By vaccinating are we limiting an animals potential to ward off disease on their own or weakening their natural immune system?
The short answer is “no”. By vaccinating we are improving the immune capabilities of an animal by giving specific protection against the organism(s) in the vaccine. The animal will not become immune to organisms not included in the vaccine but this does not reduce the animal’s general ability or potential to ward off disease on their own. An animal’s immune system can be weakened by situations of poor nutrition, stress or existing disease. Moreover, immune response to vaccine is significantly less in animals weakened by these factors. In disease outbreaks, vaccine failure is frequently blamed on poor products rather than on the unsuitability of the animals for vaccination in the first place and their resulting poor immune response.
