Holistic Pet Care

Good morning Julie!

I’ve definitely heard about the Rabies Challenge Fund. I donated to it a couple of years ago, and have read the articles.

We have Bassets and the long-eared breeds tend to have ear issues whether vaccinated or not. But I have been very lucky and never had any issues with their ears (knock on wood!).

Also, I know dogs who get cancer that have never been vaccinated for anything, ever. Specifically a friend’s dog. The gal has been feeding a raw diet for 20+ years and she’s lost 2 dogs to cancer, and one to liver & kidney issues.

My sweet Miko, a Rottie-B&T Coonhound, got a rabies vaccination when she was a puppy, before she was rescued, but she died from osteosarcoma anyway.

Rosey has been vaccinated for Rabies and had an odd reaction; she broke out in hive-looking bumps all over her body. So I haven’t had her vaccinated since that incident and won’t in the future. Rosey came to us with a list of other vaccinations that were given to her within 18 months. But those vaccinations haven’t hurt her over the years.

Beaver, who we co-own, has been vaccinated for every darn thing ~~ not my doing, but insisted by the “owners,” ~~ and he’s quite health, actually, except for an occasional bout with Colitis if I feed too many RMBs.

Bess, well, that poor little thing has been hit by too many problems in 14 years: cancer, liver issues, bacterial infections, a UTI. When we adopted her, she had been over-vaccinated through the shelter and by her previous owners.

Hypothetically asking, are Bess’ health issues caused from vaccinations? I have no idea. I think whether or not a dog falls ill to any disease has everything to do with their immune system.  And a poor immune system might be depleted even more because of vaccinations. I also think the hardier breeds fare much better than the weaker ones. It’s just what I’ve observed and heard over the years.

All that said, I’m definitely not a proponent for vaccinating. But it’s really important that people understand that vaccinations shouldn’t be blamed for every health issue that occurs.

The vaccination debate is exactly like the kibble debate; are *all* kibbles killing our pets? Of course they’re not! But many people think all kibbles and vaccinations are a death sentence.

I guess all this rambling I’m doing is specific to a previous post that I made, when I wrote that no matter what I’ve done for my dogs over the years ~~ raw diet, *limited* vaccinations, homeopathy, Chinese herbs, clean water, overall healthy environment, etc ad nauseam, has all be for naught, because I still lost my Miko to cancer and Bess is a mess.

Marilyn, Miko (Chasing lizards in Heaven), Bess, RoseyMae, and (FC) Beaver Cleavear,

Fort Bragg, CA

No, Happy Camp is east of Crescent City and just south of Cave Junction, OR.  263 miles north and a tad east of you.  We send HWF daily to customers in nearly all other states (except Utah, Montana, Wyoming, SD, ND – never HW in these states) and once in a blue moon to OR, CA, WA, NV, AZ, or CO.

Did you vaccinate your other dogs/animals that stayed healthier on traditional kibble for rabies as frequently as CA law requires rabies vaccines now?   http://www.rabieschallengefund.org/ gives info about Dr. Dodd’s Rabies Challenge Study.

I have found the rabies vaccine causes horrendous ear infections, tumors at the site of the injections, aggressiveness, and cancers.  The rabies vaccine used to be given in the hind leg, so when the animal got cancer, they could just amputate the leg.  Now that it’s given in the scruff of the neck…pretty tough to amputate the head…