Dog Owners Wondering if Fido Needs a Flu Shot

Dec 15, 2015 · 25 comments
scratchbaker (AZ unfortunately)
Where I live, vets make decisions based on their bottom line, not on what is best for the dog. Until I hear there is an outbreak of dog flu where I live, I'm not even going to ask my vet about the vaccine. Dogs are over-vaccinated as it is. Some vaccines that only need to be given every 3 years are still administered annually. I don't want to lose my dog to an auto-immune response due to overvaccination.
Steve the Commoner (Steamboat Springs, Colorado)
It breaks my heart to see many parents refuse to read articles from the NYT's on the benefits of protecting an infant from Influenza diseases, or remotely consider them.
John Mayer (Washington, DC)
Interesting that Dr. Klein recommends that the flu vaccine only be given to "completely healthy" dogs and that some owners "may resist giving their dogs numerous vaccinations."

It is impossible to read this and not think about in the context of the childhood immunization schedule, which is approximately 67 does of 14 vaccines by age 5, starting with HepB at birth.

There is no anti vaccination rhetoric directed at the vaccine cautious veterinary docs or the dog owners. Contrast that to what one reads about parents who research shots for their kids.

What about the immunocompromised dogs that cannot take the flu shot? Should not "the herd" be vaccinated to protect the few that cannot take the shot? That argument is advanced for children; why would it not apply yo dogs.

Dog owners who selectively vaccinate have more choice than parents of kids. The dog owners who do not vaccinate are selfishly putting at risk all other dogs, if one applies the same rationale as is used in pediatric vaccines.

New York City just passed a mandatory flu shot law for all pre-schoolers, and the state just added meningitis vaccine to the schedule for 7th graders.

It is ironic and sad that dog owners have more latitude to exercise informed medical consent than parents.
scratchbaker (AZ unfortunately)
Dog owners can also have their pets euthanised. I don't see any connection between the NEED for children to be vaccinated and someone's optional care of their pet.
arydberg (<br/>)
The usefulness of a vaccination has to be balanced with the fact that it will degrade the dog's immune system and make them vulnerable to other illness.
BC (Vermont)
Is there evidence that vaccinations degrade the immune system? Could you give us a some scholarly references?
This article suggests otherwise:
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/109/1/124.long
Joseph (Waltham, MA)
Please provide a reference to a study that supports your claim. No such study exists to my knowledge.
arydberg (<br/>)
Here is one.
http://vaccinechoicecanada.com/health-risks/anaphylaxis-allergies-asthma...

Also the CDC has distributed 3 billion dollars to families of children who have had very bad reactions to vaccines.
unnamed source (Midwest)
Of COURSE it came from Asia, just like the Asian stink bug, the Asian carp, the Asian Tiger Mosquito, Asian Swamp Eel, Asian Long-Horned Beetle, and so many others too numerous to list.

Why bother any more? Globalism is going to lead to so much overpopulation of the planet, which will then lead to deforestation, that America's native plants and wildlife will simply have to adapt at becoming hybrids or face extinction, the same way globalists expect it of human society in the new one world government planet.
Elizabeth (West palm beach)
@unnamed source, have you seen the Asian Hornets yet? I was in Northern Georgia at the NC border and encountered them. Scary! Good point you've made about adaptation or extinction.
BA (NYC)
I would suggest that if the dog is a brachycephalic breed (pug, Pekingese, French bulldog, etc.) that the influenza vaccine would be a prudent precaution. These breeds have a hard enough time breathing without any kind of infection and respiratory problems are harder to treat in these flat-faced breeds.
DLS (massachusetts)
Is it contagious to humans? In particular babies? infants?
Thank you.
Starlight (Combine, TX)
As the story says: "People cannot get sick from it but can easily pass on the virus by touching other dogs, or surfaces such as dog bowls and leashes."
Jan Hoffman (New York, NY)
We're carriers but it doesn't make us ill. See article:
(also, some of the embedded links in the story will give more info)

"People cannot get sick from it but can easily pass on the virus by touching other dogs, or surfaces such as dog bowls and leashes. "

Jan Hoffman
Denheels (Boston, MA)
The article clearly states that it isn't harmful to humans.
DiR (Phoenix, AZ)
This is an interesting article. As the owner of two small dogs, I would be interested in knowing what "common" human infections are shared with companion animals, other than the obvious rabies and toxoplasmosis. And whether they cross human to pet.
Suzanne (Arizona)
Especially remember, all the sage advice given in this article for carefully choosing which vaccines are appropriate for your -dogs- also applies to your -children- !! Be as careful with your kids as you are with your dogs. If anyone tries to bully you over doing so, SMELL A RAT (be suspicious of a non-medical agenda).

Download all vaccine package inserts from the FDA website and study them. Educate yourself on what is going on politically with the aggressive vaccine industry.

Your children deserve at least as much consideration as your pets.
Joseph (Waltham, MA)
Also be suspicious of a non-scientific, non-data driven agenda. In fact, beware of this agenda.
f.s. (u.s.)
I am most suspicious of people who don't believe in science, such as yourself.
Whiskey (NOLA)
This borders on the absurd. Despite what many dog owners seem to believe, dogs are not people. Dogs get rabies vaccination to prevent humans from getting rabies. There seems to be no end to the anthropomorphism of pets.
Elizabeth (West palm beach)
@whiskey, frankly, thank God dogs aren't people. My dogs provide relief from the "delightfulness" of humans I encounter on a routine basis.
RLL (Seattle, WA)
Dogs are given rabies shots to protect the dog just as much as to protect humans. They also get other vaccines to protect against illnesses that only dogs get. Why is it difficult to understand that humans vaccinate pets out of love and protection, just as with their children? People love their pets almost as much, or even just as much, as human children. No, dogs are not people, but they are loved as members of the family. Dogs have been bred to be loving, thinking, feeling creatures. Vaccinating pets is not anthropomorphism, but your comment is anthropocentric.
z (chicago)
How is making sure your living, breathing, pet doesn't die or become weakened from illness and disease boarding on the absurd? If you don't want to care for an animal--don't get one.
petey tonei (Massachusetts)
Our Petey got it this past August! Some version of it. Despite his taking the kennel cough vaccine, he was at the tail end of the annual coverage. The day care/boarding place reported several dogs having cough, thy thought they got it from the dogs' exposure to dog parks. Our little Petey took it hard. Nights were the hardest, he coughed and coughed and sputum everywhere. The scariest part was he could have choked on his phlegm.
Walter Cole (Tucson)
In over 40 years of veterinary practice, I never saw ONE dog named "FIDO."