Zulu's Story
The following e-mail correspondence took place between Catherine O’Driscoll and Lisa Mayhew during December 1998. Lisa has given us permission to reproduce the correspondence in the hope that it will help others struggling with the same decision.
Dear Catherine
I hope you don’t mind my asking your advice, but we’re in a quandary as to whether to finish our puppy’s course of vaccinations, due to your book!
I should have known better, as I had a lot of problems with my horse and his vaccinations. Anyway, we got the puppy a few weeks ago and he had his first jab at eight weeks old, with no problems. He was meant to have the second last Friday (12 weeks old) but I found your book in the library and we put it off so that I could administer homoeopathic buffer pills in time. Having read more over the weekend, we put it off again this morning in a panic!
What I would really like to find out (if you know) is whether if we have the second jab, does that provide us with a ‘legal’ vaccine certificate for future use (shows, training, etc.) if we then follow homoeopathic protection instead of annual boosters? Or must the certificate show updates of annual boosters?
We just don’t know what to do - we are loath to administer the second jab now, but almost feel that as we’ve done the first, we might as well do the second. I’d appreciate it if you could advise me in any way, as soon as possible
Lisa Mayhew
Dear Lisa
Many thanks for your e-mail. I have to say, first, that it is not my place to tell you whether or not you should vaccinate your puppy, although my feelings on the subject are probably well known to you by now! When I say it’s not my place, I am trying to say that I don’t have a right to force an important decision like this on you.
I know that horses can’t compete in events unless they have a vaccine certificate to show, but I don’t think it’s quite so bad in the dog world. Some shows/training classes insist upon up-to-date vaccines, but I don’t believe they actually ask the owners to show the certificates. Other dog clubs, kennels, etc., are beginning to accept the homoeopathic nosode as an alternative to vaccines.
We estimate that around three in every hundred dogs is vaccine damaged, which means that you have a 97% chance that your pup will be OK. You really need to assess the risk of your individual case. In the human field, doctors are told (by Merck, a vaccine manufacturer) that ‘people’ with, or from families prone to, skin disease, inhalant allergies, food allergies, heart disease and neurological conditions should not receive live vaccines, because the vaccines could induce a severe or fatal infection. Do you happen to know whether any of these conditions are prevalent in your pup’s line?
My two youngest pups have never been vaccinated. They are both incredibly fit, and we haven’t had a day’s illness in their 19 months of life. They are given the homoeopathic nosode, and we were recently accepted at a training class, despite the trainer’s card saying, ‘we accept fully vaccinated dogs for training’. I know lots of people who show their dogs, and have never heard any of them say that they were refused entry because they don’t vaccinate.
So good luck with your decision, and big kisses for the pup.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
Many thanks for your kind and swift reply. I have done a lot of phoning around of kennels, trainers, my breeder, etc., and after much deliberation last night my husband and I decided that although we hated doing it, we would have the second jab and no further boosters (protect him in future homoeopathically).
So, I’ve just come back from the vet, card in hand, hoping nothing goes wrong. Keep your fingers crossed for Zulu (our puppy) please!
I will fill your survey form in after a few months. Thanks very much for all your efforts, and your excellent book.
Lisa Mayhew
Dear Lisa
I do hope Zulu lives a long, healthy and happy life. You’ll find, though, that you’ll hit the same problem if you don’t have a ‘current’ vaccine certificate.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
I am writing to you again as I thought you should know that things have not gone well with Zulu, our puppy. We feel unbelievably horrible about it, more so because we had such strong misgivings about giving the second vaccine, and things could have been different now.
Zulu had his second jab last Tuesday and on Sunday he was very quiet/sleepy (highly unusual). Monday morning he was very unwell - fever and listless, so I took him to our vet who gave him antibiotic capsules. He had a fever of 104.6.
By Monday evening his fever was 105.8 and I was vaguely hysterical, so we took him back to the vet, who gave him a fever-reducing jab. That helped for a few hours only and he ate some chicken. This morning he was even worse and we took him for an early morning vet visit - fever at 104, totally weak, and he got a jab of antibiotics. By this afternoon I could see he was just getting worse, so listless, groaning, twitching, so hot and no strength whatsoever. We have to carry him to wee or he wets himself.
