I was doing some light bedtime internet browsing and came across another veterinarian’s blog posting about 1yr vs. 3yr rabies vaccinations. I laughed a little. I cried a little. So I’m not accused of any sort of plagiarism, I will refrain from any cutting and pasting, but will merely provide a link to what I read: http://www.centralvets.com/blog/?p=1
I did cut/paste my comment below. By the time some of you read this I suspect the owner of the other blog will have deleted my response -but I will leave it here for the world to see.
wow, that was one of the more interesting rationales for 1 yr rabies vaccination. does anyone reading (or writing) this really think that 3 yr rabies protocols will actually result in an outbreak of rabies here in ny?? let’s set the record straight with some actual FACTS:
1) yes, rabies vaccination is required by law in NYS. you can read about NY rabies law here: http://www.health.ny.gov/diseases/communicable/zoonoses/rabies/
2) yes, giving a 3 yr rabies vaccine to a cat carries with it a five-fold increase in risk of developing a vaccine-related sarcoma (cancer) at the vaccination site. however, this is NOT because it’s a 3yr vs 1yr vaccine! the difference is that all rabies vaccines approved for 3yrs are adjuvanted vaccines, meaning they contain an additive to stimulate inflammation -basically to help the vaccine be more effective. as of right now ALL 3yr rabies vaccines are adjuvanted. MOST 1yr rabies vaccines are also adjuvanted. as of right now there is only ONE rabies vaccine that is non-adjuvanted (merial’s purevax rabies). it is for cats only and it is currently only approved for 1 yr. so that 5-fold increase in cancer risk is actually comparing adjuvanted vaccines to non-adjuvanted vaccines in cats -NOT 1yr vs. 3yr. in fact, if you use an adjuvanted 1yr rabies vaccine (any brand other than purevax) annually, your cat will be at FIFTEEN times the risk of developing a sarcoma (5 times 3). and, yes, that increased cancer risk comes with all feline adjuvanted vaccines, not just rabies. so ask your veterinarian what they’re injecting into your cat.
3) jean dodd’s protocol has been adopted by US veterinary schools. we were using that protocol as far back as 1999 when i was working at the cornell university veterinary teaching hospital. (that’s the year cornell stopped giving corona virus vaccine to dogs.) i could not find cornell’s dog vaccine protocol online, but here’s UC Davis’: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/small_animal/internal_medicine/vaccination_protocols.cfm their current protocol mirrors what i was doing at cornell over 10 years ago.
4) NYS law calls for a dog’s (or cat’s) first rabies vaccination to be a 1yr vaccination. subsequent boosters can be 3 yrs.
5) any one vaccine manufacturer’s 3yr-labeled rabies vaccine does not contain any more active ingredient than their 1yr-labeled rabies vaccine. i.e., merial’s imrab-1 and imrab-3 are the same cocktail with a different label on the vial. just remember that merial’s 1yr purevax is an entirely different beast.
done with facts. now some real world pragmatism: ask your veterinarian when he/she was last vaccinated against rabies. ask yourself: who is at greater risk of being exposed to rabies -your dog who sits at home alone most of the time or a veterinarian who handles several hundred dogs and cats (many who are not vaccinated) every month? THIS IS NOT TO SUGGEST THAT YOU VIOLATE STATE RABIES VACCINE LAW! -but does your dog need to be vaccinated in excess of what the law requires???
January 17th, 2011 - 11:43 am
Good for you Dr. Leon! I only had one dog receive the corona virus vaccine in the early 90’s as a puppy shot.
But to address your point, it is still hard to believe how many clinics are pushing the annual vaccines. And more outrageous , pushing the “lepto” every 6 months.
I cringe every time I hear it from the front desk , and secretly pray the owner declines, particularly if an elderly dog.
Speaking of elderly, when a dog/cat has had 4-5 rabies
6mo, 18 mos, 4 1/2 yr, 7 1/2yr, 10 1/2 yr. , why risk the last couple of elderly years—if LUCKY to have them—for that last one or two?
If the rabies challenge study becomes approved, I can’t help but think of the many animals that will benefit from a myriad of decreased immune system diseases and actually live a few more healthy years. (beyond current average life span)
Ditto on the combo vaccines too.
January 17th, 2011 - 10:27 pm
as i predicted, the blogger at centralvets.com deleted my comment sometime yesterday evening -less than 10 hours after it posted. i won’t bother re-posting it in its entirety …but i encourage everyone reading this to share their own comments on their site (at the risk of having it deleted :)
barbara: unfortunately, i cannot advise my clients to violate rabies law. but the reality is that as their pets get older, we find a plenty of other things to do that take priority over vaccine updates. as far as lepto goes, i definitely recommend the vaccine, knowing that it’s imperfect. but it’s all we’ve got, and the disease is endemic here. giving the vaccine every 6 months seems a little excessive. merial recently released a non-adjuvanted 4-way lepto vaccine, but i ended up switching back to pfizer’s product after seeing some reactions i didn’t like.
