Re: Vaccines ... Good Medicine or Bad Advice?

Russell,
Not sure what to make of that diatribe. It seems you have somehow managed to take the parasitic side effect of others vaccinating and thereby minimising exposure potential to an unvaccinated pet, and crudely extrapolated this somehow means that unvaccinated pets are better off. That's simply bad extrapolation. The vaccinated animal is largely surrounded by other vaccinated animals, and likely enjoys parasitic benefit. Whay do I say "parasitic" because it is a matter of the animal enjoying the protection afforded other animals around it, having somewhat of an "insulating effect" of a given disease, while not offering anything in return for that benefit but to act as a potential host that may well cause harm to the animals surrounding it, even if vaccinated.

I do agree that Vets by and large overvaccinate. But you write as if most Vets are bungling boobs, easily duped by a slick, silver- tongued salesman from Fort Dodge or Pfizer, or are simply out to boost profits by injecting harmful crap into our pets for kicks and profits. No doubt there are some Vets who fell off turnip trucks, and no doubt there are Vets who will inject poison for kicks and profits, but they are the great minority.

The Vast majority of Vets will happily alter the booster schedule if the client wants to discuss it. I do wish more vets would initiate dialog with clients about potential alternatives, risks, etc., but the hard reality is that it often isn't practical, at least to do it with more than lip service.

I think your endictment of the Veterinary profession overall, and that is exactly what it is, is somewhat off base and insulting, with little more than an element of truth about the minority being proffered at the majority mode of operation.

I hope you will consider a bit more carefully how Laymen percieve what you write before doing so, because they could easily take what you wrote as rationalization to forego discussing vaccination schedules with their vets and enjoy parasitic health benefits until enough morons are skipping proper vaccination that these things become epidemic again. Tweet