Rabies shots -- 3 years

[Kathleen and Fred]

I was told by my regular vet that the 3-year vaccination for Rabies can be cancer-causing because they inject it into the shoulder muscle and the adjavent (her word) in the vaccine is the problem. They've discontinued the use and gone back to 1 yr only.

Wanting to save money, I called Prevent a Litter location, where shots are given with no frills. They do the 3 year shot and administer it into the hip area. They say it's the same vaccine as the 1 year, but due to cats' ability to build op immunity, after one shot the next one is good for 3 years.

Somewhere in the middle is probably the truth. Does anyone know what's going on here? I lost a dear kitty-friend to an aggressive cancer which resulted from a in-muscle shot for feline leukemia. I never want to go through that again!!

Thanks,

Kathleen & Fred

 

[Karen & Angus(GA)]

The three year vaccine is NOT the same as the one year. The three year vaccine uses killed virus and an adjuvant which is thought to be the cause of cancer (not proven). The one year vaccine uses DNA and no adjuvant. See Larry's post here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=51237&p=551563&hilit=dna#p551563

No vaccines should be given between the shoulder blades. Pictures of vaccine locations are here: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=87 Vets should record locations so that if a problem occurs they will know which vaccine caused the problem.

The one year vaccine is required to be given yearly because there is not enough evidence yet to show immunity lasts longer.

 

[Phoebe_TiggyGA_NortonGA]

I'd go with the 1 year myself, though I stretch out my kitties annual checkups to 15 months or so if they are otherwise healthy.

 

[Jen & Squeak]

we do the 1 year, will NOT do the 3 year

 

[kate and lucky]

can't remember the in's and out's of the vaccines but one of the original FDMB members did a post once about it and the main thing was the injection site. you can hardly cut of a head and survive whereas you can live without a leg.

 

[Kathleen and Fred]

thanks for the site references. The Prevent a Litter vet said they use Muriel's Purevex (not sure of spelling) that doesn't have that additive, but they say it's good for 3 years. She must be wrong, since the DNA serum should only be for 1 year according to this chart. At any rate, they do shoot in the hip area. But, I'll just stick with the 1 year and be safe.

Thanks again,
Kathleen & Fred

 

[Larry and Kitties]

Merial's dat sheet for purVax says it is good for one year.
http://us.merial.com/pdf/labels/purevaxfelinerabies.pdf
When I spoke with a Merial representative a couple of years ago she said that it was only good for one year because during the qualification trials not enough of the unvaccinated cats in the three-year group contracted rabies when inject with the virus.

 

[BJM]

An option is to do a titer - a blood test to determine if enough antibodies remain or if re-vaccination is necessary. It the titer is too low, you need to revaccinate. This would up your cost in any year that that occurred (titer + vaccine), so depending on the cat's health and immune functioning, it may be cheaper just to get the 1 year vaccine annually.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

There are tow problems with using titers:
- They only show if there are enough antibodies at the present time. They are not a predictor for the future.
- Many states/localities to not recognize titers as a substitute for a rabies vaccination. They require a vaccination periodicies in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations (last time a looked one state or two required annual vaccinations even for the three year vaccines).

An option is to do a titer - a blood test to determine if enough antibodies remain or if re-vaccination is necessary. It the titer is too low, you need to revaccinate. This would up your cost in any year that that occurred (titer + vaccine), so depending on the cat's health and immune functioning, it may be cheaper just to get the 1 year vaccine annually.