January 18th, 2011 - 11:02 am
Dr. Leon,
Cornell has revised their “Lepto” information—even made a mini-video.
Since we know that the only TRUE confirmation is a biopsy or actually finding the organism; how many true confirmed cases have there been?
Why is this information not published? Since lepto is also a human/children risk, why would positive findings in “endemic” areas be newsworthy to warn the public?
That’s my “peeve” here. Going by suspicious “titers” is not a confirming diagnosis.
Vaccine challenge studies will be to far away to help my living dogs, but I look forward to the benefit for future pets.
February 1st, 2011 - 2:47 am
wow, that was one of the more interesting rationales for 1 yr rabies vaccination.
March 4th, 2011 - 5:44 am
Thank you for your content, I ask you a question? How much vaccine for dogs?The article says is correct?
June 28th, 2011 - 10:14 am
Thank you for posting this information. Bottom line, for felines, do you recommend Merial’s non-adjuvanted purevax 1-yr annual feline RV or the adjuvanted 3-yr. RV? My cat just experienced a reaction at the RV injection site after having an adjuvanted 3-yr. vaccine. Shortly after the visit, he developed a 1″-diameter bump & alopecia. Two weeks later, he became lethargic, developed a temp of 105, & had lost a pound. His personality is different, too – - barely responding to attention or to the call to eat (soooooo unlike him!).
His veterinarian is recommending steroids for the pain as well as some Benadryl. He also wants to pre-administer Benadryl for future RV injections.
I’m hoping our cat will be just fine, but one more question: at what point would you recommend a biopsy? Two months following the injection date? Six months? Only if the bump grows?
Thank you so much for your help. I want to be sure to do the best thing for my cat now and in the future.
December 6th, 2011 - 5:47 am
Your blog really brought some things to light that I never would have thought about before reading it. You should continue this, Im sure most people would agree with me.
December 10th, 2011 - 11:22 am
http://www.dogs4dogs.com/blog/2009/08/06/treating-adverse-vaccine-reactions-by-jean-dodds-dvm/
January 15th, 2012 - 10:05 pm
for felines, the ONLY rabies vaccine i recommend is Merial’s non-adjuvanted 1-yr Purevax. My “standard” recommendation of when to biopsy is two months after the first appearance of the bump. However, a fine needle aspirate and cytology can/should be done sooner in a cat with a lump at a vaccine site (provided the lump is big enough to get a good sample from). if this lump is confirmed as a vaccine-relatd sarcoma, i would not vaccinate the cat again in the future -even with non-adjuvanted vaccines.
January 25th, 2012 - 2:10 pm
Hi, I’m little confused. What is the best vaccine for a 4 year old beagle? Last shot she had in 2010 and my vet has just called me wanting to schedule overdue visit and rabies shot. I requested a 3 year vaccine, but am not sure if I should go anyway and just wait till 2013, full 3 years. (last shot was for one year only). When I asked today my vet, before reading this blog, what’s the difference between 1 and 3 year shot, I was told only price is a bit higher, shots are the same. This has prompted me to research it online right away, and here I am.
January 26th, 2012 - 3:33 pm
if the last vaccine was a one year vaccine (i.e, the actual vaccine administered was only labeled for 1 year AND the rabies certificate says it was good for 1 year), then legally you need to have that rabies vaccination updated now.
when you do get it updated, you should request a 3 year vaccine (assuming you live in an area that recognizes the 3 year vaccine). if the veterinarian refuses to use a 3 year vaccine …find another veterinarian! if you are suspicious that they will do a switcheroo on you, ask to see the vial that contains the rabies vaccine. the name of the vaccine on the vial should have the number “3″ in it if it’s a 3 year vaccine (e.g., imrab 3, defensor 3, rabvac 3, rabdomun 3, etc…). honestly, if you think your veterinarian is going to pull a switcheroo, that’s a pretty good reason not to go to that veterinarian!
btw, the wholesale cost of the 3 year vaccine is IDENTICAL to the 1 year vaccine. at levittown animal hospital, the charge to my clients is also identical.
February 13th, 2012 - 3:23 am
Thanks Dr. Leon for the feline rabies vax info. My cat got into a fight with a fox 2 weeks ago and is now under a 6th month quarantine (the fox was behaving normally, came out after dusk to eat some food on the porch, ran away terrified when I broke it up). But anyway, Tabby’s last rabies shot (with PureVax) was 1.5 yrs ago, so Maryland state law mandates the quarantine which seems excessive but oh well. At least I’m glad to hear the duration of immunity is likely to be >1 yr (also not terribly concerned that the fox was rabid, but we do have rabies here in Maryland). But knowing that the trials showed a >1 year duration of immunity helps me rest a little easier. Thanks!