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24 Ad Rates & Info: 513-520-6077 Vaccine or Titer? Vaccine or Titer? By R.E. Neubauer, D.V.M., M.B.S., N.D. The vaccine issue has become quite controversial over the past several years which, in my opinion, is more due to the American Veterinary Medical Association than the small animal practitioners. So, why would this be true if vaccines are safe and necessary? And if they are not necessary, why do so many veterinarians require vaccines be given every one to three years? If you are a responsible dog /cat caregiver, you obviously want the best medical care/advice for your loved one. Because information is easy to obtain in today’s world, be it true or false, accurate or misleading, one should do his homework in order to ensure he is receiving true and accurate information in the subject being investigated. Antibody levels to disease pathogens (viruses) are acquired in one of two ways: 1) natural exposure, i.e. natural immunity, and 2) purposeful exposure (vaccination), i.e. passive immunity. If vaccines are given, it should be when the immune system is prepared to develop an antibody response (protection); for pups and kittens this would be at the 8, 12,and 16 week age levels. Let’s assume vaccines were given at these ages, or natural exposure without death occurred -- how would one know if the animal in question was protected? Your veterinarian can determine this with a simple blood test called a titer, which can be done in the hospital or sent out to a local laboratory. This test will measure antibody response indicating a positive (good-protection) or negative (not protected) level. Because there are multiple vaccines available, and not all are necessary, according to the American Animal Hospital Association, the caregiver must be aware of which are recommended (these are called CORE vaccines) and those which are not required. Interestingly, the rabies vaccination is the only vaccine required by law, but it is also the vaccine that causes the greatest number of adverse reactions. Consider also that running titers for rabies does not validate that the animal is protected, but the same titer result is used to prove immunization status when transporting dogs/cats out of the continental USA. In my opinion, vaccinations are important when given at the proper time, but over-vaccination can lead to autostimulation against the body’s own DNA. This has been proven to lead to cancerous tumors at the injection site, as well as clinical problems associated with the thyroid, heart, red blood cells, and connective tissues. In conclusion, think about vaccines as a positive protection, but realize that over-doing stimulation may bring about ������������������������������������������������������������������������- ing chronic problems for your pet. Titer evaluation may be the answer to keeping the vaccines to a minimum and your loved one’s health at a maximum. Dr. R.E. Neubauer, the Natural Pet Dr. new location: Mt. Healthy Animal Hospital 2818 Blue Rock Rd., Cincinnati www.naturalpetdr.com or 513-931-9127. Please support our partners — say you saw it in Pet Pages.


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