A study published last fall indicates that more than 37 percent of dog owners believe that canine vaccinations could cause their pets to develop autism — a belief that animal health experts say is wrong on many levels.
Leaving veterinarians in Maine frustrated by clients who refuse important medical care for their pets.
The link between human vaccines and the onset of autism has been disproved by peer-reviewed scientific studies and there is no scientific evidence that pets can have autism, veterinarians said.
“I’ve never heard of autism in dogs,” said Dr. Kate Domenico, president of the Maine Veterinary Medical Association. “How would you rate your dog? I would like to know exactly how to classify your dog as autistic.”
The opposition to the vaccine is nothing new, although it is more known when it comes to humans. But it is gaining steam, according to a 2023 study on human attitudes towards vaccines published in The Lancet and bring pets along for the ride.
The study was presented at the Lancet Commission on Vaccine Rejection, Acceptance and Demand in the United States, co-hosted by the Yale Institute for Global Health and Baylor College of Medicine. The authors, who are all members of the commission, said that over the past 20 years, the human anti-vaccine movement has evolved from what they called a “fringe subculture” into an increasingly organized network.
The authors of the study stated that the anti-vax movement has grown to the point that it has a negative impact on public health, such as the return of whooping cough and measles – the two diseases that were essentially eradicated by vaccines until recent years.
The same anti-vaccination attitudes that brought back measles are spreading in pet care, according to animal health experts.
Dog study points to explosion of human vaccine distrust during pandemic. This distrust has created what the researchers call a “spillover effect” to domestic pet vaccinations, according to the study.
Hesitation or outright refusal to vaccinate pets is nothing new, but the growing number of people opposed to dog and cat vaccines in the country is cause for concern, according to animal health experts in Maine. . Pet owners’ concerns about autism, other factors that play into their decisions not to vaccinate their animals include access to veterinary care and financial constraints, Domenico said.
In the “Vaccine” study, researchers found that 45 percent of American families own dogs. Of those, close to 40 percent believe that canine vaccines are not safe, more than 20 percent believe that these vaccines are ineffective and 30 percent consider them not medically necessary.
It’s a trend that veterinarians in Maine want to see reversed.
“Vaccines really strengthen immunity against potentially serious or even fatal diseases, especially when there is exposure to other animals, such as in kennels, pet stores, animal shelters or shows,” said Robert Causey , DVM, associate professor of animal and veterinary sciences. at the University of Maine. “Vaccines also provide protection against wildlife diseases such as rabies and environmental diseases such as tetanus.”
It is not unheard of, but it is extremely rare that a vaccinated dog or cat contracts rabies, according to a published study from the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The research showed that out of 1,100 reported cases of canine and feline rabies in 21 states, the majority of animals – 97 percent – were not vaccinated. The remaining 3 percent had a history of rabies vaccinations.
In their most recent issue, the Maine Centers for Disease Control brought back 30 boxes of rabies in the state in the first half of 2023. All cases were found in small wild mammals.
Because domestic animals can serve as a bridge between wildlife and human rabies reservoirs, pet vaccination is one of the most effective public health tools available to protect human health, according to the World Health Organization .
Vaccinating pets against rabies is a tough sell when owners come armed with misinformation they hear from well-meaning people who regularly work with pets such as groomers, breeders and animal employees , Domenico said.
He has had clients repeat wrong information collected by the pet industry, such as their particular breed of animal does not require vaccines or does not need them until the age of 6 months.
Neither is ever the case, he said.
Vets agree that some animals can react to vaccines, just as humans react to their annual flu shots. In both cases, there is no reason not to be vaccinated.
“All vaccines can carry some risk, but that’s where a conversation with your local vet can be very helpful,” Causey said. “One can have a discussion, based on the age of the animal [and] lifestyle, which vaccines are necessary to protect against severe diseases, and which can be considered elective”.
The elective ones, also called non-core vaccines, include bordetella, leptospirosis, Lyme disease and influenza for dogs and feline leukemia for cats.
“I have seen dogs that have died of kidney disease because their owners refused to vaccinate them for leptospirosis,” said Domenico. “It wasn’t going to happen.”
Leptospirosis is a deadly bacterial disease most commonly spread through the urine of wild animals. So if a pet drinks puddle water in the woods of Maine, it could easily be exposed to it.
Non-elective or core vaccines are rabies and distemper, and are required by law in Maine.
To further reduce the risk of a reaction, Domenico said pet owners can opt to spread out individual vaccines over a period of time.
“Each veterinarian must evaluate each patient to determine whether or not the animal needs those non-core vaccines,” Domenico said. “It should be based on the risk of exposure.”
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