With more holidays right around the corner, pet vaccination schedules are probably one of the last things on most people’s minds! However, with the new year quickly approaching, and pet license renewals looming in the near future for many pet owners, it’s important to make sure your dog is up to date on their rabies vaccine!
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It’s the Law
Although there is data to suggest that most vaccines protect our pets for many years, US state laws still require dogs and cats to be re-vaccinated against rabies often. Without proof of an up-to-date rabies vaccine, or (in some states) a waiver from your vet, pet owners will be unable to obtain yearly pet licenses. These licenses are required by law in most US cities and towns.
How Often Does Your Dog Need a Rabies Vaccine?
How often your pet is vaccinated against rabies can depend on how diligent owners are about keeping their pet’s vaccines up to date, and your local laws. If re-vaccinated before their current vaccine expires, most pets, after receiving an initial 1-year vaccine, will be able to receive a 3-year rabies booster rather than having to receive the vaccine annually. All US states now allow 3-year rabies vaccines. However, some individual cities/towns may still require annual or 2-year rabies vaccines instead. Check with your local government if you are unsure of the rabies vaccination rules in your town.
If you allow your dog’s rabies vaccine to expire your pet will not be able to receive the 3-year vaccine. In order to legally receive the 3-year booster, you must re-vaccinate your pet before his/her current vaccine expires.
Is Less Best?
For most owners, 3-year vaccines will not only save you money and extra trips to the vet. It is also healthier for your pet. Reactions to rabies vaccines are relatively common and can include everything from lethargy to death. Although vaccines are designed to help our pets, over-vaccinating our furry family members is thought to potentially trigger health issues. There is some evidence now that suggests that rabies vaccines can protect our pets for longer than 3-years
. However, currently laws still require that rabies boosters be given at least once every 3-years.
There are currently 19 states that allow medical exemptions in place of rabies vaccinations. These states include Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin. Delaware also allows for a medical exemption. But the exemption must be accompanied by a rabies titer test showing protection against rabies from prior vaccinations. Medical exemptions must be written by a vet. This is usually done for pets who are too medically fragile to be safely vaccinated.
Care for Cats
If you own a cat especially, make sure to talk to your vet about what rabies products are right for your pet. Cats seem to be much more prone to developing sarcoma, or cancer, at injection sites. Rabies vaccines containing an adjuvant (used to increase vaccine effectiveness, rabies vaccines for dogs contain adjuvants because dogs seem to be less likely to developing injection site cancers), such as the current 3 year rabies vaccine for cats, have been linked to higher instances of cancers in cats. There is now a rabies vaccine for cats that does not include an adjuvant, making is safer, but it is currently only approved for annual use.
My Rabies Approach
Rabies is essentially 100% fatal to both pets and people. It’s not something you want to mess around with! I tend to be a bit of a minimalist when it comes to giving my dogs vaccines. But my two dogs are vaccinated against rabies every 3 years. The last time Kitsune was vaccinated he had a mild reaction (swelling) to the vaccine. It was luckily nothing serious enough for me to consider not giving it to him again in the future. Rabies is just never something I would feel comfortable risking! Don’t think you’re safe if you live in the city, away from wildlife! Back in 2014 I personally had a run in with rabies, and we lived in the city at the time.
Do your own research, and talk to your pet’s vet, to decide what vaccine schedule is right for your pet. No matter what vaccine schedule you choose, follow local laws. Keep your pet’s rabies vaccine up to date to avoid possibly receiving fines from your city/town, and to make sure your pet is protected in case of a bite incident.
I used to be quite active in rabbit rescue, and for many years shared my life with house rabbits in addition to my current dogs. After my last house bunny, Barnaby, passed away in 2017 I decided to take a break from keeping rabbits. But still, I stayed in a handful of rabbit-themed FB groups. It made for quite an interesting FB feed, being deeply involved with both a predator species (dogs) and prey (rabbits). I joined a number of raw feeding groups for my dogs. It became strangely commonplace to scroll down my FB feed and see pictures of adorable pet rabbits nestled in between posts about people discussing feeding rabbits to their dogs.
Is there a line? Are there things about your own pet that you would feel uncomfortable sharing on social media? Or that you would disapprove of if you saw being shared by someone else? Surely our pets don’t care one way or the other.
In the last couple of months, we’ve had to disrupt our work schedules to make emergency vet trips. We’ve spent way more money than we planned on the dogs. I’ve had my sleep interrupted more times than I care to count. I had to set multiple timers on my phone to remind me to give Kit, and for a short time Fen, medications at the correct times. Kitsune’s Cushing’s symptoms mean I have to stop whatever I’m doing many times a day to bring him outside.
I’ve always hated how often small dogs are stereotyped. But that’s (mostly) a topic for another post. I will say that I have two small dogs now. They are not ‘yappy’, nor will they bite your ankles. No, they are not perfect – what dog is? I do training sessions with them daily to work on behaviors I want to improve. Papillons are known for being somewhat on the loud/barky side, for example, but I’ve worked hard to help mine develop an off switch for his barking. It’s funny how small dogs who alert bark are “yappy”, by the way, while big dogs who do it are “just protecting their property/family/what have you”. Double standard much?
Week 7! By now, as you can read in our previous IVDD recovery updates, Kit was doing really well! He has officially been off of all his IVDD medications as of October 26th (week 6). During his 6-week recheck, the vet gave us the go-ahead to, very slowly, start introducing exercise. We started with slow, 5-minute walks on flat ground. Kit did really well with that so during week 7 we increased his walks to 10 minutes once a day.
I was so excited to be on week 8 of Kitsune’s IVDD recovery! The end was finally in sight. This week ended up being a rather stressful one, however. Kit’s frequent drinking/urination were still not fully returning to normal. Then I noticed that, despite being on a pretty strict diet, Kit actually gained a bit of weight.
For the past three nights, Kit didn’t wake me up a single time to go outside! That’s a big improvement from even just a couple of days ago, when he was getting me up at least once or twice a night. I’ve also noticed that he’s for sure spending less time at the water bowl. I wouldn’t say that he’s 100% back to normal yet, but he for sure seems to be improving!