Animal Health Solutions

Q2 2019 | Animal Health Solutions | 39 More at: northamerica.covetrus.com/publications "Vaccines cause illness" Pet owners may express concerns that vaccines can cause autism (though it's not a recognized condition in pets), cancer at injection sites, reduced immune system efficiency, and increased risk of autoimmune disease. 3 They may cite veterinary studies to back up their claims; one such study is the 1999 Purdue University study investigating the effects of vaccinations on canine endocrine and immune systems. 4 Clients are trying to educate themselves, and we can (and should) help them conduct that research responsibly. Encourage your pet owners to be wary of definitive terms like "causes" versus "may cause", especially from non-professional sources with insufficient education or background to make such claims. Caution against claims that are based solely on anecdotal or personal experience. One pet's or person's story probably won't apply to an entire population, and good evidence is based on careful research done with large sample sizes. Most of all, encourage pet owners to avoid confirmation bias by reading sources for themselves. It's easy to take pieces of a whole document out of context, and tempting for those who are trying to prove a point. For example, excerpts from the Purdue study mentioned above are often cited as a reason to avoid vaccination, despite the authors' own closing warning that, while a connection may exist, "Not vaccinating dogs is not a viable option, because the benefits of vaccination clearly outweigh the still uncertain risks of immune-mediated disease." 4 Lately, news in the U.S. seems to include frequent updates on measles outbreaks and restrictions on those who remain unvaccinated. As this choice becomes more common, the veterinary community is beginning to see the same vaccine hesitancy among pet owners. Although you may not have had this conversation yet, it's happening in some areas (particularly among younger and more holistically- minded populations 1 ). Legislation for relaxed pet vaccination has been proposed, though not passed, in both Connecticut and New Hampshire. 2 Avoidance is even more prevalent in the UK, where a recent survey of 4,600 pet owners showed that roughly 25% of young dogs and 35% of kittens had not received their initial vaccinations. 2 Why is this happening? There are two main reasons pet owners have given for avoiding vaccination of their pets: perceived danger to the health of the pet, and the belief that vaccines are ineffective or unnecessary. Below, we examine each of these common arguments, along with ways to help pet owners better understand what's best for their pets.

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