Other data are still being collected and analyzed for the 6.5 and 7-year post-vaccination periods.” In other words, the Fund’s studies are proving what had been hypothesized: the rabies vaccines work for longer than their makers were willing to prove they work, so dogs don’t need to be given as many vaccines over their lifetimes in order to be protected against contracting the disease and/or infecting others. On January 25, 2018, the Rabies Challenge Fund announced, “Results to date of the Rabies Challenge Fund research study showed protection from live rabies virus challenge five years after the dogs received two doses of rabies virus vaccine. ( Note: If you are looking for a great charity to support, consider a donation to this non-profit their work, which has been funded to date largely by breed clubs and individual dog owners, will benefit countless millions of dogs.) The Rabies Challenge Fund has been working for a decade to extend the legally required interval for rabies vaccinations to five and then seven years, in an effort to reduce the number of unnecessary vaccinations our dogs would be required to have over their lifetimes. But the risk of these adverse effects is unwarranted in dogs who have already been immunized against the disease! And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard friends and acquaintances say, “My senior dog was perfectly healthy until not long after his last rabies shot he just sort of fell apart after that!” Maybe these were all coincidental after all, statistically, senior dogs are at higher risk of all health problems. But he did have a massive allergy flare-up within a month of his last rabies shot, and getting the allergies under control again took a while. In his later years, these were fairly well under control, with assiduous management of his diet. My last senior dog, Rupert, had suffered from environmental and dietary allergies his whole life. It’s anecdotal, but in my own experience, senior dogs are more likely to suffer adverse effects from rabies vaccinations. That said, it’s been demonstrated that dogs can be safely immunized against the disease with fewer vaccinations – and that the rabies vaccine can present serious adverse side effects in dogs. Since rabies is a fatal disease, is present in the United States, and carried by wild animals (bats, raccoons, and skunks are the most common vectors), and since we live in an area where all three of those vectors are present, I believe that immunization against rabies is a terrific idea. Why Should I Dread Another Rabies Vaccine for My Dog?Īll vaccinations pose some risk, which must be weighed against their benefit. (Note that we were out of compliance with state law from Mathrough October 28, 2015.) So he is “due” for a rabies vaccination by October 28 of this year. His most recent rabies vaccination was on October 28, 2015. Otto was vaccinated for rabies again on April 2, 2009, and again on March 20, 2012. So far, I have complied with my state laws regarding rabies vaccination. In California, where I live, dogs are required to have their first rabies vaccination at the age of four months, their second no more than a year later, and additional rabies vaccinations every three years after that. (Curious about your state? All of the states’ statutes regarding rabies vaccinations are collected in this terrific website.) All of the states save three (Kansas, Minnesota, and Ohio) require dogs to be vaccinated against rabies at least every three years in those three states that lack state laws that require rabies vaccination for dogs, there are city and county laws that require it. Nevertheless, there are laws that require dogs to be vaccinated against rabies in all of the United States. Today, the most common vectors for rabies are bats, raccoons, and skunks. Thanks to vaccination laws, this is no longer the case. Rabies vaccination earned this “special” legal status due to the historical threat that rabies poses to humans as recently as my childhood in the 1960s, domestic dogs and cats were still common vectors for spreading this deadly disease to humans. Otto was vaccinated several more times with the five-way vaccines before I adopted him, but I’m not going to talk about those vaccines right now I want to focus on the rabies vaccine – the only vaccine that dog owners are legally required to give their dogs in most states. On May 14, 2008, he was given a rabies vaccine. He was estimated to be about six months old, and was vaccinated that day with a five-way vaccination (distemper, adenovirus-type 2, coronavirus, parainfluenza, and parvovirus) and a separate three-way vaccination (adenovirus-type 2, parainfluenza, and bordetella) made by a different company. He was brought into the shelter as a stray dog on May 7, 2008.
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