Dr. Dennis Selig Vaccinations can be lively topic Have you ever wondered why your dog or cat has to get a collection of vaccinations yearly and humans get them only a few times within our lifetime? The topic of vaccines and how often to administer them is currently one of the liveliest topics within veterinary medicine. Background In 1978, the American Veterinary Medical Association recommended that vaccines for dogs and cats be administered yearly. This recommendation was made without scientific validity but, with the high incidence of preventable diseases and vaccines that had debatable efficacy, scholars felt that it was most prudent to vaccine annually. Many of these vaccines would cause lumps to develop under the skin, pain at the site of the injection and occasionally allergic reactions that, if not treated, could lead to death. But these problems were considered rare, insignificant or unavoidable. However, in the 1990s, many cats began showing up with a tumor at the site where a feline leukemia or a rabies vaccine was given months or year earlier. This cancer, called the Feline Vaccine-Associated Sarcoma, was a highly malignant and highly invasive tumor. The occurrence of cats developing these tumors was strange: a veterinarian in one part of a town would have one cat in 1,000 develop a vaccine associated sarcoma while another veterinarian on the other side of town would have one cat in 10,000 develop a sarcoma. This realization and further research revealed that some cats are genetically wired to be prone to developing this form of cancer. It was also discovered that vaccines were not the only agents that would cause these cats to develop sarcomas - any injection that created irritation and inflammation could trigger the genetic coding to product these tumors. Within some of the tumors, trace amounts of aluminum were discovered. Aluminum is often added to some vaccines to extend the effective life of the vaccines. These elements used to extend the life of vaccines are called "Adjuvant." As a result, some vaccine manufacturers are currently producing vaccines free of adjuvants. Dogs, also, have had an increased incidence of immune-related diseases that some believe are due to over-stimulation of the immune system from too many vaccinations. Today When it became clear that some vaccines were creating problems in some dogs and cats, a task-force was formed to study this problem. This group of highly respected veterinary professors and scholars have recommended that cats be vaccinated at very specific sites on the body. Many of the members of this task-force strongly recommend that the vaccines given to a cat or dog be tailored to that specific pet and that many pets do not require all vaccinations annually. An example is a family that has multiple cats that are occasionally allowed to go outside or board at a boarding facility. These cats may need a rabies vaccine and feline Bordetella vaccine only once a year and alternate yearly with the feline upper respiratory vaccine and the feline leukemia vaccine. This same schedule of staggering various vaccines is being reviewed for dogs. While no final report has been published to provide guidance to your veterinarian, many veterinarians are embracing the idea that "fewer may be better" and are changing their vaccination protocols, using adjuvant-free vaccines, and administering the vaccines at the recommended sites. Contact your veterinarian for his/her opinion about the vaccine issue and tell your pets that they can possibly look forward to fewer needles in the future. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Dennis Selig is a veterinarian at Northwood Hills Animal Hospital in Gulfport. His column and other contributions to Your Pet's Doctor are coordinated by The Sun Herald. Questions for this column are encouraged. Write to South Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association, 20005 Pineville Road, Long Beach MS 39560 and include a self- addressed stamped envelope.