by Laura Crum
I’ve
recently read some interesting posts on this very controversial subject (thanks
Mel at Boots and Saddles blog—listed on the sidebar.) I’m not why this subject
is such a hot button topic, but it is. Just trying hanging out with a mom
group—as I have spent the last twelve years doing-- and start talking about
your views on vaccination. Half the group will automatically hate you. Because people seem to fall into two
camps regarding this topic. Either vaccinations are evil and of the devil and
all their kids are unvaccinated (and yours should be, too), or not vaccinating
is evil and of the devil and all their kids are 100% up-to-date on ALL
vaccinations (and yours should be, too).
Animal
people are not quite as rabid (oops, didn’t mean this as a pun) as moms, but
there is still a tinge of this emotion in conversations about vaccination. “My
horses are vaccinated for EVERYTHING!” (Implication being that yours should be,
too.) Since my views are somewhere in the middle on this subject, I can be
hated by both sides.
Anyway,
brave person that I am, I thought I’d post about my latest conversation with my
vet on the subject of vaccinations. I will preface this discussion by saying
that I no longer vaccinate my horses on a yearly schedule, let alone twice
yearly or whatever is recommended now—so that those of you who are so inclined
can begin working on your scathing comments about what a bad horse mom I am. I
had my vet out last week to have a look at a large swelling on Henry that I
thought was a reaction to a tick bite (my vet concurred). And once I had the
poor vet here, I picked his brain about vaccinations.
To be honest, I told him what I was
doing and why and asked him some specific questions. So here’s what I said:
“All the horses I have here right
now are fifteen or older. They’ve all been vaccinated many times in their
lives. I happen to believe that there is a downside to vaccination, in both
people and animals. I have seen plenty of vaccine reactions in my life and have
heard of many more. I am choosing to vaccinate these older horses only when I
think there is a real need.”
And then I went on to talk about
the actual risk that these particular horses have. They’re not being hauled to
competitions, they probably have pretty good titers, due to being vaccinated
many times in their lives, however they ARE exposed to wildlife and mosquitos.
I asked my vet if he had ever seen any West Nile in his practice or any rabies.
The answer to both questions was
no. In all his years of practicing in this community, he had seen neither—he
had not heard of any other vet having a case. He was aware that both diseases
were theoretically present here.
I then asked him if he was OK with
my not vaccinating my horses—in line with my belief that vaccine reactions
probably pose a greater risk to the health of this particular older horse herd
than the diseases I would be vaccinating against.
He laughed. I waited, having no
idea what he would say.
“I’ve got this one client with an
older horse,” he began.
Uh-oh, I thought. He’s gonna tell
me how she didn’t vaccinate and the horse died of something. I said as much.
He laughed again. “No. The other
way around. Last year she had me hit this old horse with the whole barrage of
vaccines. The horse colicked an hour later and almost died. We had to send him
to surgery. He recovered, but it was hard. And this year? This year when the
time rolled around, she called me to come out and give him his vaccinations
again.”
“You’re kidding me?” I said.
“Nope. I tried to convince her of
more or less what you’ve been telling me; I suggested we at least skip a few of
them, but she wanted him to have them all. An hour later he was down. Colicked
again.”
“Oh no,” I said.
“Yep. He got through it OK—he’s
fine now. But I wish I could convince her that the downside of those shots is
greater than the upside—in his case.”
“So you don’t have a problem with
what I’m doing?”
“Not at all.”
“What about the rabies and West
Nile?”
“It’s your call, but I have not
seen a case in this county.”
I thought about it. I have seen so
many horses get sick from vaccines. I’ve known horses to founder and/or get
sore-footed. When I hear of someone whose horse gets sore footed every time it
is vaccinated and still they persist in vaccinating for a disease that their
vet has NEVER SEEN, well, it reminds me of a person who is so scared of being
struck by lightning that they won’t leave their house. Never mind that living
solely indoors is causing them many real health risks. Never mind that these
risks are far more likely to do them harm than the remote chance lightning
would strike them. They still persist in staying in the house.
So, with my vet’s blessing, I will
vaccinate my older horses only when I see a clear risk. A disease that is
actually causing trouble in our area. Mind you, I would vaccinate young horses
if I had them. Much of what I am doing comes from the fact that I know my
horses have been vaccinated many, many times. Odds are their titer levels are
acceptable. But even if this is not so, it’s my call that the risk of negative
vaccine reactions in the older horse may be more significant than the benefits
of the vaccine’s protection.
On the other hand, if any of my
horses got a significant wound, I would booster for tetanus. If there were
known cases in my area of any disease for which there is a reliable vaccine --I
would booster for that disease. My vet has agreed that he will let me know if
there is any vaccine he feels my horses should have. So I’m not neglecting this
issue. Nor am I cheaping out. I am happy to pay to give my horses the best
possible care. I am making a considered decision—with my vet’s agreement.
So there you go—all of you who are
firmly in the vaccinate-for-everything camp can feel free to give me your
thoughts. I love a good discussion.
