Rabies Shots

[Alex]

California has a 3 year law, so all the vets should be offering 3 year vaccine?

[Vicki]

@lvoss:

Whether your dog recieves a vaccine or not should be irrelevant to the exam they get during their yearly check up. My vet recommends vaccinating once every 3 years for all their clients but they send yearly reminders for check ups. Their yearly exam is when their heartworm prescription for the year is written so clients have a reason to come in even though no vaccination is given. This is also a good time to have thyroids checked and run a basic blood panel to check on organ function.

Absolutely. Yearly blood work is so important and gives a pet owner a heads up to possible health problems.

[tanza]

@Alex:

California has a 3 year law, so all the vets should be offering 3 year vaccine?

In a word, yes… but again, remember it is the same vaccine...

I would be hard pressed to believe there is are Vets in California (Rabies shot every 3yrs is what is required by law) that are recommending a shot every year.....

[ComicDom1]

We do the three year for our dogs. Our dogs are required to get the vaccine.

While the Rabies vaccine is controlled and only administered by Vets in our state, you can still go to the Farm and Fleet Stores and buy the distemper and administer it yourself.

Jason

[Janneke]

Tillo is vaccinated for rabies. He reacted to his first shot, but not to his booster. We needed this vaccination to travel to other European counties. We also did a blood titer, so we can now travel to Norway, Sweden and the UK as well. He needs to be vaccinated once every three years. If we do it on time, we don't need to do the blood titer again. I made sure that he doesn't need all his vaccinations at the same time: one year he's vaccinated for rabies + KC, one year his ****tail + KC and one year only the KC. Or well.. that's the plan Tillo is still in his second year on this earth

[Basenjimamma]

Here in Harris County, part of Houston, we have to vaccinate for rabies, and I would want to even if we didn't, simply because rabid bats and other critters are found every so often around town, adn since my dogs are very mouthy they are bound to pick something dead or halfa– dead up, if they had the chance.
We live in the outskirts of Houston, and we have lots of bats flying around in the dusk hours, I like that, keeps mosquito populations down..
So far they have not found any rabid bats in our area of town, but you never know when that might happen..
If you do the 1 yr vaccination , of course it is good for a year, but if you do your booster within that years timeframe it counts as a 3 year shot. My vet stated that the dosage/strength is the same for both shots, it is simply a matter of how much your dog has in his system...(?)

I don't like to vaccinate for tons of different reasons, one being because I truly believe it compromises the animals health over the long run, but for diseases like rabies, I wouldn't take a chance.
Otis did not have a reaction to his first shot..so I hope he won't when he gets his booster around march/april next year.

[agilebasenji]

I do every 3 years as required by law and my therapy dog certification. I will also say that in the last few months rabies has been on a sharp upswing in my area. Just a few weeks ago there was a confirmed case of a rabid horse a few miles from where I live. First confirmed case in 25 years in this area. And this week it was a cow. Scary stuff.

http://www.kktv.com/11forhealth/headlines/62428602.html

http://www.kktv.com/home/headlines/59383357.html

(between that and the swine flu, i'm amazed anything is going on in colorado. they're closing schools b/c of the swine flu.)

[lvoss]

Vaccines work by causing the immune system to produce cells that will produce the antibodies to fight the disease you are vaccinated for. After being vaccinated the body will have memory cells that will recognize the virus and be able to produce the antibodies to fight it. Memory cells live for years, usually a lifetime, which is why once you have had disease such as chicken pox most people will never get it again. The reason for boostering is because they don't know which animals are going to be the ones that got lifetime immunity and which are going to be the few who need the booster.

[Alex]

Several people mentioned that there are medications (benadryl, holistic meds etc) you can give your dog prior to the rabies shot to reduce the adverse effects. What works for you (brand, dosage, before/after)?

[agilebasenji]

I do give one Benadryl AND I have the vet give the rabies by itself. I do the other shots 2 weeks later.

[sinbaje]

@Alex:

I read that 3 year dose is higher than 1 year and can potentially cause more issues.

The 1yr and 3yr are the EXACT same vaccine; nothing different about the label either. At work we give pups the same vaccine for 1 year that we give adults for their 3yr.

On another but similar note - the same dose is given to a Chi that is given to a Mastiff with no undue problems. *In other words either dog can have a reaction dependent on how good their immune system is. As breeders we should be breeding for strong immune systems; don't perpetuate problems by breeding dogs who have major vaccine reactions (tender knots is not a true reaction).

It is not the rabies that causes the reaction per se. It is the preservative namely thermisol. Luckily they make thermisol free vaccines. Talk to your vets and see what they use.

I hope this works. Sending from my iPhone.

---

UNIVERSAL HEALTH

[Vicki]

@Alex:

Several people mentioned that there are medications (benadryl, holistic meds etc) you can give your dog prior to the rabies shot to reduce the adverse effects. What works for you (brand, dosage, before/after)?

I'll ask my vet what herbal solution she gives along with vaccinations.

[CrazyBasenjiMom]

I too have my pack vaccinated, the rescure boys got a 3 years onel, my belle in evey year. Since I was a human health care worker I learned early on to give some baby antihistomine. I've alway done this with my animals and never had a reaction, and never had any discomfort. I always found lavender cream worked well on the site.

