Healthier or Sicker?

I am becoming really concerned about the dramatic rise in cancer and auto-immune illness in both dogs and humans. Great Danes are high on the list of breeds suceptible to cancer and auto immune disease.

Something is going on, and many are pointing fingers at vaccines, heartworm medications, and food contaminates. Here is one site I’ve been looking at, if you would care to have a peek yourself: http://www.thedogplace.org/VACCINES/INDEX.asp.

Two of the articles I studied most are http://www.thedogplace.org/VACCINES/Puppy-Shot-Schedule-0611_Vargas.asp, and http://www.thedogplace.org/VACCINES/Vaccination_Aronson-DVM-0604.asp

Puppies in particular have underdeveloped immune systems, which is why they are most vulnerable to diseases like parvo and distemper. But the vaccines themselves can also do harm to a weak immune system. It’s a cost vs risk analysis. Personally, I sweat blood when giving a puppy their shots, so I try to reduce the risks using a very conservative schedule. There is a page listed to the right here with much more detailed info on vaccinations.

Another thing to consider is what’s in the dog food. GMO corn, soy, and other crops have been shown repeatedly to cause tumors and organ failure in lab animals, yet finding out if the corn in your dogs’ food is GMO is nearly impossible. We all have likely heard about contaminated treats from China too. My best suggestion is feeding either raw (grass fed, antibiotic/hormone free meat) or a kibble without corn and unneeded ingredients at the very least.

I don’t have any kind of degrees, but I’ve had dogs my whole life (40+ years). What I do know is our families and our animals are sicker than ever before, myself included. We are now coping with chronic, expensive diseases rather than the acute diseases like rabies in dogs or small pox in humans we used to fear so much. I’m hoping with enough noisy patients and questioning dog owners, the profitable vaccine and pet food industry will start being challenged by both vets and doctors.

What vaccines do we really need, what ingredients in food are known to be dangerous, what medicines have more risk than benefit, are all difficult questions to find answers for. There is almost no studies on the effectiveness and safety of the shots we get. The FDA spends its time giving the okay to GMO crops despite studies raising cancer questions. I’m worried that our efforts to do what’s best for our families, both canine and human, may turn out to be the cause of much suffering.