I got hold of a homoeopathic vet in a bit of an emotional state and decided to drive to fetch the remedy. When I got there I saw him and he gave me some other remedies, which we gave Zulu as soon as I got back home. My husband is at the moment sleeping with him in his cage, and he seems quieter and more peaceful - but we don’t know if that’s good or bad.
The vets have insisted that if it was due to the vaccine, it would have happened within 24 hours of the jab - but don’t diseases take at least a few days to develop? One vet even advised us that it could be from other animals, like perhaps birds!!? (Zulu has stayed mostly indoors since Tuesday, and doesn’t go far in the garden). We just desperately wish that we’d listened to our inner voices and previous experience.
Lisa
Dear Lisa
I am so sorry to hear about Zulu, but I’m afraid I’m not surprised. It seems to happen time and time again. As soon as people start asking ‘should I, shouldn’t I?’, and then go ahead and do it, the dog has a reaction. But had I said that to you, then I would have been using undue pressure. I’m very glad that you have a homoeopath on the case.
Our dogs are our teachers. I know it is very hard for you at the moment, and I do hope that Zulu makes a full recovery - but can you imagine how despondent I feel when, even having read my book, people still vaccinate? How, Lisa, can we get through to people so they don’t have to watch their dogs suffer first?
As for the vet saying it has to happen within 24 hours - get him to read my book. Serum reactions can happen 10 days after the jab (and vaccines contain serum). MLV vaccines multiply in the animal over time (i.e., the virus multiplies slowly until such time as the animal combats the vaccine challenge, or not). The vet is supposed to be a scientist! They don’t seem to understand the fundamentals. Sorry - I am very upset to hear about Zulu.
I am sending him Reiki healing for the next 24 hours.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
Zulu was put down last night - December 24th - at approximately 10pm, but we knew he gave up really yesterday morning. We’re devastated, so I won’t say much more.
Lisa
Dear Lisa
I am so very sorry. I am heartbroken for you. Zulu was a warrior - remember him as such.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
I just felt I wanted to answer a question you posed in one of your e-mail's, regarding how one can get through to people without having to watch their dogs suffer first.
Well, I was very worried before Zulu’s second vaccine and began asking advice as I didn’t trust my own judgment. I postponed the jab twice and read most of your book, tried to speak to the homoeopathic vet, e-mailed you, spoke to the breeder, spoke to a dog trainer, phoned up kennels.
The homoeopath’s secretary basically told me to make up my own mind, and said I could speak to him in a week’s time. You mentioned that, “had I said that to you, then I would have been using undue pressure”. But then everyone else on the ‘other side’ applied plenty of pressure - ‘just’ to have the second one. All I needed was a voice on your side saying no, believe in this, homoeopathy is better. Some reassurance.
I’m not blaming anyone except myself for not being stronger and listening to my inner voice that made me hesitate in the first place. I just thought you might like to know what I tried to do/find out and how perhaps equal pressure needs to be exerted on the anti-vaccine side. If there isn’t any it almost seems to indicate a lack of belief in the homoeopathic system, which is what might make people vaccinate after all.
If I can ever help with your work, please let me know. I really appreciated your responses to my questions, it’s good to know that people care so much.
Lisa
Dear Lisa
I know exactly what you mean - the pro-vaccinators do apply extreme pressure. I often despair when I hear homoeopaths saying that the nosodes are unproven. Indeed, at a seminar, where a homoeopathic pharmacist was speaking, and saying that nosodes were unproven, I sort of imploded, saying that they are NOT unproven and this is the only alternative we have, so be positive about it! It drives me mad when people, who know the truth, insist upon being 'reasonable', when the other side are being bullies.
However, I honestly do believe that no human being has a right to compel another to do anything - that's where we went wrong in the first place, with the men in white coats. Do we want to replace one set of 'experts' with another set of 'experts' - human beings who are just as open to corruption and self interest as the first set? Despite this, I am known as 'that awful woman' who is obsessed about vaccines - a lot of people out there already think I'm extreme.
