Vaccination Question to Moms That Don't Vaccinate

Really a very different set of decisions for us.

For starters, I don't spay or neuter my kids. And if they get sick and we can't afford medical treament, euthanasia is not on the table.

I fully vaccinate my kids and my dog...I love them all...enough that I do not want any of them getting some serious illness that could have been easily prevented!

This is really a response to TJ's response below. I'm sure TJ did her "research" the best she knew how. But, frankly, I'm more likely to trust the "research" done by pediatrician-parents with a hefty medical background than with an non-medical or non-research-oriented parent. For those without an analytical or scientific mind, it can be very difficult to separate out the "facts" spewed on the internet with the real science-based facts.

If the majority of pediatricians vaccinate their own kids, (and I'm guessing this is true), I would trust the educated opinion of them rather than a poster on a mommy-blog who may not have had the educational or professional background to enable them to distinguish between real and pseudo-science.

If you want to get a respectful (and sensitive and thoughtful) idea of how some pediatrician-parents view the vaccination question (to further your research into both sides of the argument), you could try looking up "seattle mama doc" in google. The link to all blog posts about immunization is below.

http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org/tag/immunizati...

Anyone that does not do the research and just gives their children all of the vaccinations is doing their children a huge disservice. We are now recommended to give our children up to 70 different kinds of shots BEFORE they enter Kindergarden. In 1983, my niece had 10. Take a look at the rise of asthma, food allergies, SIDS, Autism (back then it was 1 in 10,000 and now it is 1 in 91 and don't say better reporting and better diagnosing because then we would be seeing the millions of autistic older adults). Also, the rise in Whooping Cough is those that were vaccinated for it in the first place.

You are right to be concerned about your dog as well. You will find there are even more vets that don't give their own pets all of the shots. We went on a flight with our pet and she had to have a 'health certificate' which meant she had to get a list of shots before flying. Within two days, her personality changed and she was throwing up bile.

i could offer more about this but keeping it brief... Do the research. One size does NOT fit all.

If you decide to go out of town and kennel your dog, they will have to be up to date on their shots. My cousin got a puppy and it ended up with parvo. He had to pay over $2000 to cure the dog and it still died. Since it was in the backyard for a short time, they couldn't let any other dogs that had not been vaccinated into their backyard. Food for thought....

Um...I think you are required by LAW to vaccinate your dog. Don't you have to have proof of vaccine for a license? I think pet ownership is considered a privilege, not a "right"?

We have not vaccinated our son, and if we had a dogs or cats we would not vaccinate them as well. The same hazards that are in the human vaccinations (thimerosol, foreign animal DNA, etc.) are in the animal vaccinations. As a result you will find more pets with serious health issues at a much younger age, and most are debilitating to the point where the animal has to be put down.
The only issue that I see with this is that some states require certain vaccinations for pets. I believe CA is one of those states so you may want to do a little research on this subject to find out state requirements.

Ignoring the vaccination part of the question since I do vaccinate my kids, pets, what does "special needs" problems in animals have to do with vaccinations? It is caused by over breeding. Cindy has a male and female, they breed. Rather than pay a stud fee she breeds the next generation and so on and so on. It is the same as if we had kids with our mom, dad, brother, sister, first cousins. Not rocket science really.

We did rabies only, to get the license. Yes you will have problems boarding them without the others probably, we didn't have to worry about that. I swear your question asked non-vaxing parents to reply, not for a lecture on why vaccinations are good!

Ignore the sheep below that are chastising you please! You know what's best for your family and don't tell them how to run theirs! I assume you done tons of research, as have I and all other non-vaxing families I know. For naysayers take a look at both sides of things before trying to argue that your point is best, you probably do that on all other subjects,Why not this one? Www.thedoctorwithin.com has great studies and facts about vaccination and disease. I think it's irresponsible not to learn what we are putting into our Childrens systems! Do all of these people do every single thing that "everyone else" does?

