All About Pet Health Care and Vaccinations

gleaned from a conventional DVM PHD veterinarian:

For the last forty years it has been standard conventional veterinary practice in the United States to vaccinate dogs yearly for canine distemper virus (CDV), canine leptospirosis (CL), canine adenovirus-1 & hepatitis (CAV-1), canine parainfluenza virus (CPIV), canine parvovirus (CPV), canine Coronavirus (CV) as well as canine bordatella or kennel cough and Lyme disease.

There may be dog health problems associated with too frequent
vaccinations. For one, the immune system of your pet is stressed by
these vaccinations.

Occasionally dogs develop health problems such as allergic reactions, facial edema,
enteritis, lethargy, fevers, pruritis, nausea, and coughing.

Veterinarians also suspect that vaccinations can trigger certain autoimmune diseases
such as Adison's disease in dogs. Occasionally these reactions are life threatening.

By law, for dog health care, most states require a yearly rabies vaccination even though
studies have shown that many of the rabies vaccines used give the dog three years of
protection.

In the January 2004 issue of a U.S. veterinary journal, an article that was published by the
Pfizer Drug Company, determined that their dog vaccines were active (protective) up to
and beyond four years after administration for all five of these diseases (1). Other studies
have documented immunity lasting up to seven years (2)(3). No two vaccine manufactures
produce identical products so you should not assume that the brand your veterinarian uses
induces this long immunity for your dog's health, but it is suspected that they all protect
well over a year.

Least protective appear to be the vaccinations against CPIV, Bordatella, Lime Disease
and the various types of Leptospirosis. For optimum dog health care from these diseases,
an annual vaccination is probably a good idea. Another good protocol for your dog's health
would be to give your dog a booster vaccination against Bordatella (kennel cough)
about two weeks before it is kenneled.

The scientific way to determine if your dog needs a booster vaccination is to run
serum titer tests. Protective titres for CDV are 1:32 or greater. For CAV-1, CAV-2
and CPIV titer of 1:16 or greater are protective, and for CPV titer of 1:80 or greater
are protective; and mean your dog does not need a booster vaccination. Many
veterinary laboratories already offer this service.