office stated several hours had passed. We have a receipt dated with the time 3:40 and Boston was fighting for her life at 5:00 with a temperature over 109 degrees. She was outside for 30 seconds at most.
Unfortunately, I am now educated on the side effects that I wish our vet had told us and if I knew three days ago, what I know now, she never would have received her 5 in 1 booster shot.
Additionally, some vets feel yearly shots are over doing it and a $cam. Do we get shots every year? One of the leading DVM, Jean Dodds has done research showing 97% of dogs were still immune 7 years after one shot was given.
So, I encourage you all, not to make the same mistake I made and do your research so you can make an educated decision. We spent a small fortune (over $1000) to let nature decide, but here is another story that had a happy ending that should make you think twice:

"Over-vaccination has been suspected in causing tumors in some cats and immune problems in dogs. One family said their Yorkshire Terrier, Nicky, nearly died after an annual series of booster shots. "She couldn't breathe well, she was weak, limp," a family member said. "She was going to die. They said she probably wouldn't pull through it." After $6,000 in medical fees and a week in intensive care, Nicky pulled through. Doctors suspect an adverse vaccine reaction."

If you'd like to make a small donation in Boston's behalf, please let me know.
Even if you do not have a dog, please let your friends who do know that Vaccinations are not always safe. There are some risks.

Best,
Jeffrey Bloom, MSgt, USAF, Retired

Thanks for the PMs!
More food for thought:
There is no mandatory reporting of adverse reactions in veterinary medicine. The 2007 World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) Vaccine Guidelines states that there is: “gross under-reporting of vaccine-associated adverse events which impedes knowledge of the ongoing safety of these products.” WSAVA 2007 Vaccine Guidelines .
Even in humans, where mandatory reporting of adverse vaccine reactions is required, Dr. David Kessler, former head of the Food & Drug Administration, reported that “only about 1% of serious events are reported to the FDA”. [JAMA .269:.2785, 1993]. This problem of under-reporting has persisted for many years.
CANINE VACCINE ADVERSE EVENTS *
• retrospective cohort study; 1.25 million dogs vaccinated at 360 veterinary hospitals
• 38 adverse events per 10,000 dogs vaccinated
• inversely related to dog weight
• vaccines prescribed on a 1-dose-fits-all basis, rather than by body weight.
• increased for dogs up to 2 yr of age, then declined
• greater for neutered versus sexually intact dogs
• increased as number of vaccines given together increased
• increased after the 3 rd or 4 th vaccination
• genetic predisposition to adverse events documented
See a trend?

So, I'm not sure why this is in this part of th3 Café. It seems its more properly a "Not very magical..." topic.

I had a vet in California who felt the risks associated with certain vaccines wasn't worth the chance of exposure for purely indoor cats.

Having said that, all vaccines carry some risk. I hope everyone has at least looked at the sheet they hand you before you get your flu shot. For me, and most people, that risk is less then the risk of not having the vaccine.

I would caution against over-reaction to the unfortunate rare bad case. Consider all risks, including the risks to the animal of not having the vaccine, and the risk to yourself and the rest of your and your neighbors pet populations.

We just dodged a bullet in that regard ourselves. We brought home a canary that, in the end, turned out to be tubercular. That was a year ago and the rest of our "flock" are still clean. I put that down to proper risk avoidance on our part. (We always quarrellings new birds and clean our hands with alca-jell after touching them or their cages.) And to their over-all health.

Your vet should be a partner with you in the care of your animals. if you don't feel he or she is, you should get a new vet.

Lets analyze your figures a bit (even though I would note that you don't provide any reference for any of them)...


that's a 0.38% chance of ANY adverse reaction.
You do not give a break down for how many of these are sniffles and how many are deaths.



Small animals are fragile. We know that our small birds are much more fragile then our large ones. Does this surprise you in dogs? But those same small dogs are ALSO more likely to be killed by disease, making vaccination that much more valuable.



And how was your flu shot prescribed? (Hint: One size fits all.)



Don't see the relevance. Without statistics and methodology we also have no idea if this is a significant variance or if there are confounding factors.



See above.



Well ofc ourse. This is VERY basic probability math. If you roll a die twice, you have double the possibility of one of them turning up a 6. This surprises you?



See comment about statistical significance and methodology above.



Dogs whose parents had problem with a given medication are more likely to have the same problem themselves. Again, this surprises you why?

In fact, this suggests that the number of these problems that are lethal early in life must be small or there would not be a genetic line to follow.



What I see is an agenda. I am sorry you pulled the wild card and lost your pet. I understand that it hurts. But millions of pets AND humans are safer every year because of animal vaccination.

That was "Quarantine." Stupid spell check changed it on me,.

Feel free to Google Jean Dodds for statistics.
Additionally, I stated I encourage you all, not to make the same mistake I made and do your research so you can make an educated decision.
I wish the base vet had informed us of the risks like your vet.
As far as the stats, I have BS in mathematics. I am not a vet.

Whelp then you should know better then anyone that unquantified comparisons are meaningless and that without completely documented methodology no study is valid.

I agree that everyone should know the risks of any medical procedure, on their pets or on themselves. And if you don't trust your vet you should find one you do.

I note that even Dr. Dodds is not saying you shouldn't vaccinate. Just that she advocates careful balance of risk/reward. In fact she has her own preferred vaccination schedule listed.

She also has this to say about her own page:


ref: http://www.doglogic.com/vaccination.htm

We trust her.
I only wish the vet we saw was half as good as your vet.
I'd PM you, but I can not
Yes, too much of a good thing can be bad. Vaccinations are needed,but perhaps not yearly and the balance is key.
http://www.petresource.com/Articles%20of......hots.htm

I think she sounds very smart and sensible. Including the advice to get all the information yourself and make your own judgements

Interestingly enough, my Cali vet was also a woman.

I'm sorry for your loss. It's alway difficult when a pet (man's best friend) dies, especially when the death is rapid and unexpected.

I'm also very sorry for your loss.

Best wishes,

Kyle

Thanks guys.
To add fuel to the fire, she got her DA2PP and Corona ( kennel cough) the same day.
Normally, she would not have received the Corona, but my wife forgot to tell the vet not to give it and both shots can cause a reaction. I'll have to keep this a secret from her because she is devasted beyond words.
I have read some vets play giving shots like giving Benadryl and having the patient wait about 20 minutes.

My bad, Corona is not the kennel cough; however, dogs over 1 year old are immune from it so there is no added value.
http://designerbostons.homestead.com/misc.html

My condolences on your loss.

I'm a dog lover, but what does all this have to do with magic? It should be posted on a AKC or Canine bulletin board not here.