I felt that I had put enough information in my book to help you make your decision. After reading the book, and all it contains, if I had then said to you, "No! You must NOT vaccinate your puppy," you might still not have taken any notice of me - because the brainwashing and fear of distemper, parvo, etc., and the desire to attend shows and training classes, and put dogs in kennels, is often stronger than the fear that your dog might be one of the so called 'tiny minority' of dogs who suffer adverse vaccine reactions.
I had a conversation over dinner with a girl who bought her vaccines for £5 from America and injected them herself. I was so frustrated by her delight in the money she was saving, that I ended up saying "you are killing your dog on the cheap" - very unlike me. But she went ahead and did it anyway, and the dog ended up very ill. I don't know the final outcome.
We are so brainwashed into believing the men in white coats that sometimes it takes something like this to make us stop and think. Lisa, it took the death of two dogs before I wised up. And call me mad, but I honestly and fervently believe that Oliver and Pru, and now Sam, came to this earth to save others. Zulu did the same. I don't know what you do, but I believe there is something in you that will do something very positive as a result of Zulu's sacrifice.
You will be going through a lot of emotions now. Anger, grief, guilt - all these are normal emotions experienced when you lose someone you love. Don't feel guilty, because you went to a lot of trouble to try to come to the right decision. It could have been that Zulu would have been fine - but sometimes Fate has a way of putting us on a certain path. I believe that the path you are now on will be extremely positive in the long run. As for Zulu, he has gone to a far better place. I also believe that you will meet him again.
The next time someone comes to me asking whether they should vaccinate, I can tell them about Zulu. Just think of the lives he will save. But for now, be kind to yourself and allow yourself to grieve. Do you know, when I took Pru for her last vaccine shot, she rolled her eyes in her sockets and climbed up on my back. I took no notice of her, and told her it was OK, the vaccine was good for her. How I regret that decision. But the larger picture is that hundreds, maybe thousands, of dogs will be spared our pain as a result of me letting Pru down. It's a hard burden to bear, but who said it had to be easy?
Catherine
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The following e-mail correspondence took place between Catherine O’Driscoll and Lisa Mayhew during December 1998. Lisa has given us permission to reproduce the correspondence in the hope that it will help others struggling with the same decision.
Dear Catherine
I hope you don’t mind my asking your advice, but we’re in a quandary as to whether to finish our puppy’s course of vaccinations, due to your book!
I should have known better, as I had a lot of problems with my horse and his vaccinations. Anyway, we got the puppy a few weeks ago and he had his first jab at eight weeks old, with no problems. He was meant to have the second last Friday (12 weeks old) but I found your book in the library and we put it off so that I could administer homoeopathic buffer pills in time. Having read more over the weekend, we put it off again this morning in a panic!
What I would really like to find out (if you know) is whether if we have the second jab, does that provide us with a ‘legal’ vaccine certificate for future use (shows, training, etc.) if we then follow homoeopathic protection instead of annual boosters? Or must the certificate show updates of annual boosters?
We just don’t know what to do - we are loath to administer the second jab now, but almost feel that as we’ve done the first, we might as well do the second. I’d appreciate it if you could advise me in any way, as soon as possible
Lisa Mayhew
Dear Lisa
Many thanks for your e-mail. I have to say, first, that it is not my place to tell you whether or not you should vaccinate your puppy, although my feelings on the subject are probably well known to you by now! When I say it’s not my place, I am trying to say that I don’t have a right to force an important decision like this on you.
I know that horses can’t compete in events unless they have a vaccine certificate to show, but I don’t think it’s quite so bad in the dog world. Some shows/training classes insist upon up-to-date vaccines, but I don’t believe they actually ask the owners to show the certificates. Other dog clubs, kennels, etc., are beginning to accept the homoeopathic nosode as an alternative to vaccines.
We estimate that around three in every hundred dogs is vaccine damaged, which means that you have a 97% chance that your pup will be OK. You really need to assess the risk of your individual case. In the human field, doctors are told (by Merck, a vaccine manufacturer) that ‘people’ with, or from families prone to, skin disease, inhalant allergies, food allergies, heart disease and neurological conditions should not receive live vaccines, because the vaccines could induce a severe or fatal infection. Do you happen to know whether any of these conditions are prevalent in your pup’s line?
