Frequently Asked Questions
Here are a couple of FAQs to get you started. Check back frequently as we will add new ones soon.
Taking a Pet Overseas
We are moving to England. What do we need to know to move our pets with us?
The site of the UK Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs: http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm provides all necessary info.
Vaccinations
I've heard that annual vaccinations are not necessary for my pet and may be harmful. Is that true?
Vaccinations have saved millions of pets' lives over the years and are a critical part of your pets well-being. The rumors of risks of vaccinations are mostly unsubstantiated hearsay, that when put to the test of rigorous scientific study don't hold water. Having said that, no one has done any long term studies with large groups of animals to determine how often a pet needs to be immunized. The drug companies will never do the studies because if it shows that vaccinations only need to be given when an animal is young, they will lose 90% of their revenue. Other research institutions simply do not have the money to fund these expensive studies.
Here is what we know and think about immunity from vaccines. Puppies and kittens are highly susceptible to fatal Distemper and Parvo viruses. They need to be vaccinated every 2-4 weeks beginning at around 8 weeks of age, and until they are over 12-14 weeks of age. At our clinic, we recommend this be boosted a year later, and then every 5 years thereafter. Science may soon show that the patient is likely immune for life after the adult booster. We will adjust our interval accordingly if the evidence supports this (how many polio, measles, DPT vaccines have you gotten lately???).
Rabies vaccination is required by law. Every dog and cat in Fairfax County must be immunized for rabies by 16 weeks of age, and then every 1-3 years thereafter. Dogs that are around other dogs in and indoor environment should be inoculated for Kennel Cough every 6-12 months. This includes dogs that go to grooming parlors, boarding kennels, animal hospitals, and indoor dog shows.
All other vaccines are not necessary and are likely ineffective. Many well meaning veterinarians want to vaccinate for a variety of diseases that scientific evidence shows are not necessary or are ineffective. These include vaccinations for Lyme disease, FIP, Toxoplasmosis, Ringworm, Corona Virus, Feline Leukemia Virus, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, Leptospirosis, Giardia, etc. At The Burke Veterinary Clinic we believe in vaccinations. We do not believe in OVER VACCINATING. If we vaccinated our 3000 patients with just one extra vaccine per year at $20 per vaccine, we would generate an extra $60,000 per year. Over my 20 years of practice, that would be $1.2 million dollars extra that I am telling you not to give me (there goes my beach house...).
Can cats get cancer from vaccinations?
The answer to this is yes and no. Much of the information regarding cats and cancer from vaccinations is yet to be learned. Here's the scoop in a nutshell. Any injection can cause cancer in a cat. The odds are infinitesimally small, to the point where it is not worth worrying about it. You are far more likely to be killed in a car crash driving to the clinic than your cat getting cancer from an injection. There is one exception. Many vaccines are "killed virus" vaccines. These don't work well by themselves, so the drug manufacturers add chemicals (adjuvants) to help stimulate the immune response. These vaccines are the big culprits in causing cancer in cats. That is why at the Burke Veterinary Clinic we don't use any adjuvanated vaccines in cats.
We use Purevax® for rabies, and we use the nose drop Heska Trivalent® vaccine for feline distemper. Since this is not injected, it cannot cause cancer. We don't recommend vaccinating for Feline Leukemia Virus because it is a cancer causing vaccine, and new research shows that once a cat reaches about 4 months of age it has a natural immunity to infection. The only exceptions to this might be cats in catteries or foster homes where there are large numbers of cats with a high turnover of strays, or cats that are in high intensity breeding environments. Fortunately there is likely to be a genetic predisposition to forming the injection site cancers, and very few cats carry this genetic defect.