Click on title for previous posts in this series:
Disclaimer: I want to make one thing clear: I am not against vaccinating your pets. I will be sharing our experiences, as well as information I have learned through research and from our own veterinarian. My intent is only to share information that might be important for pet families to know. You should always consult your own trusted vet when it comes to the care and safety of your own pets’ health.
Every state in the USA and many other countries have rabies vaccination laws for dogs and some for other pets. Rabies is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can be transmitted to humans from other mammals. It is a viral disease most often transmitted through the saliva of infected animals after a bite. It affects the central nervous system, and ultimately causes disease in the brain and leads to death if untreated. The good news is that treatment for humans is very effective when caught soon enough and there is only an average of 2-3 deaths in the USA each year. Those that died from it were not aware of exposure and did not seek treatment in time.
Over 90% of the cases of rabies in the USA are found in wildlife. The most commonly infected animals are bats, raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and skunks. The most commonly infected domestic animals are cats, then cattle, and dogs. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that not all states have rabies laws for cats, and it is more commonly seen in cats. (Reasons for that could also be that cats roam more and lack of leash laws for them). I believe that it is because of these laws that rabies has become less common in humans over the years. The laws are working.
My state of New Hampshire has rabies vaccination laws for dogs, cats, and ferrets. The most commonly infected wildlife is bats, and the last deadly human case was in the 1990’s, and that person contracted it when bitten by a dog overseas. Most states (including mine) require dogs to be vaccinated every 3 years, though there are some that still require yearly or biennial vaccinations.
That might be the only flaw in the laws. Like other vaccines, it is believed that the rabies vaccine is effective for 5 or even 7 years, based on antibody titer tests (see link to Part 3 above). A non-profit group called the Rabies Challenge Fund is raising money and currently doing research to prove this, in the hopes of getting the laws changed. Their goal is to reduce the vaccines needed to avoid deadly adverse reactions which can happen with rabies vaccines. These reactions are most likely rare, but don’t doubt they can happen. When researching this for Cricket a couple of years ago, I found the blog Champion of my Heart, which chronicles the heartbreaking results of just such a reaction for a sweet dog named Lilly and her family.
Some states, including NH, allow for medical exemptions to the vaccine. When Cricket was due for her vaccine this year, our vet and I had a discussion about that. I was worried about her previous reactions to vaccines, even though they have not been life threatening and even though it was never pinpointed to the rabies vaccine. My fear is that she reacts to something else in the vaccines and that her reactions could escalate into something worse.
- e_monk / Source / CC BY-NC-SA
Our vet said that he rarely sees reactions to rabies vaccines. He also said that he understood my fears and was willing to give us the medical exemption for the state. He let me know that he did not think it was that risky, and that he would get the vaccine if Cricket were his dog. One of the things I like about our vet is that he gives his honest opinion, but he does not push it on us….the decision is always up to us.
I questioned getting titers done, and I questioned what would happen if we skipped the vaccine and Cricket was bitten by a rabid animal. He told me that she could be required to be quarantined for up to six months in that case, but further research later told me that was only if she had NEVER been vaccinated. Even the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) says that pets with expired vaccinations should be handled on a case to case basis. . Even if a pet is up to date on their vaccine, a period of confinement up to 45 days could be required. If she bit someone, she would be required to be quarantined for 10 days to be sure no sign of rabies showed up.
My vet also let me know that in all of his years of practicing, he has only seen two cases of rabies, one in a cat and one in a cow, and neither of those animals had ever been vaccinated. I made the decision not to have Cricket vaccinated based on a few things: Cricket never runs loose, we have a fenced in yard that wildlife rarely finds its way into (and she’s never left unattended out there). We rarely hike or go to places where there are a lot of other dogs, leading to any exposure for her. I know that none of that is a guarantee but I still feel like getting her vaccinated is more risky than not. The medical exemption is only good for one year, and Cricket is required to always be under our control, which she is anyway.
We also decided not to have the titers done at this time, even though my vet recommended we did just for peace of mind. Since I don’t feel the titer tests are always accurate, I didn’t want to end up second guessing our decision. But I’m not saying we won’t have it done in the future, especially when we reach the 5 year mark since her last vaccination.
In conclusion, I hope you take away these things from this post: Rabies vaccines are required by law and you should always know and follow those laws. However, if your dog or other pet has had a reaction, look into your state laws to see if a medical waiver is available. But you need to consider your pet and your lifestyle to determine if this a safe decision. As with anything else with our pets, these decisions aren’t easy and you just have to do the best you can armed with the most information you can get, and after a frank discussion with your own vet. Hopefully in the future the laws will be changed to reflect more current research and we won’t have to have these vaccines more than absolutely necessary, for the sake of not over-vaccinating our pets.
