Those who do not vaccinate your children

[momofkhm]

Do you vaccinate your pets? I was laying in bed this morning and suddenly wondered about this. I am completely sincere and am simply curious.

 

If you don't vaccinate pets, what do you do when you go out of town? All the kennels around here require rabies, bordetella and parvo (minimum) to board.

 

If you do vaccinate pets (and not kids), why? Again just wondering! I like to try to see differering opinions and evaluate if I need to change mine.

 

For the record I vaccinate children and pets. For one things, I board the dogs.

 

Again I am not trying to start a flame war! Everyone play nice. :)

[Deb in NJ]

I don't vaccinate the children. But when we did have pets we did vaccinate them. In order to obtain a licence for pets you had to show proof of vaccinations.

 

Deb in NJ

[Pam Wilhelm]

We don't vaccinate our kids...... but the dogs have Rabies Vaccinations... it's the law.

 

As for boarding animals....... we rarely go out overnight....... and if we have, we have someone come in and tend to the animals.

 

I used to work for a vets office/boarding kennel........ we took in dogs without shots if we could "quarantine" them out to the back part of the kennel... (they were outside dogs).

[KristineIN]

We vaccinate our kids, have vaccinated our cat in the past, but haven't lately. He's strictly indoors and has all four paws declawed. We've had him for 12 1/2 years. He's just now starting to show his age. Actually I just took him to the vet yesterday and the vet didn't say anything about needing to vaccinate him. Didn't even ask, although I updated him.

 

Kristine

[Mama Lynx]

We vaccinate our cats because they go outdoors, and rabies is in the area. Also, once they're outside I cannot control what they're eating, who they're associating with, and how their immune system is functioning ;-) With the kids, there's more I can do to keep us healthy.

 

We vaccinate the kids selectively. Some yes, some no.

[Lolly]

The dog gets its shots so it can be boarded. The cats got theirs when they were little, but I no longer take them in. The kids were selectively vacced when little, I no longer take them in either. Part has to do with my views on vaccinations changing. I would have done less if I had known more. The dog has to have them for us to take vacations. And, she is just a dog. I don't feel the same obligations toward her health as a child.

[Audrey]

We stopped vaccinating ds when he had a very bad reaction. I wasn't willing to risk another one! We do vaccinate our dog, but not the barn kitties.

[Robyn]

My youngest isn't vaccinated. We may selectively vax in the future. Currently we don't have any pets requiring vaccinations, just a lizard and some fish. In the past, I have vaccinated my dog. I had to, to have him licensed, and to be honest, I just don't put as much thought into my pets health care as my children's. Not to say that I'm an irresponsible pet owner, or that I don't love animals, it's just on a different level. I agonize over things like this with my children's well-being. Not so much with a dog or cat.

[Amy in NY]

One is 13 years old and simply lives the good life - couch all day and we carry her outside (dachshund w/a bad back.) I do keep her rabies current but that is all. We stopped vaccinating her about 5 years ago when we had our other dachshund. One of them had a reaction to a vaccine - snout swelling - and I couldn't remember which one so we stopped everything but rabies.

 

Our other dog is outside 95% of the time - he gets everything as I have no idea what he's into.

 

Amy

[Pam Wilhelm]

I had a Cocker Spaniel that I took in for regular puppy vacs........ he got his shot, I brought him home....... and he was blind in one eye. I took him back to the vet (I worked for the vet, he's a friend) and he said, "yup! That happens sometimes." Nothing could be done for him.... he lived out his life blind in one eye. :(

[KidsHappen]

I vaccinated the cats in the beginning as required by law to get their lisences but haven't kept up the annual shots. My cats are indoor cats and have never been outside. It is extremely unlikely that they would ever contract a disease. I was willing to get the original shots because honestly the consequences of a bad reaction wouldn't be near as catastrophic as they would be with a child. Of course it would have been horrible if a new kitten had a bad reaction or died from a shot but not the same as a child or even a pet that you have owned for a long time. I am simply not willing to take even a small risk with my children's health and well being.

[Excelsior! Academy]

We do some immunizations with the kiddos. The more I research I do the more selective I've become. We don't do the HPV one, for example. Or the Chicken Pox one, but have been known to seek out those with Chicken Pox for exposure!:eek::D

 

My DH used to work for a vet. He knows what the dog needs when he needs it, so he goes to the local pet supply place, buys them, and administers them himself. The main thing you HAVE to know is the real weight. We had a dog that we thought was 85 lbs. When we weighed it it was only 60. Big dosage difference.

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

We don't vaccinate our kids...... but the dogs have Rabies Vaccinations... it's the law.

 

 

 

Same here.

[mysticamethyst]

My oldest got all the shots I didn't know any better and did what my mother the RN told me to do, progressivly with each child they got less shots, my youngest hasn't had any, but this has been keeping me up lately so I might rethink this as well. My pets, and I have 6 chihuahuas only get rabies and only because that is the law.

