{"id":6810,"date":"2012-08-06T04:00:49","date_gmt":"2012-08-06T10:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/?p=6810"},"modified":"2012-08-05T16:45:25","modified_gmt":"2012-08-05T22:45:25","slug":"duncanhorse-vaccines-and-enough-is-enough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2012\/08\/06\/duncanhorse-vaccines-and-enough-is-enough\/","title":{"rendered":"DuncanHorse, Vaccines, and Enough is Enough"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Enough is MORE than enough.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I have a dog whose life changed after his final puppy shots (ConneryBeagle).\u00a0<\/strong> It started immediately, but it took us a while to understand the full ramifications…the autoimmune issues leading up to his third year, when the vet who had kept him alive also grimly suggested that I prepare to lose him early.<\/p>\n

Very, very early.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That Connery is still alive at 8 1\/2 is beyond everyone’s expectations and due to extensive and intricate care–there’s a reason I have a fundraiser book for his medical expenses,<\/strong> and a reason I’m running my car into the ground rather than replacing it at its age.\u00a0 And there’s a reason he’ll never get another vaccine.<\/p>\n

Things came on more slowly with Duncan.\u00a0<\/strong> Last year, he struggled after his yearly floating and shots.\u00a0 Both his\u00a0 vet and I thought it was his effort to adjust to his “new” teeth, since the previous vet hadn’t compensated for his missing molar, and that meant a significant amount of mouth work this time around.<\/p>\n

Hindsight is everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This year, Duncan had a normal floating with his shots…but he clearly didn’t feel well<\/strong> in the days following the vet visit–and besides that, he was being plagued by bugs, with welts the size of which I’d never seen on him before.\u00a0 I put him on colic watch, I cajoled him to eat with nummies and special feeding routines, I rubbed on new fly spray and I thought he was coming out of it.\u00a0 Even when he woke up one morning with thick pasterns, I wasn’t too worried–he’s stocked up before with changed feeding routines (alfalfa, that devil hay!).<\/p>\n

But he got more swollen, and more…and suddenly his skin was oozing in various places where it runs thin.\u00a0<\/strong> His belly was bloated, his head was hanging, and he didn’t want to move at all.\u00a0 It happened very quickly once it started, in the course of a a late afternoon\/evening.\u00a0 (FRIDAY, of course.)\u00a0 It was then that I realized the bizarrely reactive bug bites were part of the whole picture, and then that I realized he was in a full-blown immunological reaction from the shots–and that the stocking up was in fact vasculitis.<\/p>\n

My poor noble boy!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was lucky.\u00a0<\/strong> Patty (of Friday’s Write Horse blog feature!) responded to my “What the heck?” from earlier in the day, and as things developed into Friday night, offered some meds until I could reach the vet.\u00a0 Within five hours, he was a different horse.\u00a0 In short order I got a stamp of approval on treatment.\u00a0 Another forty-eight hours and it became evident how many little things from the past week–things I’d been trying to resolve piecemeal–were part of the vaccine reaction.<\/p>\n

That was more than a month ago.<\/strong>\u00a0 It’s taken several courses of treatment, a completely new feeding regimen and supplements, additional consultations, and lots of horse hugs–but he’s finally starting to put muscle and weight back on.\u00a0 And he didn’t get laminitis, although I’m still watching for signs of trouble.<\/p>\n

The week before his shots, Duncan looked like a 15yo horse instead of his 21 years.<\/strong>\u00a0 Now he looks a decade older.\u00a0 I’m told he’ll recover; it’s going to take a while at this age and he may never be what he was before it happened, simply because of his age.\u00a0 It’s hard for an old boy to come back from something like this, although a Lipizzan at 21 is still generally an active, athletic creature.<\/p>\n

\"First<\/a><\/p>\n

Me:<\/strong> No shots.\u00a0 Ever again.<\/p>\n

Vet:<\/strong> Sadly, there are no studies saying that the shots are good for more than a year.\u00a0 There are only studies saying they’re good FOR a year.<\/p>\n

Yes.\u00a0 Because who funds those studies?\u00a0 Who decides the parameters of the studies?\u00a0 The vaccine people, that’s who.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I’m not a “vaccines are evil!” person.\u00a0<\/strong> I think vaccines are awesome.\u00a0 I think they save lives.\u00a0 I think there’s a responsibility to vaccinate.<\/p>\n

SENSIBLY.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And I think part of being sensible is not letting the vaccine manufacturers define what IS sensible.\u00a0<\/strong> Do puppies need their shots that close together?\u00a0 Do they need that many?\u00a0 Do horses and dogs needs shots every single year? Do they really<\/em>?<\/p>\n

I don’t think so.\u00a0<\/strong> I think in this single household, I have two animals who have suffered for trusting what the vaccine people say is necessary…and assume is safe<\/em>.<\/p>\n

No more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now I make the best choices I can, consulting vets, doing research, and knowing that for Duncan–for Connery–<\/strong>shots are no longer life-saving at all.\u00a0 And believing that it didn’t have to come to this for either of them.<\/p>\n

What do you do about shots for your critter kids?<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Enough is MORE than enough. I have a dog whose life changed after his final puppy shots (ConneryBeagle).\u00a0 It started immediately, but it took us a while to understand the full ramifications…the autoimmune issues leading up to his third year, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[20,39,89,72],"class_list":["post-6810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-duncanhorse","tag-dogs","tag-duncan","tag-horses","tag-opinionated"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb2lc3-1LQ","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1555,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/06\/21\/the-call-of-the-wannit\/","url_meta":{"origin":6810,"position":0},"title":"The Call of the Wannit","author":"Doranna","date":"1006.21","format":false,"excerpt":"...Monday Or, in Duncan's case, the call of the modest fenced pasture. He. Wants. It. Duncan loves his pasture. Doesn't matter how scarce those grass blades or how studded with prickly pear. He has a south flat shared with agility equipment and junipers and one gorgeous pi\u00f1on, a north flat\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/1005.14flirt.head_.24.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1166,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2010\/05\/07\/horses-do-stupid-things-in-the-cold-damp-dark\/","url_meta":{"origin":6810,"position":1},"title":"Horses Do Stupid Things in the Cold Damp Dark","author":"Doranna","date":"1005.07","format":false,"excerpt":"...Friday Sequel to The Horse in the Cold Wet Dark We've had some...interesting...weather lately, that's for sure. 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One day, for instance...I might head for the barn to discover he's been quite busy--and creative--indeed. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "DuncanHorse"","block_context":{"text":"DuncanHorse","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/duncanhorse\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"stacked water troughs","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/04\/0401rally.duncan124.SM_.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3484,"url":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/2011\/02\/07\/in-defiance-of-chaos\/","url_meta":{"origin":6810,"position":5},"title":"In Defiance of Chaos","author":"Doranna","date":"1102.07","format":false,"excerpt":"It's Thursday the 3rd as I write this; I'm heading east toward Clovis, NM.\u00a0 The temperature has just (finally) broken 0*F, and there's sunshine streaming into the van.\u00a0 There's a three-dog cuddle-pile in the crate.\u00a0 The highway is covered with snow that, in these temps, just laughs the sunshine.\u00a0 I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Agility"","block_context":{"text":"Agility","link":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/category\/the-dogs\/agility-the-dogs\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6810"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6828,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6810\/revisions\/6828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.changespell.com\/wordplay\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}