For further reading:
Today we are joining the Thursday Barks & Bytes blog hop. Thank you to our hosts 2 Brown Dawgs blog, and Heart Like a Dog. Please visit other blogs through the links below!
Very well written about very scary stuff. Thanks so much for your continued research. In the state of VA it’s mandatory for all domestic animals by the age of 4 months. So I’ve got Jax scheduled for the middle of May. I will have to check and see about SC so when we move (I pray will be soon) I will know what their laws are. Thanks again, very interesting reading.
The past 2 years I’ve had very bad reactions to my rabies vaccine so the vet decided I wouldn’t get them anymore. The only reason I got them was cos I bite the peeps.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve had bad reactions…I know it can be a scary thing. But it’s a good thing your vet has decided to put a stop to them. Don’t bite the peeps…it hurts…I know, I’ve also been on the receiving end of a cat bite!
As usual, I’m behind in my reading. This has been an excellent series, Jan; and I thank you for sharing the results of all your hard work! Our vet is very much like yours — he tells us what he would do if Callie/Shadow/Ducky were his dog but doesn’t push us to do it. So far, though, we have been pretty much in agreement with him on all 3 girls. About the only thing I didn’t agree with him on the last year or two was the food, the probiotics, and the camelina oil. But now that I’ve switched Ducky to the Prescription i/d and Callie & Shadow to the Ideal Balance — and discontinued the probiotics and camelina oil — all 3 girls are doing much better. Their systems just couldn’t handle all the “premium” foods and nutraceuticals that are supposed to be better for them. Like you said, we have to do the best we can do for our individual dogs. There are some foods on the grocery store shelves that I wouldn’t feed to any dog or cat, but obviously some people swear by them (or just go by the “ignorance is bliss” theory).
I’m sure it’s “ignorance is bliss” in some cases, but I have friends who feed their dogs Beneful, no matter how many times I’ve told them how bad it is, or forwarded them articles about it! I guess if they’ve had no issues, they think it’s fine. I think some people trust big name brands too…I’m the opposite, I don’t trust big business, I’d rather a smaller family owned company.
I would have thought the same way you did about food and supplements, but I guess nothing is one size fits all.
I’m so glad you are enjoying the series, I have at least a couple more installments coming!
This was done very well, thank you for doing your research and writing such a informative accurate post.
I am so glad we have no rabies here we do have issues now arising from bats and horses which has seen a few horses dying and sadly a vet and some other people connected to the case die.So our bats carry not rabies but Hendra virus.I agree you have to weigh up your own dogs case..and our vets are the same i always ask if it was your dog cat sheep what would you do..and we get honest answers not finacially based answers 🙂 hugs Bev xx
Last summer the county animal control actually came around to check the dogs’ licenses and rabies vaccines. That was the first time in all the years having dogs.
I suppose you would be unable to travel with Cricket out of state without a current vaccine?
Thanks for joining the hop!
I don’t think the paperwork says anything about that, but I do imagine that would be the case.
We would like to consider it for Katie, but now that she is older, trouble moving and trouble hearing, she gets mad, scared, frustrated easily. Mom is afraid she might bite a person or dog who scares her and without a current rabies shot, it would be trouble. She never bites, but her old age has made her feel weak and she feels more defensive.
I can completely understand that, and I think it confirms that each dog is an individual decision. It is not easy when they get older, that’s for sure.
the rabies shot is a very “hot” topic here… it’s not law, except we have “danger of rabies state “. depending on the vaccine it counts for 1, 3 or 5 years … in theory… and if we tavel to uk all things are different and we sit between all chairs again … :o(
I did forget to mention that if you travel to other countries, you need to know what their laws are as well. I believe in this country all we have are a one and a three year vaccine….and you have to wonder how these different year vaccines are different from each other?
Thank you for joining the blog hop!! I had some research a few years back about the recommendations of vaccines, but I’m not sure where I put it. 🙂
I feel like vaccines are in that black and white category by health officials and most people, but really feel like a common ground could be reached if people would just listen to each other. Like I’ve said before, I have no problem vaccinating, I just don’t think they should be in combo shots, given multiple shots at the same time and I really think their protection lasts longer than we are told. If people could just hear those concerns instead of automatically saying someone who thinks like this is anti-vaccine, I think could actually come to a solution that worked for most people.
I totally agree, Jodi. It is not a black and white issue, and like many things the truth is somewhere in the middle. You are right that people just need to listen to each other and find that common ground, instead of throwing oout accusations.
If Cricket hadn’t ever had a reaction, I may have never known better and would still be vaccinating annually. I hate that Cricket has an issue, but I’m glad it helped me to find out more.
There are SO many ‘arguments’ on either side when it comes to vaccinations. Especially if to do them annually.
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This has been a very interesting series, and i’m super glad you did it so thanks for that!
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