Rabies Vaccines..

[pomtzu]

I was under the impression that it was the law in every U.S. state, that dogs and cats had to be vaccinated against rabies. It is here in Delaware, and if you live in an area that requires a dog license, you can't get one without proof of vaccination. The same holds true for boarding and grooming facilities - they won't take an animal that is not up to date on all vaccines. I recently had an issue with a cat that didn't have a record of rabies vaccine. He was a resident stray that I had been feeding on and off for about 5 years and he sustained an injury (looked like a bite on his leg) and I took him to the vet for treatment. No proof of rabies shot - he would have had to be cage quarrantined for 6 months and I was left with only that option and that of euthanasia. There was no way I could cage him for 6 months so he had to be PTS without knowing if it was a bite from a rabid animal or not - but I doubt it was. Then law required that the vet report it and subsequently I was served with a summons by Animal Control for failure to vaccinate MY cat - which he wasn't really MINE to start with. I took it to court - pleaded not guilty - and fortunately the animal control officer was a rookie and didn't properly present the case - (he neglected to specify the county the "offense" occured in) - and it was dismissed on a technicality.
Both my dogs and 2 indoor only cats have up to date shots.

[boomersooner]

I've always kept my dogs up to date on their shots.....especially rabies...Boomer is still on puppy shots but Cassie is on the 3 year. To my knowledge, they've never had any sort of reaction. We live pretty close to a creek, and I've seen raccoons, skunks, opossums, and, of course, squirrels....I would rather have the peace of mind...I am not really sure if it is the "law" around here or not, but I'm sure animal control would be more apt to put the dog down or something if they didn't have the shot.

[Spiritwind]

I was under the impression that it was the law in every U.S. state, that dogs and cats had to be vaccinated against rabies. It is here in Delaware, and if you live in an area that requires a dog license, you can't get one without proof of vaccination. The same holds true for boarding and grooming facilities - they won't take an animal that is not up to date on all vaccines.

To my knowledge it is law in every state (except Hawaii - as they don't have rabies on the island) that all dogs and cats had to be up to date on rabies as well.... but apparently the people on this e-mail list I joined don't care about the law.... I'd have to go back and read the e-mails again but basicly several people on the list said they some how are able to make fake certificates copied and editted from old rab. vac. certs. to use in case they would need to show proof... because they say there is enough scientific proof that a rabies vaccine can give immunity for up to 9yrs... but this isn't what the law says right now so I'd rather not take the chance something would happen and have animal control come and take my dog away because it wasn't up to date... especially when you live in an area like I do where there are a large number of confirmed rabies cases each year in wildlife... and on occasion in pets....

Now I do believe in some states rabies vaccines are only good for 1 yr.. and others 3yrs....

[pomtzu]

basicly several people on the list said they some how are able to make fake certificates copied and editted from old rab. vac. certs. to use in case they would need to show proof...

Too bad that they don't have to produce the metal tag that is stamped with the date and certificate number as well as the piece of forged paper. That would make it a lot more difficult to produce fakes. I wonder if they realize what a potentially dangerous game they're playing?

[Spiritwind]

Too bad that they don't have to produce the metal tag that is stamped with the date and certificate number as well as the piece of forged paper. That would make it a lot more difficult to produce fakes. I wonder if they realize what a potentially dangerous game they're playing?

Oh I totally agree! Thats why I thought I'd post the question here and see what everyone elses opinion is... especially after I got the private e-mail from one member of that e-mail list basicly telling me I was making up the story and there were to many holes in the story for it to be true.... until I backed it up with actual online news reports from one of the local Fox news stations.

Forsyth Co. North Carolina confirmed rabies cases for 2008

Health Department Announces 17th Rabies Case in Guilford Co. North Carolina

Randolph Co. NC Family Undergoes Rabies Treatment After Rabid Fox Attack

Level Cross (Randolph Co. NC)Rabid Fox Killed By Family Dog

Winston-Salem (Forsyth Co.) Possibly Rabid Fox Chases, Bites Two People

I don't live in an area that requires county dog license right now, but when I lived in Ohio we did have to get county dog tags each year, but they never checked a rabies certificate before you could get the dog tags... you could get them either at the court house or at the feed mill, just had to show them your renewal certificate for the tags pay the fee ($10 per tag) and you were good to go for a year...

