Judy Wright had a gut feeling that her dog should not be revaccinated, as the middle-aged golden retriever suffered from periodic seizures. But at a recent trip to her veterinarian’s office, she was assured that revaccination would make no difference to her dog’s health. Going against her better judgment, she agreed to the combination booster and rabies vaccine, which was not even due for another month. Later that day, her dog started seizuring uncontrollably.

Experts have known about the adverse effects of overvaccination for years. It’s a practice that, according to a recent report from the American Animal Hospital Association Canine Vaccine Task Force, is completely unnecessary. Challenge studies are showing some vaccines protect animals for as many as seven years and possibly for life. But this information is nothing new. Recommendations for less frequent vaccination have been around since as early as 1978. In that year, states the AAHA report, “an ideal vaccination program was recommended where dogs and cats would be vaccinated as puppies and kittens and then revaccinated at 1 year of age and every third year thereafter.

“In 1998, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) debated and subsequently endorsed this same recommendation for feline core vaccines; the AAFP recommendations were updated in 2000. Also in 1998, recommendations from a group of canine vaccine experts were published. They recommended revaccination with canine core vaccines no more than once very three years following initial booster revaccination at one year of age. This proposed vaccination program, and various iterations thereof, has been adopted to varying degrees by a growing part of the profession, but misunderstandings, misinformation, and the conservative nature of the profession have slowed adoption of these protocols advocating decreased frequency of revaccination.” And even though vaccine labels clearly indicate that vaccines should not be administered to animals with specific medical conditions, or those who have experienced adverse reactions in the past, this practice is still occurring in some cases.

Vaccinate but don’t overvaccinate
We now know that annual vaccination of most vaccines after the initial series and one-year booster is at best unnecessary, and at worst, dangerous to your animal’s health. So why are many animals still being vaccinated every year regardless of their health status? While the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) changed their vaccination protocols in 2002, it’s not mandatory for veterinarians to follow these new protocols. Rather, the AVMA creates guidelines only and leaves decisions about how often your animal is vaccinated up to the individual veterinarian. That means it’s up to you, as the main caregiver, to make sure your animal doesn’t suffer the consequences of overvaccination.

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