A Low-Risk Way to Vaccinate Your Dog

As canine vaccines can potentially cause a lot of health problems, you may wonder if it is absolutely necessary to vaccinate your dog, and if so, what is the safest approach.

Dr. Hamilton, a holistic veterinarian and author of Homeopathic Care for Cats and Dogs, suggests that we should only vaccinate our dogs against diseases that meet all of the following criteria:

1. The disease is serious, even life threatening.
2. The dog is or will be exposed to the disease.
3. The vaccine for the disease is known to be effective.
4. The vaccine for the disease is safe.

Also, many holistic vets (e.g. Dr. Hamilton and Dr. Pitcairn) stress the importance of using single or simple vaccines instead of the combination vaccines which have become very common these days. This means vaccinating for one disease at a time. Dr. Hamilton rightly points out that natural exposure to diseases is usually one at a time, and so the body is more successful at responding to one vaccine at a time and producing immunity without adverse effects.

Where possible, use only "killed" or "inactivated" vaccines as opposed to "modified live" since "killed" vaccines cannot grow in the body and therefore are safer to use.

It can be difficult to find a vet who has single vaccines readily available. You may have more luck if you seek help from a holistic veterinarian.