[shepgirl]

We do have a 4 yr. law for rabies here, I just don't bother with it, My dogs are never out alone, we live on acreage also and they hike the trails every day. I still won't take the chance of the side effects from those shots. In all these years the only time I did have a sick dog as after the rabies shot and I almost lost my dog so it put me off shots forever.
I don't worry about my dogs biting, they are all therapy and have CGN and are non aggressive. The animal control here couldn't be bothered checking up on stuff like that, my vet knows where I stand on shots and if I ever did need care for my animals she would never refuse me.
I'm following the increase on autism and the controversy surrounding shots being the cause also helped me make my decision.
There has and still is much talk about the chicken pox vaccine being the cause of many cases of multiple sclerosis also....darned if we do and darned if we don't.

[pomtzu]

WOW!!! That's a lot of rabies cases! I live in a rural/farm area and we have some here - mostly in fox and racoon - but not that many. That's why I always make sure my guys are vaccinated - just in case. And Delaware is super strict about it - maybe that's why we don't have a lot of cases.
Years ago I had 3 Lhasas and one nipped my granddaughter - she was just a little tyke at the time and she starteled him awake out of a sound sleep. Of course she got taken to the doctor just to have it checked, and the doctor reported the incident. The dog was less than 2 weeks overdue for his rabies shot so he got quarantined (house arrest as I called it ) by the state for 45 days and could go nowhere except in the yard with my supervision and to the vet for his overdue shot. Since then I have always made sure my guys get to the vet BEFORE they are due (every 3 years here).

[Husky_mom]

I´m just as Amy... all puppy shots... then booster... and later just rabies... but.. we do them yearly, we don´t have 3yr vaccines here... so far... ( but I sometimes skip a year)

I´ve had a couple dogs who weren´t vaccinated at all... just rabies...

but parvo having tons of outbrakes here.. I won´t risk another dog to it.... so I´ll vaccinate all puppies... as adults just rabies and if needed (in case of a new dog with unknown history) a multiple booster

[Glacier]

I do three year rabies shots, because I have to in order to keep my kennel permit. There hasn't been a case of rabies up in at least 50 years, but I need that permit!

I follow the same protocol as Amy for other vaccines...one full set, a booster a year later and that's it. Since I don't know the health history of most of my dogs, some of them get the puppy series as adults.

I never do rabies and other vaccines as a combo. They are done at seperate appointments. I actually just buy the vaccines and adminster the shots myself, except rabies. The mobile vet comes to my house for a mass rabies shot day! I never do any vaccines on a dog that isn't otherwise perfectly healthy. If they are already battling something, their immune system doesn't need any extra stress.

[boomersooner]

Yes, I love our vet, too....he isn't too expensive and really cares about the pets...I know he stayed with a friend's dog when she passed at 3 in the morning....a lot of vets would have had someone else stay the night or just leave the dog if they knew it wasn't going to live.

[luvofallhorses]

Although, there has been nothing said about rabies being here (Montana), all of our dogs are vaccinated for rabies, including Rudy (he just got his a few weeks ago when he got neutered). I also don't believe doing boosters every year but the rabies is the important one. all of ours are 3 year rabies shots so they're also good for awhile until next year. except Buster, he got his last year since he is younger and gets his shots differently than the other 3. I am not sure about Rudy, though I think his is just a one year rabies.

[AllAmericanPUP]

Sheeba, Keesha and Eli all have the 3 yr rabies because I was living in iowa and they had to be registered with the town and UTD on rabies shot so I found a vet that did the 3 yr shot

sheeba & keesha have the combo booster shot also because they needed it to stay at a boarding kennel.

shadow i think only has the 1 yr rabies vac and the booster shot because she also stayed at the boarding kennel

ozzy hasn't had any shots since he was probably 1 or 2 yrs old.

yes rabies is required by state law but i'll take my chances

[pomtzu]

I guess I'm one of the fortunate folks that has never had any of my fur kids have any reaction to any vaccines - and I've been a Mom to many fur kids for 40+ years. I go to a wonderful vet and abide by what she feels is necessary for the good health of my kids.
My only problems occured when there were no vaccines. I lost my very first dog to distemper, and years later I lost two cats also. I had an indoor only cat that had no shots and then adopted a "healthy" kitten from the local SPCA. Three days later it was dead - I called the SPCA about it and was told that they just had to put down their entire cat population due to distemper - yet they never called me and alerted me to this. Of course the infected kitten passed it along to the cat I already had, and dispite efforts of a vet, I lost him also.
I will never put myself or any animal thru anything like that again - they get puppy/kitty shots, boosters every year, and rabies every 3 years.