Vaccinations and holistic vets ... opinions please

[onyx'girl]

holistic vets are quacks?????? Really?

[dOg]

I buried a dog at 4.5 due to vaccines.
More ain't merrier.
Your dog, your wallet. Get educated, question authority.

[LisaT]

Originally Posted by sable123

Most of the holistic vets are just quacks and you will spend more money and get worse results, including death, with them.

it is true that any type of professional has their "bad eggs", but this is just a silly remark.

[Chicagocanine]

Originally Posted by BlackPuppy

I go to a holistic vet. I get only rabies vacs. They titer for distemper every 2 years just so I can have something in case I need to kennel them.

Any other vet is going to really push you to get yearly vaccinations.

Not necessarily. My vet does "traditional" medicine but she also incorporates some holistic type treatments, and she does not believe in over-vaccinating and especially not vaccinating sick pets, or seniors. She is the one who told me we should stop vaccinating our senior cat (before I knew much about vaccination issues.)

I also used to go to a holistic vet for my previous dogs in addition to their regular vet. We went there for therapy for their bone/joint issues (to do acupuncture and hydrotherapy.)

[MicheleMarie]

knew a GSD breeder that was 100% holistic and she said giving your dogs any types of vacc or pill until 1.5years of age was bad. needless to day her GSD lived to 18years!!!!

[sharkey19]

Please make sure your puppy gets his/her puppy vaccines. They can get really sick without them. The reason most puppies don't get certain diseases is because they get vaccinated, don't get complacent and think that those diseases aren't still out there.

That being said, once your puppy is a over a year old, you could talk to your vet about doing titres to minimize vaccines. They are quite costly, but if its something you are worried about, it is definitely a good option for you.

[Anja1Blue]

Originally Posted by onyx'girl

holistic vets are quacks?????? Really?

No not really - just a very ignorant statement. I think my vet, who practices both allopathic and holistic medicine, would be offended to think she had been labelled a "quack". However, if not pushing vaccines, trying to find a more natural way of approaching illness rather than stuffing a dog with drugs which can have side effects, and not displaying one bag of Science Diet in her reception area constitutes a quack, quacks get my vote!)

Both my dogs have an exemption for vaccines because of autoimmune disease. However, assuming I were still in the market for them I would do rabies every 3 years, as it is required by law. I would immediately follow it up with a homeopathic remedy to counter some of its nastier effects. I would do titers on everything else, and never vaccinate again beyond the puppy stage. (And I would follow Dr Jean Dodds' vaccination protocols for a puppy.)
________________________________________
Susan

Anja SchH3 GSD
Conor GSD
Blue BH WH T1 GSD - waiting at the Bridge