Vaccination and immunization are not the same thing.  Your dog or cat is perfectly capable of creating immunity all by itself and once it does, the immunity likely lasts for a lifetime.  The body has a highly functional immune system that works very well in most cases.  The very best thing we can do is support the immune system to keep it strong and functioning properly.

Vaccines do not immunize, they sensitize.  Their job is to introduce small amounts of disease to the body, so the body is able to form immunity.  Often times, puppies and kittens are vaccinated too early, too often, and with too many vaccines at once.  When this happens, the vaccines suppress the immune system instead of supporting it and this can set the stage for disease to develop.  In some cases, vaccines can cause an over-stimulation of the immune system and the body can begin to attack its own cells (autoimmune disease).

When animals are very young, they are protected from disease by ingesting their mother’s first milk, called colostrum.  This rich milk contains maternal antibodies against infectious disease, which is passed onto the offspring.  An animal’s immune system is not fully mature, or active, until it is around six months of age, so the maternal antibodies provide passive immunity.  When an animal with a high enough amount of maternal antibodies is vaccinated, the maternal antibodies will inactivate the vaccine, just as they would a real virus.  The reason puppies and kittens receive series of vaccinations during their first year is because the veterinarian is trying to time when the maternal antibodies are low enough for the vaccination to be effective.  Since they don’t know or typically test for immunity they repeat the vaccination.  A different approach is to hold off on all vaccinations until at least six months of age.  Another and even better approach, is to not vaccinate at all or at least weigh the risks and only vaccinate for high risk diseases or where the law dictates such as in the case of the rabies vaccine.  Annual titers can then be used to monitor immunity.

Very few veterinarians take a realistic and scientific look at the best time to vaccinate or discuss the risks of vaccinations with pet owners.  For example, why do we need to vaccinate puppies for self-limiting diseases such as coronavirus and adenovirus, which are really only dangerous in puppies who are too young to effectively vaccinate anyway.

Vaccines may seem technologically advanced, but when given randomly and for no good reason, they are at best useless and at worst dangerous.  Vaccine manufacturers are constantly trying to improve the safety of vaccines, but there will always be an inherent danger when injecting pharmaceutical products, along with their toxic chemicals, into our animals.