1 – Aluminium
Aluminum is the most common adjuvant in veterinary vaccines. Aluminum is linked to the degeneration of the brain and nervous system. It can also cause neurological dysfunction. It promotes brain inflammation, oxidative damage, reduces the levels of brain antioxidants (i.e., glutathione) and disturbs calcium homeostasis.
2 – Thimerosal
This mercury based additive has been used as a preservative for decades – and apparently the extreme neurotoxicity that mercury in general and Thimerosal in particular have also been known for decades.
3 – Contaminants
Contaminants found in vaccines are also behind many of the adverse reactions we see in dogs. “Contaminant” means anything that shouldn’t be there. That’s anything impure or unclean, is toxic or poisonous, or has the ability to create disease. Vaccines contain contaminants that can cause cancer, leukemia, autoimmune diseases and a myriad of other unwanted conditions.
4 – Animal Protein
Disease micro-organisms are often cultured on animal tissue including embryonic chickens or cow fetuses. When a vaccine is manufactured, it is impossible to divide the wanted virus from the unwanted animal tissue. It all gets ground up together and injected into your dog’s body.
5 – Money
The final vaccine ingredient to be discussed isn’t injected into dogs, but the concept of vaccination itself. In 2005, the global vaccine market was $6 billion. In 2012, it is $34 billion. It’s not surprising that more vaccines are manufactured for dogs and media hype frightens pet owners into using them. The canine influenza vaccine is an example.
Why You Should Say NO! To Thimerosal
Thimerosal: A Sordid History
- Since its introduction 80 years ago, thimerosal has suffered a less than spectacular track record:
- In 1967, a study in Applied Microbiology found thimerosal killed mice when added to vaccines.
- In 1972, Eli Lilly found thimerosal to be “toxic to tissue cells” in concentrations as low as one part per million (PPM), 100 times weaker than the in a typical vaccine.
- Despite all of this ongoing and emerging data, Eli Lilly continued to promote thimerosal as nontoxic, even including thimerosal in topical disinfectants.
In 1977, ten babies at a Toronto hospital died when an antiseptic preserved with thimerosal was dabbed on their umbilical cords. - In 1982, the FDA proposed a ban on over-the-counter products containing thimerosal.
- In 1991, the FDA considered banning Thimerosal from animal vaccines.
- In 2006, researchers at UC Davis published a study connecting thimerosal with disruptions in antigen-presenting cells known as dendritic cells obtained from mice. Researchers and parents had previously proposed links between childhood vaccines and autism, a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects language skills and social interactions. The UC Davis study showed that in addition to being a direct neurotoxicant, thimerosal may also be an immunotoxicant, leaving the immune system vulnerable to microbes and other external influences.
So how do you know if the vccine your vet wants to give your dog has mercury in it?
You can ask for the manufacturer’s data sheet for the vaccine and phone the manufacturer and ask them to email you a list of all of the vaccine excipients before you allow your vet to give that vaccine.
But is that enough? Will you get the truth?
Don’t count on it. Manufacturers can claim “proprietary confidentiality” when it comes to vaccine ingredients and even the FDA may not know what’s in them. Thimerosal-free vaccines may certainly be a better option than their mercury-containing counterparts … but the sad truth is we can only guess whether vaccines contain thimerosal or not. Even the thimerosal-free vaccines. . Consumers, and even the FDA, have no way of knowing if that vaccine truly is free of this dangerous neurotoxin.
Dogs Naturally Magazine