A great visit to the vet!

Yesterday, I took Lakota to a new vet, Dr. Judith Edoff of Four Paw Holistic Vet Center in West Hurley. We decided to go with a holistic vet because I wanted to have titre tests of her rabies and distemper vaccine before we just stick her with them. After some reading on the web, I learned that the only reason vaccines are given yearly is because back in the 50s and 60s when drug manufacturers were first making animal vaccines, the FDA required that they have a date on the labels. They followed the study animals for a year, the vaccines still worked, so they were labeled with a date a year from their date of manufacture. What they didn't do was follow up at intervals longer than a year to see if the animals were still protected. Most dogs and cats don't need further vaccination beyond their initial shots.

The following is from Current Veterinary Therapy, 11th Edition:

"A practice that was started many years ago and that lacks scientific validity or verification is annual revaccination. Almost without exception there is no immunologic requirement for annual revaccination. Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal. Successful vaccination to most bacterial pathogens produces an immunologic memory that remains for years, allowing an animal to develop a protective anamnestic (secondary) response when exposed to virulent organisms. Only the immune response to toxins requires boosters (e.g. tetanus toxin booster, in humans, is recommended once every 7-10 years), and no toxin vaccines are currently used for dogs or cats. Furthermore, revaccination with most viral vaccines fails to stimulate an anamnestic (secondary) response as a result of interference by existing antibody (similar to maternal antibody interference). The practice of annual vaccination in our opinion should be considered of questionable efficacy unless it is used as a mechanism to provide an annual physical examination or is required by law (i.e., certain states require annual revaccination for rabies)."

I have also read in various sources that in some cases, unnecessary rabies vaccinations, which would be almost all of them considering the above statement, can lead to development of some rabies-like symptoms, like aggression. Yikes! I don't want to be giving Lakota anything that would cause her to become aggressive. Aggression is already a huge problem in dogs these days due to poor and irresponsible breeding, we don't need to add to this problem with unnecessary vaccinations!

And if that wasn't enough, dogs and cats that get their vaccinations on a yearly basis tend to suffer more from chronic conditions, especially as they get older. So while titre testing is considerably more expensive then just giving the animals the vaccine, I'm convinced that what we spend now will be what we save in vet bills trying to treat some chronic condition later.

So back to Dr. Judy. Totally different experience from my previous vet. Previous vet (who shall remain nameless) had an office that felt very sterile, clinical. The exam rooms were furnished with item of stainless steel or formica. Servicable, but not inviting. The exam room at Dr. Judy's office had soft lights (not overhead flourescent lighting), pillows on the floor and a little table covered in a paw-print blanket for animals undergoing acupuncture to lie on. I was entertained by issue of BARK when Dr. Judy to took Lakota back to do the blood draws. But before that, she sat down with us and asked lots of questions about Lakota's general health, like what we feed her, what we did for ticks, if she had a problem with fleas, etc. I was particularly impressed by the fact that instead of recommending Frontline or other chemical interventions and then having a patronizing attitude about herbal barriers (like the previous vet), Dr. Judy was the one recommending herbal rememdies for the ticks. Cool. She also had a great bedside (tailside?) manner and Lakota seemed to feel very comfortable around her. The staff were very friendly too.

Lakota and I will definitely be going back. I am happy to have found, and am much more comfotable with, a vet that treats Lakota without lots of nasty prescription chemicals, who knows that diet is the foundation of overall health and who knows how to treat common conditions with herbs and homeopathic remedies. I found Dr. Judy on the American Holistic Vetriniary Medical Association's website, so you can use their site to find a holistic vet in your area too.