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Originally Posted by Nancy1999 
I do think it’s unfair to suggest that vets give the vaccines because they are greedy and this is a huge part of their income. Wouldn’t they suggest titers if this were true? In my opinion, I think vets have a different perspective and see more obvious illness from not getting the vaccines rather than getting them, so they still believe that this is the safest thing to do for the majority of dogs. When there is indeed more proof that over vaccination is harmful and does indeed cause problems, vets will be more open to suggesting alternatives.
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I don't believe all vets do this. But I don't understand why a vet would give vaccines every year anymore when the AAHA recommends every 3yrs. The only reason I could think would be because annual vaccines bring their clinic a lot of money or they have not educated themselves. There is literally NO reason to give vaccines every year.
Yeah, titers are more expensive... most owners wouldn't pay for titers. If they knew vaccines were proven to last for 7 or more years in the dogs immune system, why would they pay money for titers, or even come to the vet in the first place? Most dog owners really just think it's standard to vaccinate every year and don't question it. So it gets these people in the door who wouldn't otherwise most likely be coming to the vet.
I certainly am not one thinks all vets are out to get us or anything, or full of greedy people. But it IS a business and when it comes to vaccines... yep, I do believe it's a huge easy money maker for them.
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Consider this… One dose of rabies vaccine costs the vet about 61 cents. The client is typically charged between $15 and $38, plus a $35 office visit. The markup on the vaccine alone is 2,400 percent to 6,200 percent—a markup equivalent to charging $217 for a loaf of bread. According to one estimate, removing the one-year rabies vaccination and consequential office visit for dogs alone would decrease the average small vet’s income from $87,000 to $25,000—and this doesn’t include cats or other vaccinations.
According to James Schwartz, author of Trust Me, I’m Not a Veterinarian, 63 percent of canine and 70 percent of feline vet office visits are for vaccinations. Clearly, radically changing the vaccine schedule for dogs and cats would result in a huge economic loss for any veterinary practice that is built around shots. And chances are the vaccines you are paying so much for are creating even more income for vets, because the adverse reactions and other medical issues caused by the vaccines keep Fluffy coming back often!
Veterinary vaccine sales amounted to more than $3.2 million in 2004 and have risen 7 percent per year since 2000. This figure is projected to exceed $4 billion in 2009. Six companies account for more than 70percent of world veterinary vaccine sales. The market leader is Intervet, with sales of almost $600 million in 2004. That’s a whole lot of 61-cent vaccines. The United States has by far the largest share of the national market with revenues of $935 million, and Japan comes in second with $236 million.
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Pet vaccination warning. Severe adverse reaction to immunization