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Vaccine or Titer?
Vaccine or Titer?
By R.E. Neubauer, D.V.M., M.B.S., N.D.
The vaccine issue has become quite
controversial over the past several years
which, in my opinion, is more due to the
American Veterinary Medical Association
than the small animal practitioners. So,
why would this be true if vaccines are
safe and necessary? And if they are not
necessary, why do so many veterinarians
require vaccines be given every one
to three years? If you are a responsible
dog/cat caregiver, you obviously want
the best medical care/advice for your
loved one.
Because information is easy to obtain
in today’s world, be it true or false, accurate
or misleading, one should do his
homework in order to ensure he is receiving
true and accurate information in
the subject being investigated. Antibody
levels to disease pathogens (viruses) are
acquired in one of two ways: 1) natural
exposure, i.e. natural immunity, and 2)
purposeful exposure (vaccination), i.e.
passive immunity. If vaccines are given,
it should be when the immune system
is prepared to develop an antibody response
(protection); for pups and kittens
this would be at the 8, 12,and 16 week
age levels.
Let’s assume vaccines were given at
these ages, or natural exposure without
death occurred -- how would one know
if the animal in question was protected?
Your veterinarian can determine this with
a simple blood test called a titer, which
can be done in the hospital or sent out to
a local laboratory. This test will measure
antibody response indicating a positive
(good-protection) or negative (not protected)
level. Because there are multiple
vaccines available, and not all are necessary,
according to the American Animal
Hospital Association, the caregiver must
be aware of which are recommended
(these are called CORE vaccines) and
those which are not required. Interestingly,
the rabies vaccination is the only
vaccine required by law, but it is also the
vaccine that causes the greatest number
of adverse reactions. Consider also that
running titers for rabies does not validate
that the animal is protected, but the same
titer result is used to prove immunization
status when transporting dogs/cats out
of the continental USA.
In my opinion, vaccinations are important
when given at the proper time,
but over-vaccination can lead to autostimulation
against the body’s own
DNA. This has been proven to lead to
cancerous tumors at the injection site,
as well as clinical problems associated
with the thyroid, heart, red blood cells,
and connective tissues.
In conclusion, think about vaccines
as a positive protection, but realize that
over-doing stimulation may bring about
-
ing chronic problems for your pet. Titer
evaluation may be the answer to keeping
the vaccines to a minimum and your
loved one’s health at a maximum.
Dr. R.E. Neubauer, the Natural Pet Dr.
new location: Mt. Healthy Animal Hospital
2818 Blue Rock Rd., Cincinnati
naturalpetdr@gmail.com
513-931-9127.
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