[Lisa at Home]

My kids had all their baby shots, but nothing after that, when I became more aware of all the different issues and opinions.

 

My animals I don't really vaccinate. I have an old, indoor, declawed cat that I do not vaccinate at all.

 

I took the dog for a rabies shot last year because a vet in town knew I hadn't been vaccinating, and he totally freaked. So I left his practice and went to another vet in town for 1 rabies shot and then haven't been back. Just last week we got a new progressive vet in town who practices holistic pet care. She believes in using as few vaccines as possible. I am so beyond excited to have her in my area!!!:D She even pitched out all the big name pet foods that most vets carry. Yay!!!

 

~Lisa

[Mrs Mungo]

We selectively vaccinate our kids but we vaccinate our dog fully.

 

As to why-my dog is more likely to be exposed to Parvo (especially since he does get boarded quite a lot) than my kids are to be exposed to hepatitis B.

[Melissa in NC]

I do not vac my geriatric cats, age 15 and 16. When we travel, I have a bonded, insured pet sitter look after them. A pet sitter is cheaper when you have multiple cats and you do not have to worry about vac. Also, the cats are less stressed and do not bring home hitchhikers (i.e. fleas).

[Hen]

we stopped vaccinating our kids when our 3rd was 9 months, our 4 th child had no vaccines until this year when we did the polio for the 2 youngest. We are now selectively vaccinating and will do a few. that meaning we will add the mmr if we can do them separately...

 

the cat has only had the rabies shot since it is the law.

[StaceyinLA]

I do very few, and don't do them early. Now that they are teens, I will give them the minimum they have to have for college and that's it. I'm not quite as concerned over their immune systems now, and I'm not giving any of the really questionable ones anyway.

 

I tend to be the same with my animals. I always do rabies (mainly because it's transmittable to humans, and a law), and I have done a couple others here and there on different dogs depending on the situation (my outside dogs tend to get more vaccines because of exposure). My cats get rabies only. ALL animals get spayed and neutered (lest anyone think I'm an irresponsible pet owner because I don't give all vaccines), and we treat regularly for heartworms.

[Tracey in TX]

Great question; it's sort of out of the box thinking!

I vaccinate my children, but am reticent to do the recent mandatory HPV for 6th grade girls (possible link between HPV virus and cervical cancer). Have a tough time wrapping my head around an 11y/o, um,...being 'busy'.

[Lisa at Home]

As for vacations, I have someone come in and check the cat and reptiles, and the dog either goes with us, or to a friend's house.

 

~Lisa

[DIY-DY]

We selectively vaccinate the children.

 

We selectively vaccinate the dog. I was doing the full run-down b/c he's an outdoor dog, and we live in a rural area, but within contact of other dogs, people, and critters. However, with his seizures, we cut out as much as we can until I can learn more. :(

 

Interestingly enough, the one I'd *love* to be able to get for all of us, we can't get proactively - only after-the-fact (rabies). *sigh* That's the one I worry about, living out here like we do. Go figure. So, the dog gets the shot, and the kids get the repeated lecture about manhandling mammals in the wild. ;)

[ArwenA]

I don't vac my kids and we don't have any pets right now. We did have a cat many, many years ago. I vaccinated it because it was rather sickly and I hadn't thought about not vaccinating it.

[Tia in Wa]

I selectively vacc. my children.

I buy and admin everything but rabies for the dogs -In WA the vet must do that.:)

[Volty]

My duaghter has been fully vaccinated on the recommended schedule since her birth. We've no hesitation in doing it whatsoever. It does really hurt my heart to watch as pain is deliberatly inflicted on her but the benefits far outweigh the risks. IMO.

 

Since I don't want to make waves, I had best stop typing now.

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

Have a tough time wrapping my head around an 11y/o, um,...being 'busy'.

 

That's not really why you give it that early, though. :)

 

Thought in my OB class, I'm getting a wakeup call about what some 11 y/o's in the general population are doing, based on the fact that they are giving birth at age 12. :(

[Pam "SFSOM" in TN]

 

Since I don't want to make waves, I had best stop typing now.

 

Ah, but remember the original question was for those who don't vaccinate, and not only that, but for those who don't vaccinate the kids but do vaccinate the animals.

 

So those of us who do vaccinate didn't reply. That's why, perhaps, that you feel the odd man out in this discussion.

 

Remember that people have LOTS of reasons for not vaccinating. There are reasons that doctors and nurses will REFUSE to vaccinate a particular young child on medical grounds. So it's not all hypothetical or philosophical refusal.