My two youngest pups have never been vaccinated. They are both incredibly fit, and we haven’t had a day’s illness in their 19 months of life. They are given the homoeopathic nosode, and we were recently accepted at a training class, despite the trainer’s card saying, ‘we accept fully vaccinated dogs for training’. I know lots of people who show their dogs, and have never heard any of them say that they were refused entry because they don’t vaccinate.
So good luck with your decision, and big kisses for the pup.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
Many thanks for your kind and swift reply. I have done a lot of phoning around of kennels, trainers, my breeder, etc., and after much deliberation last night my husband and I decided that although we hated doing it, we would have the second jab and no further boosters (protect him in future homoeopathically).
So, I’ve just come back from the vet, card in hand, hoping nothing goes wrong. Keep your fingers crossed for Zulu (our puppy) please!
I will fill your survey form in after a few months. Thanks very much for all your efforts, and your excellent book.
Lisa Mayhew
Dear Lisa
I do hope Zulu lives a long, healthy and happy life. You’ll find, though, that you’ll hit the same problem if you don’t have a ‘current’ vaccine certificate.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
I am writing to you again as I thought you should know that things have not gone well with Zulu, our puppy. We feel unbelievably horrible about it, more so because we had such strong misgivings about giving the second vaccine, and things could have been different now.
Zulu had his second jab last Tuesday and on Sunday he was very quiet/sleepy (highly unusual). Monday morning he was very unwell - fever and listless, so I took him to our vet who gave him antibiotic capsules. He had a fever of 104.6.
By Monday evening his fever was 105.8 and I was vaguely hysterical, so we took him back to the vet, who gave him a fever-reducing jab. That helped for a few hours only and he ate some chicken. This morning he was even worse and we took him for an early morning vet visit - fever at 104, totally weak, and he got a jab of antibiotics. By this afternoon I could see he was just getting worse, so listless, groaning, twitching, so hot and no strength whatsoever. We have to carry him to wee or he wets himself.
I got hold of a homoeopathic vet in a bit of an emotional state and decided to drive to fetch the remedy. When I got there I saw him and he gave me some other remedies, which we gave Zulu as soon as I got back home. My husband is at the moment sleeping with him in his cage, and he seems quieter and more peaceful - but we don’t know if that’s good or bad.
The vets have insisted that if it was due to the vaccine, it would have happened within 24 hours of the jab - but don’t diseases take at least a few days to develop? One vet even advised us that it could be from other animals, like perhaps birds!!? (Zulu has stayed mostly indoors since Tuesday, and doesn’t go far in the garden). We just desperately wish that we’d listened to our inner voices and previous experience.
Lisa
Dear Lisa
I am so sorry to hear about Zulu, but I’m afraid I’m not surprised. It seems to happen time and time again. As soon as people start asking ‘should I, shouldn’t I?’, and then go ahead and do it, the dog has a reaction. But had I said that to you, then I would have been using undue pressure. I’m very glad that you have a homoeopath on the case.
Our dogs are our teachers. I know it is very hard for you at the moment, and I do hope that Zulu makes a full recovery - but can you imagine how despondent I feel when, even having read my book, people still vaccinate? How, Lisa, can we get through to people so they don’t have to watch their dogs suffer first?
As for the vet saying it has to happen within 24 hours - get him to read my book. Serum reactions can happen 10 days after the jab (and vaccines contain serum). MLV vaccines multiply in the animal over time (i.e., the virus multiplies slowly until such time as the animal combats the vaccine challenge, or not). The vet is supposed to be a scientist! They don’t seem to understand the fundamentals. Sorry - I am very upset to hear about Zulu.
I am sending him Reiki healing for the next 24 hours.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
Zulu was put down last night - December 24th - at approximately 10pm, but we knew he gave up really yesterday morning. We’re devastated, so I won’t say much more.
Lisa
Dear Lisa
I am so very sorry. I am heartbroken for you. Zulu was a warrior - remember him as such.
