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• Dr. Jill Elliot

Ask Dr Jill Elliot DVM, MSW: To Vaccinate or Not?

Dr. Jill Elliot DVM, MSW is a homeopathic veterinarian who practices in New York City. She’s the co-author of Whole Health for Happy Dogs, and she’s also Benny Bix Ochman Labradoodle’s vet. Please submit your questions for Dr. Elliot here, and she’ll answer a reader question once a week.

Q- My dog’s breeder recommends against vaccinating him every year. She says we should have blood titers done instead. What are those, and is that safe?

Dr Elliot: Whether and how often to vaccinate is a big question with human babies now as well as with our four-legged companions.

I am a holistic veterinarian. Therefore I see things from a different prospective than perhaps your conventional veterinarian. My empirical experience has been that too many animals have had medical problems within one day to one month of being vaccinated. Cats especially are extremely sensitive to the vaccines. Some cats have developed tumors at the vaccine’s site.

My holistic training has shown me that less vaccines are better than more and to only vaccinate HEALTHY ANIMALS.

Annual re-vaccinations lack scientific validity
Immunology expert Ronald Schultz, PhD, Diplomate ACVIM (American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine), has spent much of his career studying animal vaccines. In Current Veterinary Therapy XI ( a well-respected textbook in Veterinary Medicine) that he co-authored with Tom R. Phillip, Dr Schultz noted:

“A practice that was stated many years ago and that lacks scientific validity or verification is annual revaccinations. Almost without exceptions there is no immunological requirement for annual revaccination. Immunity to viruses persists for years or for the life of the animal.

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 revaccination for rabies)”

The vaccine regime I recommend for dogs and cats
Therefore my regime is to give my patients puppy and kitten vaccines. Puppies should not be taken out of the house till after 16 weeks old. If you follow that advice then your puppy can have one combo distemper/ parvo vaccine at 13 weeks and 16 weeks old.

This is because the puppy only needs two of these vaccines to have complete immunity and the last should occur after 16 weeks of age. The puppy should also receive two Bordatella (kennel cough)vaccines (3 weeks apart) separately from the other vaccines, and one Rabies vaccine after 16 weeks of age, separately from the other vaccines. The Rabies vaccine is the only one that is mandated by law in most states.

For kittens the same applies. Two FVRCP vaccines, one at 13 weeks and one at 16 weeks is best. I only administer the Rabies vaccines separately from the others after 16 weeks of age.

One year later I recommend for dogs boostering the distemper /parvo vaccines in puppies and giving a three-year Rabies vaccine.

For kittens booster the FVRCP and give a three-year Rabies vaccine or the one year Pure Vac (for cats only) Rabies vaccine. For INDOOR cats I do not recommend further vaccines for the rest of their life unless needed for travel or because they need to go into the vet hospital for a elected procedure (teeth cleaning,etc.) For outdoor cats I recommend they keep current on their Rabies vaccine. And get two Feline Leukemia vaccines (three weeks apart) when they are young and before they start going out.

For dogs I recommend no further distemper/parvo vaccines but ask your vet to do blood antibody titers to measure the level of antibodies in the blood. If titers are adequate (at or over 1.5) there is no reason to repeat this vaccine. If below, you can re-vaccinate.

Blood Antibody Titers
A titer is a measurement of antibody to a specific virus (or other antigen). The antibody is in the liquid portion of blood. An antibody test result shows you whether your need to vaccinate or re-vaccinate your pet. With parvo, distemper, and adenovirus titers, the presence of any measurable antibody shows protection in vaccinated dogs older than 16 weeks of age. The positive antibody test result is fairly straightforward; it shows you don’t have to re-vaccinate for these viruses.

You may find the levels adequate for three to five years. Rabies vaccine can be repeated every three years (Note that in some states where Rabies is rampant yearly Rabies vaccinations are mandatory for cats and dogs). I agree with complying with the Rabies vaccinate protocol for dogs and outdoor cats because Rabies is a disease that can kill your dog and human beings as well.

Additional reading
Vaccinations: Too Many Too Often?

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine – UC Davis VMTH Canine and Feline Vaccination Guidelines (Revised 12/07 )

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