Comments on Dog Vaccinations Mindlessly Defended

Good Morning Dr. Falconer,
I was writing in reference to your article on "RoadKill" I live in the midwest and raw feed my two pups. I am fortunate to have a husband who loves to hunt and most often and we are able to bag a doe for the pups freezer as well as ours. I have fed just about every organ I can manage to get my husband to bring home after field dressing. My theory is the same as yours, better to feed wild than something fattened in a feed lot. My concern lately, is that here in the midwest we have recently been warned about disease in deer such as Chronic Waste Disease as well as Leptospirosis (I think that's what my vet called it), blue tongue, etc. He tells me I should avoid feedine venison raw for this reason. My pups love to chew almost any bone from the deer, including the back bone, etc. As an avid hunter, my husband feels he is quite capable of chosing a healthy deer to harvest as keep in mind we are eating the meat as well. We also take precaution to wear rubber gloves while handling the processing. Just wondering what your thoughts are on these diseases affecting dogs who consume the raw meat or the organs as you suggested.

We had a little Border Terrier who was vaccinated annually (until we knew better) for the first 2 years of his life. After that, he received no vaccines, was treated with homeopathics and/or herbs when needed and fed a raw diet. At the age of 13, he suddenly became very ill and after 3 days & nights of horrible suffering, being kept at a vet emerg. clinic and being subjected to test after test, we finally had to make the heartbreaking decision to let him go and end his suffering. The diagnosis we received just prior to making this decision? He was suffering from Immune-Mediated Meningitis. As we had 2 other dogs at home we asked where our little Mickey would have contracted this disease. The only response we got was that the vet didn't know but could definitively state (somehow!) that he had been exposed to it when he was younger and had been able to fight it off but this time he couldn't. This was nonsensical to us and we have always wondered and suspected that it was all caused by damage done by the vaccines he did receive.

I've seen first hand the damage vaccinations do. I have a senior, adopted Min Pin, who was dropped off for his 6 month physical and given the DAPP shot without my knowledge or consent. I was fuming when we picked him up because of this and also because he had been on antibiotics for a bone infection only 4 months before, and he has a heart murmur. It was in their records, and she never should have given any vaccinations to this little guy. By doing so, she nearly killed him. From April 12, 2013, it took a good SIX MONTHS to get this lil guy mostly straightened out. Starting with lethargy, and advancing to edema, lack of appetite, sneezing, yellow mucous, coughing, and blood leaking from his penis, the vet then wanted to give him Vetmedin because he has a heart murmur. They also ran tests and were talking about liver/kidney issues, but he was raw fed, and I've read that results will be different on a raw fed animal. Well, I just felt in my bones that he was not in CHF and refused Vetmedin. Took him to a homeopathic vet who began the process of detoxing him as much as possible. Today he eats well again, he lost the 2 lbs of water weight he gained, no more blood from his penis. He is active and runs and plays, with no coughing. And oh yeah, he became nasty throughout this time period - it was intermittent, but it was there. He also gets supplements now such as Standard Process Canine Cardiac Support, Co-Q-10, Spectrin and Regenex, Apple Cider Vinegar, Coconut Oil, and I cleared up pustules he was getting with the use of ACV, Coconut Oil and Colloidal Silver, instead of the antibiotics the vet wanted to put him on.

I have to report that unfortunately 20/20 is not the only show to do this. Last month in Canada an episode from Marketplace titled "barking mad" aired. They had Dr. Jean Dodds as a special guest. Even though the show talked about unnecessary vet bills, they too, failed to talk about the importance of AVMA's vaccination protocol and/or the benefits of "real food" feeding as well as many other safe natural alternatives. Here is the link to the episode http://www.cbc.ca, let me know what you guys think.

It's nice to finally see some sort of thoughtful attempt to educate and 'awaken' the ignorant masses that blindly follow and believe everything they're taught about conventional veterinarian practices, but to forego telling the ENTIRE truth to the unaware isn't exactly going to steer people in the right direction.
That being said, I'm very grateful that informative websites [ such as this one ] exist, providing excellent resources and truly accruate information that will equip us with the knowledge to not only better our pets lives, but ours as well.
Thank you for all that you do Dr. Falconer.
It's people like you that truly inspire, motivate, and change not only lives, but ultimately the world, for the greater good.

I wonder how much of a role more thoughtful breeding might play in increasing longevity? I find too many breeders do not breed for health and longevity at all, but for performance or other characteristics. We all try to find ways to compensate, diet changes, supplements, etc. Maybe they should start awarding ribbons for longest, healthiest, lived dogs.

I'll bet none of those 20/20 vets would advocate the BARF diet or at least raw meaty bones. Because then they'd REALLY lose profit.

Our childhood dog, a Beagle mix, lived to be 17. She did get rabies and distemper every year, back in the 50's and 60's. She ate canned food and table scraps. Like all the neighborhood dogs, she ran loose, getting good exercise and lots of interesting things to explore. She got tick dips whenever she got ticks. When I try to figure out how she lived so long when now my better cared for dogs don't, I think maybe running loose and doing her own thing helped. Of course you can't do that now.