So last time I talked a little about some of the ways you should be choosy about the vaccines you have put into your fur friends. The real question I didn’t quite answer is why bother being choosy?

Vaccinosis, that’s why. Now, unless you’ve been researching vaccine information for a while, that’s a big, non-specific word that doesn’t mean a whole lot, so let me explain what it is and how I’ve seen it affect the lives of fur kids like yours.

Vaccinosis is the upset of a being’s energetic and therefore physical and emotional systems as a result of over-vaccination. “Over-vaccination” is also vague and poorly defined. It really depends on how strong your fur friend’s wei qi, or defensive energy, is. Very hardy pets can receive many poor quality vaccines and potentially have few problems, however sensitive pets or pets already experiencing a high toxin load could experience vaccinosis after even just one good quality vaccine.

This vaccinosis can manifest as emotional or physical problems. One of the most common manifestations I have seen are manifestations of allergic dermatitis, or allergic skin problems. This happens because the body has reacted to the vaccine in an inappropriate manner and been sensitized to all kinds of allergens in the process. I have even seen 6 month old puppies and kittens who were totally fine until the day they went in for their “neuter and vaccinate them for everything at once while under anesthesia” appointment and developed terrible allergies soon after that.

Now, there are a couple of things wrong there. For one, we talked last time about spreading vaccines out. Vaccinating a pet for everything in one visit is potentially not a great idea. The other problem is that we are already asking the immune system to deal with the consequences of surgery as well as lowering the immune system’s efficacy by exposing the pet to anesthetic drugs. I never recommend vaccinating at the same time as any anesthetic procedure.

Another manifestation of vaccinosis that is actually relatively common with the rabies vaccine is a change in behavior. Some pets, particularly dogs, who receive the rabies vaccine will become more aggressive, unpredictable, and/or afraid of water after the vaccine. These, as you may know, are all behavioral symptoms of rabies infection, but they can occur after vaccination and in the absence of infection.

Essentially any inflammatory condition could be the manifestation of vaccinosis. Conditions such as lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, allergies, autoimmune disease, and other inflammatory diseases can all arise from other causes, but vaccinosis can sometimes be the trigger that sets off a disease that your pet was already prone to.

Vaccinosis can occasionally be severe enough to be life threatening, and is often severe enough to affect your fur friend’s quality of life. If you believe your pet is experiencing the symptoms of vaccinosis, contact a holistic veterinarian near you to get a diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Treatment usually consists of detoxifying your pet’s system and building back up their appropriate defenses.

Want to learn more about vaccines and how to recognize the signs of vaccinosis in your furkids? I’m creating a webinar just for this purpose! Join my village of holistic pet parents to receive a complimentary lecture on constitution in pets according to Chinese medicine and all the updates on future webinars.