[Bella's Momma]

giving her the rabies shot at 7 months or chemical flea treatment (frontline)? I have two 'resorts' (LOL - nicer than where we are going!) that I've found. All things equal, one will not budge on the rabies vaccine and the other I think is going to require frontline but will allow us to skip the rabies vaccine due to her age. I'm going to see if they will accept my usage of a natural one, but I'm not getting the warm fuzzies on that issue. It's funny, one throws around that it's "Mandatory" they require the rabies vaccine but is fine with whatever flea treatment, and the other that it's "mandatory" they do a flea treatment but the lack of vaccine is fine.

SO, which would you choose? Why?

Thank you.

 

[Fluffyspoos]

Well, I'm just going to say at my salon we won't touch a dog that's not current on it's rabies vaccination. The only reason it's so contained is because we vaccinate everyone, you're taking a risk by not giving it to her.

 

[bigpoodleperson]

I personally would feel alot better going to the one who requires a rabies vaccine. Is there a reason you havnt gotten it done yet? Most dogs/cats are vaccinated for it at 4-5 months old. Fleas are a nusance, rabies is deadly. I would go to the place who is more concerned about that.

Rabies is actually not as contained anymore as it used to be. There are huge outbreaks of it all over (esp. east coast). We have under vaccinated for it for long enough that it is taking hold again (a clinic in my town had 9 rabid bats this year, compaired to 1 last year, a vet friend in VA euthanized a rabied cat just the other day). Out east they are very strict on vaccinating pets for rabies. A vet i know from PA said that out there if a pet bites someone and is current on the vaccine, they will be quarentined at the animal shelter. If the pet bites someone and they Arnt up to date then they will be euthanized and tested, no questions. Is real, and its scary. Off my soap box now.

 

[Bella's Momma]

As with my human children, I am concerned about the effects of overvaccination on their maturing immune systems. It's not "required" that I have her vaccinated for Rabies until 1 year. I didn't realize it actually was all that prevalent anymore,a nd actually had a conversation with someone I respected who basically said it was pointless, for the animal but required since it's an animal to human transmitable disease. So we first focused on the illnesses that we felt could realistically affect our dog (Parvo-very common here, then distemper, now bordatella since she will be boarded) and vaccinated one at a time.

I do appreciate the challenge, though. This caused me to do a little research on the subject, and in California, where we live, I found this most informative report on incidences of rabies this year:
http://www.cdph.ca.gov/HealthInfo/discond/Documents/Rabies_2009_Provisional_Data.pdf

To sum it up, where I am it's only been in bats. I've never seen a bat, but I guess they're around. I wonder, would a rabid bat actively attack a large creature like a dog or human? The boarding facilities are up in the mountains so I would imagine there are, indeed, likely to be more bats in those areas.

 

[bigpoodleperson]

I honestly dont know if a bat would actually attack a dog. Cats are notorious for chasing/killing bats though. A cat could catch rabies from a bat, and then attack you or your dog (the cat i was talking about that had rabies was actually a stray, and a family found and caught it as it attacked their son). It can be passed down the line.

The rabies vaccine actually does a very good job (just look at how under control we had it!). The thing is that since it can be passed to people, we euthanized any animal we think has it.

 

[Harley_chik]

Here's my take on it. Dogs that are vaccinated on the usual schedule as puppies end up being immune to rabies for 5 yrs to life. I don't think one shot at 4 months is over vaccinating. 4months and then every year after is, I personally would get the shot. What is the protocal where you live, every year or every three? I worry about a place that doesn't require rabies but insist on spot on treatment for all dogs. It just seems weird. Most boarding places here require everything, including bordatella, which I think is the most useless vaccine there is. It doesn't protect against all strains and from what I've heard Kennel Cough is a serious issue. It's more of a cold for dogs. Sometimes, they are just following the law or regulations and IMO that's a good thing. They have to worry about the well being of every dog and person there.

