Denise Flaim, a Newsday staffer since 1994, covers companion animals
– not pets -- every Monday in her Animal House column. Denise
is owned by two Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and is involved in breeding,
conformation (code for "dog shows"), lure-coursing (don’t
worry, no one else knows what that is, either), obedience, agility
and therapy-dog work. She is the historian of the Rhodesian Ridgeback
Club of the United States, and author of "The Holistic Dog
Book: Canine Care for the 21st Century" (Wiley, 2003) and "Getting
Lucky: How One Special Dog Found Love and a Second Chance at Angel’s
Gate" (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2005).
Today's column -- about the Rabies Challenge Fund finally having enough raised enough moolah to begin actual vaccine trials to prove that the rabies vaccine is good for five, even seven years -- is making the Internet rounds.
In the piece, I mentioned that I revaccinated my 7-year-old dog, albeit reluctantly, this weekend, because she was due for her rabies shot. What I didn't mention is that owners of dogs of any age who are ill or otherwise medically unsuited to be vaccinated can apply for a waiver from their muncipality.
The advantage of this is that with a waiver, you are not breaking the law. The disadvantage is that if your dog does bite someone, and the bitee is insistent about making sure your dog is tested for rabies, that is for all intents and purposes a death sentence, as in order to diagnose rabies, the brain must be examined.
Forget the gym, and the diet. Forget about learning a new foreign language, or how to mambo.
Instead, this year devote your resolutions to bettering the care and comfort of your animal friends. Here are some areas to reconsider in making the new year a happier and healthier one for the furred and feathered in your life.
Vaccination schedules. "More is more" has long been the mantra in veterinary - and, come to think of it, human - medicine, as combination vaccines became the order of the day. But today, the pendulum is swinging on such "wombo combos," as veterinary immunologist Jean Dodds of Santa Monica, Calif., calls them, tongue ensconsed firmly in cheek.
Indeed, last year the highly respected American Animal Hospital Association released its updated Canine Vaccine Guidelines (available at aahanet.org), and outlined only four vaccines it considers "core," or required, for dogs. Other than this quartet of parvo, distemper, canine hepatitis and rabies, all other vaccines are "noncore," or optional, depending on an individual dog's lifestyle or risk factors (such as lepto or Lyme) or not to be used at all (such as coronavirus or giardia).
In addition, the association stresses that, after a dog has been boostered at one year, revaccination should occur no more than every three years, if not longer.
In November, the American Association of Feline Practitioners released its updated Feline Vaccination Guidelines, available at aafponline.org.
And in New York State, cats and dogs are required to be vaccinated every three years, not annually or every other year.
If your vet is still insisting on "annual shots," find out exactly what they are, compare them to either of the associations' guidelines, and, if necessary, ask your vet exactly why he or she is vaccinating in excess of what is recommended.
Your vet relationship. If the kind of exchange described in the last paragraph sounds inconceivable to you, then you likely have a bigger problem than overvaccination.
It's crucial that you have an open, respectful relationship with your veterinarian. This doesn't mean you always have to agree, but it does mean that you should be able to discuss your animal's health rationally, calmly and unemotionally. If that's not the case, then perhaps that vet is not the right match for you. Because communication is crucial in any medical emergency, consider shopping around for another vet before you find yourself - and your animal - in a crisis situation.
Diet. Feeding out of a bag or a can is second nature to most of us, but growing numbers of owners and breeders are deciding to feed a more natural, biologically appropriate diet. Books about how to make balanced, nutritionally complete meals for cats and dogs abound. (A good source is dogwise.com.)
If you don't have the time, money or inclination to switch from a commercial diet to a homemade one (which requires a level of commitment and research), then by all means augment your animal's diet with healthful foods. A study at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., showed that Scottish terriers that ate fresh vegetables three times a week halved their risk of bladder cancer, to which the breed is prone; green leafy and orange-yellow veggies were particularly beneficial.
And while we're on the subject: Get an honest assessment of whether your animal is overweight. Excess pounds can shorten his lifespan, not to mention leave him vulnerable to disease, particularly diabetes in cats. Rule out a medical cause, such as hypothyroidism, then follow that tried-and-true regimen: Less food, more exercise.
Pesticides. A weedless green lawn might be a sign of success in suburbia, but consider the toll those chemicals can take on your companion animals. That same Purdue study showed that the risk of bladder cancer was higher among dogs exposed to certain herbicides, compared with dogs that had not been exposed.
What are a couple of dandelions compared to your dog's health, not to mention your peace of mind? There's nothing more satisfying than letting your dog "graze" on a lawn that's green in more respects than one.
Water. Are you drinking the water out of your faucet? If not, are you giving it to your animals? If you have concerns about the water quality in your household, then up your inventory of Poland Spring for the four-leggers in residence, too.
Training. Good animal companions aren't just born, they're nurtured, with lots of consistent training and positive reinforcement. If your critter has a persistent problem - a dog that jumps on visitors, a bird that feather-plucks, a cat that has litterbox issues - make 2007 the year you deal with it head-on. There are plenty of books, Web sites and private trainers and consultants that can point you - and your companion - in the right direction.
Write to Denise Flaim, c/o Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250; or e-mail denise.flaim@ newsday.com.
Progressive owners have long known that overvaccination is a serious -- and altogether too common -- problem among our companion animals. (If your vet is still insisting on annual vaccines, print out a copy of American Animal Hospital Association's newly revised canine vaccine protocol, and get busy with your yellow highlighter.)
The only vaccine that is mandated by state law is rabies. It is only in recent years that most states have switched from requiring revaccination every year to every three years. (There are still a handful of holdouts, including Alabama.)
But many veterinary immunologists believe that the rabies vaccine has a duration of immunity that is far longer than three years. But because there is no economic incentive for vaccine companies to create a five- or seven-year vaccine, no challenge studies to prove that extended level of protection have been conducted.
Enter the The Rabies Challenge Fund,a tax-exemption organization founded by pet vaccine disclosure advocate Kris L. Christine of Maine in 2005. It hopes to raise the money necessary to conduct independent rabies-vaccine challenge studies.
The project has the support and participation of two well-known and respected vaccine researchers and veterinary immunologists: Drs. W. Jean Dodds of Hemopet (who is the fund's co-trustee) and Ronald Schultz of the University of Wisconsin School of Veterinary Medicine.
The challenge studies will be performed at the university, which has waived its usual overhead fee.
The concurrent challenge studies will determine the duration of immunity conveyed by the canine rabies vaccine, with the goal of extending the state-mandated interval for boosters to five, then to seven years.
Researchers believe the rabies vaccine causes the most and worst adverse reactions in animals and concur that it should not be given more often than is necessary to maintain immunity.Adverse reactions to rabies vaccination can include autoimmune diseases affecting the thyroid, joints, blood, eyes, skin, kidney, liver, bowel and central nervous system; anaphylactic shock; aggression; seizures; epilepsy; and fibrosarcomas at injection sites.
To datem the following dog clubs, along with many owners, trainers, breeders and kennel owners, have contributed to the Rabies Challenge Fund:
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