[megansmomma]

Here we go again! Distemper is NOT RARE in the wild animal population. My sister had a raccoon on her roof a few years ago when her doberman was a puppy. Thankfully, she was vaccinated against this so when they went out into their yard to see what all the noise on their roof was and took Bella with she was protected. They have a neighbor who does wild animal rehab and asked her to come over to help with what they could tell was a sick animal. The first thing she asked when she saw Bella in the yard was whether or not she was vaccinated against distemper. She went on to say that it is VERY COMMON for raccoons to spread distemper and because they live in urban areas to always make sure your pet has been properly vaccinated. It's the same as some parents choosing not to vaccinate against childhood diseases. My uncle who is not 92 yrs old had polio as a child. Thankfully, he was able to overcome the that effected the left side of his body. To this day he talks about all of the people that were saved by the invention of the Polio vaccine and were saved from this dreaded disease. It really bothers me when the holistic believes start beating the drum of conspiracy regarding vaccines for both humans and animals. They are necessary to protect the greater population whether it be animals or humans. I also don't get the entire "OMG my pet is going to die from anesthesia" thing. To play of the holistic hocus pocus they must always place fear and doubt into the discussion instead of proven scientific facts. When the facts can't be produced the claim is then to offer conspiracy against government regulations. I don't buy it, not for one second.