[Kris_Christine]

@Alex:

Basenjis seem to be very sensitive to vaccinations. What types of negative reactions should one expect and what are some remedies?

Alex,

You are observant, and because Basenjis are a smaller breed, data indicates that they are more prone to adverse vaccinal reactions than larger breeds.

Vaccinal adverse reactions are becoming more recognized and acknowledged in the veterinary community – in an August 1, 2008 article in DVM360 entitled Vaccination: An Overview http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/avhc/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=568351,Dr. Melissa Kennedy states that of the two types of vaccinal adverse reactions: "The first is immediate hypersensitivity. This may be a local or systemic response, and is due to pre-existing antibody to the agent. This is the classic "allergic reaction" to the vaccine and can be life-threatening. The second is a delayed response, requiring days of longer to develop. The vaccine, seen as foreign, elicits a significant inflammatory response and is especially true for adjuvanted vaccines. This response can manifest as a granuloma, or more seriously, a fibrosarcoma ."

Further, she reports that "The likelihood of adverse reactions in dogs has been found to correlate with the size of the dog and the number of inoculations given, with higher risk associated with small size and multiple inoculations. "

If you click on this linkhttp://www.basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?t=3980 , you will be taken to a post entitled 2008 REPORT ON RABIES VACCINE ADVERSE REACTIONS IN DOGS which describes the types and percentages of reported adverse reactions to the rabies vaccines such as:

"Rabies vaccines are the most common group of biological products identified in adverse event reports received by the CVB," and they give the following description of the adverse reaction followed by the % of dogs affected: Vomiting-28.1%, Facial Swelling-26.3%, Injection Site Swelling or Lump-19.4%, Lethargy-12%, Urticaria-10.1%, Circulatory shock-8.3%, Injection site pain-7.4%, Pruritus-7.4%, Injection site alopecia or hair loss-6.9%, Death-5.5%, Lack of Consciousness-5.5%, Diarrhea-4.6%, Hypersensitivity (not specified)-4.6%, Fever-4.1%, Anaphylaxis-2.8%, Ataxia-2.8%, Lameness-2.8%, General signs of pain-2.3%, Hyperactivity-2.3%, Injection site scab or crust-2.3%, Muscle tremor-2.3%, Tachycardia-2.3%, and Thrombocytopenia-2.3%.

This link http://www.basenjiforums.com/showthread.php?t=7270 will take you to a recent post entitled, Vaccines – Adverse Events within Three Days JAVMA 10/1/05 with quotes from the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association such as:

"The risk of a VAAE in this study population was inversely related to a dog's weight."

"…each additional vaccine administered per office visit increased the rate of a VAAE by 24.2%.."

"The risk of allergic reaction has been reported to increase after the third or fourth injection of a vaccine (ie, a booster response)."

"Neutering appeared to increase risk of a VAAE ..."

[CrazyBasenjiMom]

@agilebasenji:

I do give one Benadryl AND I have the vet give the rabies by itself. I do the other shots 2 weeks later.

Me too, I'm distrubed about the 3 yr. shot, but….....I was caught off guard with my new "pack" and didn't have time to educated myself.

When I took by Lady Belle to the "outside" vet at a feed store, who was very, very enxpensive on everything....he told me ahead of time about the benadryl and not to exercise her too much in the next day or two. Sure enough Belle knew how to take care of herself......

[Woofless]

Jibini has a bit of a reaction to vaccines- he is very lethargic & exhibits extreme pain at the injection site (last time we did the rabies/combo, he would SCREAM every time someone touched him on his leg- it lasted for 4 days like that).

While we were driving a truck I had to keep his rabies vacc. current (California, Florida & other states have been known to randomly check that stuff at ag/weigh stations if they saw a dog in the truck) and I generally preferred to go ahead & have a vet do the combo shot. That way, if an emergency happened on the road and I needed to board him for any reason, I would have no problems.

When we came off the road I tried just having the vet give the 3 year shot alone. I explained Jibini's prior history & she did give him a follow up "male chicken-tail" (lol) of some kind. He had NO adverse reactions…so from now on, that's going to be what we do.

[CrazyBasenjiMom]

Thank you for you insight, I believe it is a personal choice and I do think I will be switching to a three year with my older B. One stick is better every three years than one a year, they get stuck enough…..

Happy tails......

[AJs Human]

AJ gets a three-year rabies, but has to have the others yearly, including kennel-cough. If (heaven forbid) something ever happens to me and he has to be kenneled, I need him to be ready. Thus far, he has had no reactions to vaccines, just a little sore and tired for a day or so. Being tired doesn't affect him much. He's a sleeper anyway.:D

[tanza]

@AJs:

AJ gets a three-year rabies, but has to have the others yearly, including kennel-cough. If (heaven forbid) something ever happens to me and he has to be kenneled, I need him to be ready. Thus far, he has had no reactions to vaccines, just a little sore and tired for a day or so. Being tired doesn't affect him much. He's a sleeper anyway.:D

Why does he need the others yearly? The current accepted recommendation is 3yrs on everything other then Kennel Cough and that is really recommended every 6 months if you kennel regularly.

[sharronhurlbut]

I only do rabies shots because its the law, otherwise, I do the blood titers and have not had to give shots for years.