Catherine
Dear Catherine
I just felt I wanted to answer a question you posed in one of your e-mail's, regarding how one can get through to people without having to watch their dogs suffer first.
Well, I was very worried before Zulu’s second vaccine and began asking advice as I didn’t trust my own judgment. I postponed the jab twice and read most of your book, tried to speak to the homoeopathic vet, e-mailed you, spoke to the breeder, spoke to a dog trainer, phoned up kennels.
The homoeopath’s secretary basically told me to make up my own mind, and said I could speak to him in a week’s time. You mentioned that, “had I said that to you, then I would have been using undue pressure”. But then everyone else on the ‘other side’ applied plenty of pressure - ‘just’ to have the second one. All I needed was a voice on your side saying no, believe in this, homoeopathy is better. Some reassurance.
I’m not blaming anyone except myself for not being stronger and listening to my inner voice that made me hesitate in the first place. I just thought you might like to know what I tried to do/find out and how perhaps equal pressure needs to be exerted on the anti-vaccine side. If there isn’t any it almost seems to indicate a lack of belief in the homoeopathic system, which is what might make people vaccinate after all.
If I can ever help with your work, please let me know. I really appreciated your responses to my questions, it’s good to know that people care so much.
Lisa
Dear Lisa
I know exactly what you mean - the pro-vaccinators do apply extreme pressure. I often despair when I hear homoeopaths saying that the nosodes are unproven. Indeed, at a seminar, where a homoeopathic pharmacist was speaking, and saying that nosodes were unproven, I sort of imploded, saying that they are NOT unproven and this is the only alternative we have, so be positive about it! It drives me mad when people, who know the truth, insist upon being 'reasonable', when the other side are being bullies.
However, I honestly do believe that no human being has a right to compel another to do anything - that's where we went wrong in the first place, with the men in white coats. Do we want to replace one set of 'experts' with another set of 'experts' - human beings who are just as open to corruption and self interest as the first set? Despite this, I am known as 'that awful woman' who is obsessed about vaccines - a lot of people out there already think I'm extreme.
I felt that I had put enough information in my book to help you make your decision. After reading the book, and all it contains, if I had then said to you, "No! You must NOT vaccinate your puppy," you might still not have taken any notice of me - because the brainwashing and fear of distemper, parvo, etc., and the desire to attend shows and training classes, and put dogs in kennels, is often stronger than the fear that your dog might be one of the so called 'tiny minority' of dogs who suffer adverse vaccine reactions.
I had a conversation over dinner with a girl who bought her vaccines for £5 from America and injected them herself. I was so frustrated by her delight in the money she was saving, that I ended up saying "you are killing your dog on the cheap" - very unlike me. But she went ahead and did it anyway, and the dog ended up very ill. I don't know the final outcome.
We are so brainwashed into believing the men in white coats that sometimes it takes something like this to make us stop and think. Lisa, it took the death of two dogs before I wised up. And call me mad, but I honestly and fervently believe that Oliver and Pru, and now Sam, came to this earth to save others. Zulu did the same. I don't know what you do, but I believe there is something in you that will do something very positive as a result of Zulu's sacrifice.
You will be going through a lot of emotions now. Anger, grief, guilt - all these are normal emotions experienced when you lose someone you love. Don't feel guilty, because you went to a lot of trouble to try to come to the right decision. It could have been that Zulu would have been fine - but sometimes Fate has a way of putting us on a certain path. I believe that the path you are now on will be extremely positive in the long run. As for Zulu, he has gone to a far better place. I also believe that you will meet him again.
The next time someone comes to me asking whether they should vaccinate, I can tell them about Zulu. Just think of the lives he will save. But for now, be kind to yourself and allow yourself to grieve. Do you know, when I took Pru for her last vaccine shot, she rolled her eyes in her sockets and climbed up on my back. I took no notice of her, and told her it was OK, the vaccine was good for her. How I regret that decision. But the larger picture is that hundreds, maybe thousands, of dogs will be spared our pain as a result of me letting Pru down. It's a hard burden to bear, but who said it had to be easy?
Catherine
Back to:
Your Stories
A to Z