We get our pets the rabies vaccination. Because of the rural area we live in, they come in contact with ALL sorts of wild animals. Also, it's required here. :\

Other than that, nothing.

Vaccines for dogs are very different than humans, atleast in the number given at one time. Rabies are required by law and even though the number "recommended" by pharmacuetical companies is growing our vet takes each dog on an individual case by case basis. Our older dog doesn't get one or two becuase he is deaf and I won't take him camping with us. Our younger one didn't get the same one either because I won't leave him alone without her if we do go camping. Our cat is the same way, Indoors requires less vaccines.

About the last part of your question. I used to work in Animal Rescue and it was not uncommon for animals to be given up when they were older or had health or other issues. Sometimes it's expense. Sometimes people are just horrid. One of the dogs we fostered was left in the backyard when someone moved. She was also one of the coolest (lab/basset mix) LOVED everyone, was healthy for her age and a lot of fun! To me it would be like leaving kind old Grandma when you left, but that's just me.......

We vaccinate our dog. We are waiting to vaccinate our children. Our dog gets her Rabies and the 8-in-1. I never considered not vaccinating our dog. Hmmm. Interesting question. One of my concerns with vaccinating my children was the amount of vaccinations they get in a short amount of time - INSANE. I compared the current recommended vaccination schedule to what I got as an infant/toddler and the difference was HUGE. Many of the recommended vaccinations are not even necessary. (ie Hep B, Gardisil, etc.) Which is why we are waiting until they are older (4 years old) and then spacing them out. I suppose if they wanted to give my dog several vaccinations in a short amount of time I would be concerned too. As it is, she doesn't get her rabies and the 8 in 1 on the same day.

Btw, I think it was very brave of you to post this question. I have seen so many people, on both sides of the debate, get so irrational, abusive, and manipulative about this issue. :/

Dr. Mercola and Dr. Tenpenny comment on this all the time. I would check out their articles. You can find Dr. Tenpenny on facebook and ask this question. I know the people on her page don't vaccinate their pets.

It's the law here for rabies vaccination so all my cats have their shots. However, last year one of my cats died from cancer from the rabies shot, they get it in the spot where they get the shot. The doctor said it's very rare--but then at the same time 2 of my friends also had pets dying of cancer from rabies vaccine! So it's not as uncommon as once thought. The solution is to have them get the rabies shot in their tail. If they get cancer the tail can be amputated and they'll live. My cat had it in her hip, and she died.

If it were up to me neither one of my cats would be vaccinated as they are indoor cats and never venture outside. However, it's the law and we follow it.

We do give our dogs the rabies vaccination. Simply because, it is required here. You have to register your dog and show proof of vaccination. We do give our dogs flea treatments. Our dog got a really bad case of fleas a while back. We thought it was mange,a t first. (So did the vet, actually.) We soon realized the people next door had a flea infestation and it had spread to our yard. We did do many natural things to treat her skin discomfort, but we do use regular flea medication. There just isn't anything effective for fleas (that we've found), that is natural. We feed them a high-quality diet and I think that really helps their health more then anything.

I do not vaccinate my son, and it is not required. I have waivers on hand from the state, should we need them.

There are many muts who have no breeding history, that have "special needs." While over-breeding contribute to many, many cases...the others can't be explained. In older dogs, it really can come down to old age.

Our 3 dogs do get the rabies vaccination. It is required where we live in order to register them with the city.

We are responsible pet owners and we do regular grooming and vet care. Our dogs are a part of our family and treated as such.

We've been known to spend thousands on a major surgery for 1 of our dogs. By the time he died at 14, we estimated to have at least $14,000 invested in him.... Great dog and deserved the best.

I don't see the correlation between human and pet vaccinations. We did vaccinate our daughter with all the recommended vaccinations with the exception of Guardisil which we refuse.

We delay vaccinate our kids and completely vaccinate our animals (when we've had them).