VACCINATION

Many pet owners who are interested in holistic medicine or who are concerned about using drugs and chemicals on their pets are reluctant to have their dogs vaccinated. In theory if a dog has the corect diet and lifestyle it will be naturally resistant to disease and therefore should not need to be vaccinated.

However, theories do not always work in practice. My policy is that a puppy should be vacccinated by conventional methods in the usual way. Distemper, parvovirus and leptospirosis are too dangerous to be treated lightly and I do not have sufficient confidence in Homoeopathic vaccination.

But many years ago I stopped recommending annual booster vaccinations. I believe they are unnecessary and may be hannful in that they may overstimulate the immune system. This is only my opinion which I am unable to back with solid evidence but I am sure many dogs with skin disease suffer flare-ups after being given boosters. Also, I do not recall a single case where a dog which was vaccinated as a puppy but had no boosters ever caught distemper or parvovirus.

 

Common pet health problems
John Burns Pet Health Management Programme