10/30/2025
VACCINE HESITANCY FOR PETSâDO YOU HAVE IT?
Confidence in adult and child vaccines has declined during the COVID pandemic and sadly, this has trickled into the same feeling of questioning vaccines in pets. The fact that pet owners even think about not giving vaccines to their pets, just as those that DO vaccinate their pets means that YOU CARE!! You want the best for your pet!
A recent study found that 50% of pet owners in the United States are hesitant to vaccinate their pets. A 2023 study by Motta et al found that 53% of pet owners felt that vaccines administered to dogs were âunsafe, ineffective, and/or unnecessary.â However, this study relied on pet owners reporting their dogsâ vaccine status and some were not even sure of which vaccines their pet did and did not receive. Sadly, 37% of dog owners felt that vaccinating their dog could cause the dog to be autistic (no scientific data to support or even define this!). In a study by Haeder which relied upon ownersâ recall of vaccinations, it was determined that most pet owners felt vaccines were safe and important. When individual vaccines were discussed amongst 337 dog owners, Leptospirosis and Lyme disease vaccines were declined by owners due to a belief that the vaccine was not necessary. Leptospirosis vaccine which is now considered part of the core vaccine series and administered annually is important for all breeds as previously it was favored for hunting dogs and large breeds. Leptospirosis can be contracted by your dog from drinking out of streams, puddles, or common water bowls. As a veterinarian who has seen dogs die from leptospirosis (it causes the kidneys to shut down), my own dogs get their yearly Lepto booster. You may have heard that âLepto vaccine causes adverse effectsâ and that may have been true many years ago but the vaccines (as is true for most vaccines) are new and improved, much so to reduce adverse reactions. As far as vaccine reactions go, Moore et al found that the risk of adverse reactions is increased with the number of vaccines given at once as well as the size of the dog. Smaller dogs tend to have more, if any, adverse reactions and French Bulldogs and Dachshunds are the top 2 breeds with the most reported reactions. The key is to not give all vaccines at once but to separate them by 2-4 weeks if possible. Also discuss with your veterinarian as to which vaccines aside from the core vaccines should be administered. Core vaccines include rabies, distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus, parainfluenza, and now leptospirosis. Lyme vaccine is suggested in areas where tick-borne disease is present (it seems to be increasing by the day!). Bordetella is suggested for dogs that visit groomers or kennels.
When pet owners state that vaccines are âunnecessaryâ it is because the disease has been eliminated or reduced DUE TO VACCINE THERAPY. Rabies is 100% fatal and kills 59,000 people annually due to dog bites and IS A PREVENTABLE DISEASE. As a pet owner, what do you do if your pet is bitten by another pet or you are bitten by a dog or cat that has not been vaccinated for rabies?! Not only is there concern for infection or trauma due to the bite but the situation becomes serious if the âbiterâ is not vaccinated or is overdue for vaccination. Normally, and every public health department is different, the animal must undergo a period of observation and the person or animal that was bit needs to have immediate medical attention. And donât forget the risk of your pet being bitten by a wild animal which of course the rabies status is unknown as there is no vaccination history there! The risk with rabies vaccine is extremely low yet the disease is almost 100% fatal!
In some countries, such as China, distemper is rampant. My own golden retriever is a rescue from China and I often get consults on dogs in China that are being exported to the US with rescue groups as to what, if anything, can be done for these dogs with this horrible disease. I adopted a stray puppy from a grocery store parking lot that ended up dying from distemper and I can tell you that having to euthanize a puppy that has not even experienced life made me a believer in vaccines. When you see an animal die of what was a preventable disease via vaccines, you never forget it.
So please, take the time to express your concerns to your veterinarian about which vaccines are appropriate for your pet. What you read on the internet is fine but the internet has not seen your pet as your veterinarian has. You, with the guidance of your petâs vet, can determine what protection is needed depending upon your individual situation.
https://www.aaha.org/resources/2022-aaha-canine-vaccination-guidelines/toolkit/
Mckoy, J. Nearly half of dog owners are hesitant to vaccinate their pets. BU School of Health, August 31, 2023.
Haeder SF. Assessing vaccine hesitancy and support for vaccination requirements for pets and potential spillovers from humans. Vaccine. 2023 Nov 30;41(49):7322-7332. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.10.061. Epub 2023 Nov 5. PMID: 37935596.
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