 

[Bella's Momma]

Here's my take on it. Dogs that are vaccinated on the usual schedule as puppies end up being immune to rabies for 5 yrs to life. I don't think one shot at 4 months is over vaccinating. 4months and then every year after is, I personally would get the shot. What is the protocal where you live, every year or every three? I worry about a place that doesn't require rabies but insist on spot on treatment for all dogs. It just seems weird. Most boarding places here require everything, including bordatella, which I think is the most useless vaccine there is. It doesn't protect against all strains and from what I've heard Kennel Cough is a serious issue. It's more of a cold for dogs. Sometimes, they are just following the law or regulations and IMO that's a good thing. They have to worry about the well being of every dog and person there.

Just to clarify, it's not the "one shot" at 4 months for rabies, it's the plethora of many shots for many things that added up to my statement.

The frequency, according to the animal regulation website, is 'one to three years depending upon the type of shot.' I will have to check into that when we get her shot to see which one it is, I guess. She's not licensed yet, again, since she's under a year old. We're waiting to have her licensed after she is spayed (in a couple of months) as the cost goes down significantly.

Your take on bordatella is interesting. Originally we hadn't intended on doing that one, it felt like the human (regular) flu shot to us (which is not something we do for our family). But since we're deciding to board her (not something I thought we'd ever do!) we have to give a little on things. Here they require parvo, distemper, bordatella in additon to rabies.

 

[Harley_chik]

Yep, Harley gets it when he boards, but I still think it's kind of dumb. Like I said it doesn't protect against all strains, so your dog is still succeptable, but sometimes you have to compromise. I understand what you mean about overvaccinating. If you look at Raiko's post, Bailey has only had one rabies shot in the last five years. I assume they adjust the dosage of vaccines to some degree by weight. I've noticed most meds are 25lbs and under though, which seems like a lot for 9lb Maltese.

 

[bigpoodleperson]

I dont know what other meds you are talking about, but rabies is a one dose fits all shot (1ml for everyone). Most places will tell you what rabies vaccine you are getting (most do a 1 year, esp if it is their first one).
I personally find kennel cough pretty useless too. If your dog is exposed to kennel cough, it is sopost to lessen the severity of it (but doesnt protect against all strains, like the flu shot).
I try to give minimal vaccines, but based on our lifestyle, where we live, what he is exposed to, etc i have chosen to do more then just rabies.

 

[Harley_chik]

I know the smallest dose of a lot of heart worm and flea spot ons are usually 25lbs and under. Are vaccines not given by weight? Do they give my little guy the same amount they give my 100lb Rottweiler? If so, I'm really glad he doesn't get them regularly.

I thought of something else w/ the kennel cough vacc. They always give it to Harley when I drop him off, don't they take a week or two to be effective?

 

[flyingduster]

BOPP, she's talkig abotu all the vaccines she needs, so rabies was to be yet another one ontop of all the others that she's already had/getting, which does seem sorta overkill in a lil pup, and I can undertand not wanting to get them all done at the same time if you don't need to. But it sounds to me like you would need to, cos it does sound suss the boarding that isn't requiring you to get her rabies vax! If they're letting you get away with it, how many others do they have there that don't have it either.... :/

Thank goodness we don't have rabies in NZ at all! One less thing to worry about. lol.

 

[pmdavis]

Just an idea...

Have you tried looking for a trainer that you can board Bella with? We had to leave Roxy over Labor Day weekend, and I boarded her with a puppy nanny. Training was on going and they might be a little more relaxed about vacinations/flea control.

I live up in Washington, but here is the web site of the person that I left Roxy with. You might be able to find someone simular in your area.

http://www.mypuppynanny.com/

p

 

[bigpoodleperson]

Yes, all vaccines are a one size its all. Ive found this odd too, so i dont have an answer as to why. The kennel cough vaccine takes about 14 days to really take effect, so giving it the day he is boarded is Useless!

Puppy vaccinations seem like overkill, but it really is not. We give multiple boosters to provde adequate protection. Alot of the first boosters we give are killed by the mothers antibodies. What are left over are used to make a quicker response for the next, and so on.