Quote Originally Posted by wolfy-hound View Post
I vaccinate ALL my dogs and cats. Anyone remember when entire kennels of hundreds of dogs used to be wiped out by distemper? Anyone ever had to have their dog put down after a bout of parvo?

Everyone can do what they think best with their animals. I personally think the law requiring rabies vaccine is a good one. I don't get a flu shot myself, because there's just too many strains of flu virus out there. I rarely catch it to begin with, and when I do catch a flu or cold bug, I almsot never go on antibiotics, unless it progresses to pnuemonia.
Just my opnion.
Rabies laws are ok, however, some states need to update their information. If I remember correctly, there were under 10 states in the US that kept the annual vaccination law. If evidence rises that a vaccine is still effective in lesser amounts and actually less harmful to the pets, then the state governments need to step up and change the laws to suit current research.
For the flu, I've personally never had the flu (knock on wood), though I did catch bronchitis (sp?) that lasted for two weeks before I decided it was time to hit the doctor up for some antibiotics (took two different courses of antibiotics to work, yay). I grew up in a family where if you weren't bleeding to death or dying in some other way, it simply wasn't necessary to rush to the doctor. Part of this was because when I was younger, I had problems that the doctors all claimed were being faked to get attention, so, when I had a problem, it was usually ignored thanks to the doctors. I still have some problems that are undiagnosed (mainly joint problems, which were originally diagnosed as "growing pains" when I was around 7 years old, then later "diagnosed" as attention seeking behavior, then even later diagnosed by yet another doctor as a problem due to my weight, though I had been underweight most of my life, yet living with the same problems). Anyways... Lol. I just think that people and animals should be vaccinated and medicated for the least amount possible, as the vaccines and medications do have side-effects and if there's .001% chance of developing/catching something, why vaccinate for it?