Canine Autoimmune Hemolytic Anemia (AIHA & IMHA) - Rabies Shot

My dog is 1 year and 4 months old and was diagnosed with AIHA back in March. Her PCV has been around 40 (give or take a couple points) for quite a while now, and we just took her off of the prednisone completely. She is due for all of her shots at the end of this month. I talked to my vet about my concern that getting the shots may send her in to a relapse. She said that we should not give her any shot except rabies. Is the rabies shot a bad idea? I am not sure if it is legally required in this situation. Thanks in advance for any advice!

Michelle

i would personally absolutely not give your dog that shot. the vet should have offered to write up a paper to give to the licensing dept if you live in a state that requires that shot. i would steer clear of all vaccines, in any form, and all flea products that are mainstream and boxed in pet stores. they all have links to this disease and others...

josh california

Michelle, Mosy Vets will write a waiver for an AIHA dog. I am torn right now with getting my non-AIHA dogs rabies as well. I have ignored animal control until they sent me a nasty gram threating court action but I said I would get it done at the local vaccination clinic when they came in July... Oops I forgot all about it. I will probably get them only because we have bats. Penny

Penny Lytle Creek Calif

I did have my vet give Sofie a rabies shot and she had no ill effects from it at all.I did not want to do it but though you state might except a waiver from your vet, if you plan to travel anywhere out of state with you dog, other states do not accept a rabies waiver. Most states require rabies vaccine after a certain age, and if the slightest chance of someone saying your dog bit them,might have bit them, scratched a child, etc if you do not have a valid rabies certificate, the law can come and take your dog away. In Wyoming, they will, by law, come and get an unvaccinated dog, euthanize it and send the brain off for exam, no acceptions if the dog has been accused of biting, etc. Rabies is a killed vaccine, and not as bad as the modified live. Plus, if your dog even goes outside to go potty and has a chance of being bitten by bats, skunks, squirrels, etc, or plays with a wild animal that has died, it is not worth the chance. Rabies cannot be cured in humans or animals, and waiting until symptoms show up is fatal. I know it is not recommended to give any vaccinations, but a waiver will not suffice if vaccinations come into question for whatever reason. Even boarding a dog without a current rabies is not usually accepted. Again, you are talking federal and state laws that are being broken by not vaccinating, and I bet a vet who writes a waiver to not vaccinate a dog will not stand behind that waiver if the dog in question is accused of biting, scratching, etc for whatever minor reason and the law comes into play for non vaccination. Just my opinion

Joanne Wyoming

Michelle, you have to weigh the pros and cons. If you live in a city-type area I would think it unlikely that your dog would be bitten by a bat, skunk or squirell. I've had dogs for 30 years and I never even saw a bat or skunk. The squirells in my neighborhood run like hell from humans. My concern would lie more with the continuing recoperation of my beloved pet from this dread AIHA condition. I agree w/Josh. I would ask for a waiver. The vet should stand behind it. Your dog is still in a recoperative phase from a serious immune related condition. If you allow the rabies shot and your dog relapses you would be devastated and the vet will remove himself/herself from responsibility. Best of luck.

jan PA.

I will be facing the rabies shot dilemma too this June and trying to figure out what to do to. How about a Rabies titer, would that be acceptable? We do travel out of state with our dogs a few times a year. Does any know what Dr. Dodds recommends. Rabies is the only vaccination I will ever consider for Ginger and I am not sure what to do. We live in a rural area with plenty of squirrels, foxes, deer and skunks etc.

Cheryl & Ginger Pineville PA

I'm pretty sure Dr. Dodd's recommendation is not to vaccinate an IMHA dog. I discussed Slinky's situation with her via email and she certainly didn't recommend vaccinating her. We were looking at poor titer results for distemper and parvo. Slinky was only 13 months at diagnosis, so she had completed the puppy series but had no boosters. I do continue to vaccinate my other dog (our vet does not vaccinate yearly, 2-3 years depending on the vaccine), and try to keep Slinky away from strange dogs outside. Personally, I will consider vaccinating her for rabies if we get a few years down the road without relapsing, but only then. I have mentioned before too, that there is a holistic vet in our area that does micro-dosing of vaccines. I know one woman whose dog has lupus and she has gone this route for her pup. Again though, not something I'm willing to consider without a lengthy healthy period for Slinky.

Stephanie Chicago

Tiggs will NEVER be vaccinated again. Anything that can stimulate an immune response in these dogs is off limits in my book. Tiggs isn't even due until next summer and I'm already trying to figure out what happens if the waiver doesn't suffice- though that is not enough to make me vaccinate. We also didn't do the heartworm this summer, again not sure what we'll do summer, but we'll cross all of that I guess when we come to it. This is just what we have decided, I know alot of people have gone ahead with the required vaccines with no trouble. melissa and tiggs

melissa slc

You just never know if YOUR pet will be the one to relapse...similar to those people who write in and say they have used flea control spot-on products with no adverse effects.....except it almost KILLLED my dog in addition to putting me in debt the past two years spending over $9,000 on his vet bills. So other folks stories come up moot when your pet is the recepient of a treatment that causes a severe, irreversable reaction(s).

Jan PA.

Dr. Dodds does do rabies titers for dogs. I think the cost is around $75 for the titer (might be a little higher now, it's been a couple years since I looked). More than a vax of course, but imo, worth it. You can get more info and instructions on the hemopet website. I also heard her speak on Dr. Goldstein's XM radio show about a year ago or so, and she was commenting that while rabies is a killed vax, a lot of the problems with rabies vax comes from the high levels of adjuvants - intended specifically to solicite a high immune system response in the recipient.

Ronda So Cal

Maddie was due for her rabies vac. this year. I thought the vet was going to write a waiver for her, but she consulted with the vet who saved her life--the internal medicine specialist--and she said that it would be OK for Maddie. It has been. The specialist also said it would be OK for Maddie to be on Frontline Plus. I've only administered that to her once. (In June I'd found two fleas on one of my Maine Coons--indoor only cats--and mentioned it to the vet. She prescribed Advantage for the cats and Frontline Plus for Maddie. Each of them got one dose only...I've been living in a flea free house for years. I must have tracked the visitors in. There's been no sign of other fleas since June.)I don't like that stuff...

Ruth Aptos

This thread was discussed between 25/10/2008 and 01/11/2008

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