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Pet Vaccination Experience
This is about a vaccination experience
I had with my beloved dog.
by Cindy Ford

She (Star2) was 13 years old when she died, the vet said she had the body of a 2 year old dog and her arteries were cleaner than his. She had vaccinations each year, because it protected her and keep her healthy, so I thought. I read an article on the Internet, I think it was called Whole Dog Journal ( I copied the article), that yearly vaccinations could be harmful to your dog. It could cause a tumor to form mostly on the dogs hips and could turn into cancer. She was 13 years old at the time and I thought I was protecting her health with all the shots she had to have to keep her healthy.

She got the best food (to my knowledge), exercise and love beyond belief. But when the tumor was discovered by us, off to the vet we went in a heartbeat! Could be cancer -- or not, the vet said. She had to have surgery to check it out because it had grown. During the surgery, the vet came back and said the it was cancer and it had spread, so I had no choice except to put her down while she was under anesthesia.

I loved her too much to let her suffer, and I saw her in pain the morning before. I never want to see that again. I couldn't do anything except hold her and cry and pray for her not to hurt anymore. So while she was under anesthesia for surgery, I had them put her down. She is buried in our yard now.

I have another Belgium Shepherd and I DO NOT believe they have to have shots every year. That just makes the vets richer and I think from my past experience with Star2 that it helped cause her death. Our dog (Star3) has not had those shots and she is fine. She does have the 3 year rabies vaccine because we live in the country and there are wild animals such as coons, skunks, raccoons, possums and other wild animals around. We keep very close watch on her. She is 7 years old and she is doing fine.

I volunteer at The Animal Care Society where our main purpose is to help people spay/neuter their pets who can't afford to have it done and we pick up the cost for shots and injured animals. I wince every time I write a certificate for the shots because I don't think they need them every year, but I don't have any info to back up what I think. I know our Star3 won't be getting them every year. Thanks for listening -- I don't voice this opinion because I want to get flack from persons who swear by shots and from vets. More money in the vets pockets. It makes it hard for some people to own pets with all the shots and stuff that their pets supposedly need.

Hope I haven't offended anyone.

Thanks

Cindy Ford
A devoted pet owner and animal lover

Note: I wish there was a way to protect Star3 from fleas & ticks without Frontline, I don't think its good for her body to absorb that drug into her system and the same for heartworms. They are the only two medications she is on -- Frontline and Heartgard, because I have talked with people who have lost their pets to heartworms. Fleas & ticks can be a big problem, especially in the country.

My niece has a beagle - he is neutered and 7 years old and had to have those shots before the vets would neuter him (that's a law here). He is almost 8 and he has not had any problems at all. She takes just as good care of him as I do of Star3.

Sorry, didn't mean to go on and on but that's my opinion for what's it's worth. I can't tell anyone whether or not to give shots to their dogs, I just know mine won't get them. At the present time Frontline and Heartgard is all I can do to protect her. One more thing, you do not have to put Frontline on your dog EVERY month, every 4-5 months is fine, I know because I do just that. I keep watch on her and sometimes she needs Frontline even less. Thanks.

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