[Lolly]

I am medically exempted from Tetnus. Dd 1 had the same reaction to the DPT as I did. She was also medically exempted. Ds reacted questionably. I started delving deeper and not just accepting the doctor's standard answers. Then one particular doctor went from one answer on a certain new vaccine to an extreme opposite answer the following year. I knew that there was something fishy up. It has made me very suspicious and leery of just listening to the medical community's advice.:( It would be nice to go back into my cocoon of feeling safe in doing what is recommended by medical professonals.

[nmoira]

We selectively vax the kids and don't vax the cats because they are indoor. I would vax outdoor cats because I've seen FLV first hand.

[PrairieAir]

We usually only give the dogs rabies shots. We've given some of the cats rabies shots, but it's hard to keep track since we're always gaining some and losing others. Our neighbors out here in the country don't give their farm cats rabies shots. They think we're a little silly for trying.

 

When the kids were in 4-H dog training, the dogs had to have a couple of shots to be in the program and to show. We gave those ourselves except for the rabies shot which has to be administered by a vet.

 

Otherwise, we don't vaccinate kids or pets. I'm not sure about the horses since that's MIL's department, but she is the one who started this whole non-vaccination thing with dh when he was a baby. The only shot dh has ever had was a tetnus shot after an accident and also after a work incident.

 

We suspect they may have tried and possibly succeed sneaking a tetnus shot in on Jo when she was in the hospital after her horseback riding accident. The only nasty nurse we had kept saying she *had* to have one. We kept insisting that she didn't need one. We wouldn't leave her alone in the room with that nurse around, but she may have gotten someone else to do it amidst all the other procedures going on.

 

If 17yods does go into the military, he will of course have to have his shots at that time. If any of us were to travel to a country where some of these diseases are still prevalent, we would get shots first. We are not entirely anti-vaccination. (I had all my shots as a kid.)

 

When I was pregnant with our oldest, I read a book called "How to Raise a Healthy Child In Spite of Your Doctor" by Dr. ? Mendelsohn, a prominent pediatrician and family practice doctor. I've used that book all these years as a guide whenever one of us is sick and it has served me well. One of the sections was on immunizations. The things he said made a lot of sense to me, but as a young mother I was still pretty insecure. When I was pregnant with our second child, the hospital gave us a pro-vaccination paper listing the pros and cons of vaccinations. The cons list was about three times as long and seemed more likely to occur to me. (Don't ask me what was on the list. It's been too long!)

 

We figure that either way we have got to believe God and trust Him for the health and safety of our family. The matter of choosing whether to vaccinate or not then was really just a matter of choosing which helped our believing in that regard more. We aren't ignorant. We stay informed. We don't shun modern medicine, but we don't rush to use all that is available through modern medicine either. First aid is prayer and then we go to whatever seems necessary (and yes, we ask for God's guidance in that decision) for what is wrong. We like to use natural remedies when possible, but we don't ignore problems and rely only on those natural remedies. We encouraged MIL to have her gall bladder removed rather than continuing with natural remedies. We prayed for Jo's healing when she had her accident and continued to pray throughout the ordeal, but we didn't wait to get her to the hospital.

 

We certainly don't feel that everyone should choose to do as we have. It's simply what seemed most right for us.

[RenJac1501]

I agree with Volty

 

My son has been fully vaccinated on the recommended schedule since his birth. We've never hesitation in doing it .

 

I also make sure My dog Gets all her shots also. :)

there are so many strays running around here that i dont dare put her outside for the day and Not get all her shots.

[Sunny]

We do not vaccinate either our children or our pets.

Our children had some, until a reaction at 1.5 yo. They have not had any since.

 

WHen we got our dogs, I intentionally got them from a natural rearer. The parents did not have shots, nor did the puppies.

Puppies get puppy diseases. IF you get through that season, you are most likely not going to put the dogs/cats in risk of getting parvo or such. We did take precautions though. We had a natural homeopath help us and we had a medical kit on hand. This is not for the weak of heart. However, our dogs are so much stronger now for us doing this. I wish our kids were so healthy! Our homeopath said she could cure 90% of parvo cases if the dog had not had the parvo vaccine. If they had the vaccine, she said success rate was reduced to about 25%. Yes, dogs get parvo even with the vaccine. WHen I realized the vaccine did not prevent the disease, I realized it wasn't worth it.

We do not board the dogs. We usually take them with us, just like the kids. If we don't take the kids, the dogs can stay. If we go and want to leave the dogs, we find a pet sitting person to come feed the dogs and care for them at our home.

Rabies is the law. I am thankful that we now live in a state that doesn't take this so seriously. In CA, they came door to door hunting us down to see our license. Now, only if your dog gets out and picked up by the animal shelter does it matter. Where we live, there is very little chance of our animals getting rabies. Rabies vaccine is well known to cause weird things, like chasing the water hose, eating bark or dirt, red bloodshot eyes, etc.