Quote:
Originally Posted by kjc  |
I totally agree that some vets and people are stuck in the same rut. There are also people who are stuck on one approach even if not generally or widely accepted in the field. Schultz is a minimalist on vaccines from my understanding. I do not agree with a minimalist approach to vaccines when I assess (with my vet) my dogs' individual levels of risk. In the past, my dogs were overvaccinated and I'm mad about it now that the landscape for vaccines has changed signficantly with the 2006 AAHA and others' guidelines and research. Have my dogs had problems as a result? Not that I'm aware of and at almost 11 years old Barney and Daisy are healthier than more dogs half their age. Yes Barney has had pancreatitis twice but that's it. Daisy was sick long before she left the petstore and certainly longer than any vaccine. Why are they overall healthy? I don't know. It certainly was not good breeding but it was good overall health care and ownership over their life times as I have tried very hard to overcome the deck stacked against them by piss poor breeding. I would (and have) asked my vets hard questions about vaccines, and have left a practice for failure to see eye to eye on vaccines. I take a middle of the road approach to vaccines, and follow the AAHA guidelines with my own edits as I deem correct for my yorkies because they are MY yorkies. But every year that I do not vaccinate for lepto, I worry about our walks through the wet woods, the wildlife in our areas, and the water that is all over our state. The risk is there and it is not a minimal risk here but I still do not do it anymore. Every time I do not vaccinate for Lyme, I worry that a deer tick will get them and here there are deer ticks everywhere even in the city.
This thread is about prednisone for the liver so I don't want to take it off topic any further but I do think we have to put it all into perspective when "researching" things -- who of us has the appropriate skills, education, etc to sort it all out? Unless we are vets ourselves how do we know what we read is correct? I can't be comfortable with my own research in an area I am not trained in or licensed.