RE: Vaccinations!! Good or bad!?!

V E S — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 21:57:09 GMT

If vaccination was not safe for pets - we wouldn't be allowed to give them! There can be side effects of course, but that goes for any injectable we administer to animals. There are also occurrences of feline injection-site sarcomas in cats, I have seen a couple and they are horrible :( However, this is quite rare and can occur after any injection given not just vaccines.

I would have a look into vaccine titres - they look at how many antibodies the animal has against the disease and if they have a certain level then they technically do not need a booster vaccination. However doing titres is expensive and is generally just easier to give a booster every year.

The reason we don't have many of the diseases that we vaccinate against in the UK is often because we vaccinate our pets - same as vaccinating people! I believe they are essential in preventing horrible diseases. Yes they may still get the disease they are vaccinated against - but I believe the symptoms are often not as bad? I knew someone who had their rabbits vaccinated, but one still got myxi but recovered well (often not the case with myxi).

RE: Vaccinations!! Good or bad!?!

James Colver Cert. Ed, RVN — Wed, 30 Aug 2017 14:32:14 GMT

Yes some animals will still become infected despite vaccination - as has always been the case.

Your best bet is to check out the WSAVA Vaccination Guidelines.

In short, it all depends on whether or not you want your animal to become infected with a preventable disease.