Comments on How to Legally Avoid Rabies Vaccine - Find A Sympathetic Vet

I'm in the Atlanta 'burbs, living with a severely vaccine damaged cat. I will NEVER vaccinate one of my animals again, after watching this poor cat suffer after the rabies shot she got in 2014. She acts just like an autistic child.
I've been taking care of her around the clock for almost three years, force feeding when she won't eat, spending thousands of dollars on vet bills, cleaning her up because she doesn't groom...she is not the cat she used to be. I feel she's in there somewhere and I keep hoping she'll get well, but the remedy has escaped me. It's heart breaking to see what was once the most playful, plump, merry and affectionate kitty just lay on her bed, not wanting to be touched. She slept draped across my lap and followed me everywhere I went until that shot...
She's lost so much muscle mass, her spine is sticking out. Her fur looks awful despite tons of supplements and fish oil. She's mentally dull and unresponsive when I talk to her. She doesn't socialize with the other cats, either. She has an eye lesion, bad teeth, constipation and appears to have neurological damage, all of which are the result of the vaccine. I have a great deal of guilt; that vet ruined her life for a few bucks in profit. I didn't know about the harm vaccines do then.
It's time for us to stand up to big pharma and put a stop to all this. We need to collectively refuse to obey the bad laws they've lobbied to put on the books, and draft some legislation that makes them accountable for the harm they cause.

Thanks for this article. I choose to titer for all the other vaccines but have been perplexed on how to handle the rabies. My 2 cats are indoors so they get no vaccines and my holistic vet is fine with that. My female cat actually had a granuloma appear after her last vaccine at another vet, so my current vet said absolutely no vaccines for her.
My dog had his distemper and parvo vaccines as a pup and has had no vaccines since then. I pushed the rabies as far as I could and he got it shortly after he turned a year old. He did have a minor reaction to it. A slight swelling at the injection site and then a week later he got really itchy and broke out in a skin flare up. We haven't done any vaccines since and he's doing great. He will be 3 in January and I know technically according to the city he will be due for rabies again. My vet doesn't push vaccines even the rabies though she warned me that we would techincally be in violation of city laws. I don't license him because I don't plan on him being vaccinated regularly for rabies, I just don't know how to handle dealing with the city if it ever comes up. We walk and hike regularly but have never been asked for proof of his vaccine. I wish my state had a waiver like some states but unfortunately Washington state doesn't allow for exemptions. We technically are breaking the law, but I'd rather have a healthy dog than risk his health when he already has immunity.

Apparently more in the veterinary community are seeing that titer tests have merit.
https://www.avma.org/News/JAVMANews/Pages/160701b.aspx

I didn't even realize that some states required cats to have rabies vaccines. Here's a list compiled this January:
[Replaced Broken Link]

Rarely will they tell you but there are times animals should not be vaccinated (and it's right on the vaccine label/insert . So thankful for Dr. Falconer, Dr. Dodds, Dr. Schultz and others that are willing to educate us to be our pets advocate. We have found a vet who #getsit and we are beyond grateful not to be bullied about it. Check this out, states that allow medical exemptions.

I too am not giving repetitive vaccines to my dogs. When my middle daughter was about 10 she got bitten by a feral cat (we lived out in the country it was one of the neighbors barn cats that I'm sure were not vaccinated.) so I called the pediatrician since we could not catch the cat for quarantine. I had to get the rabies serum from the hospital pharmacy where I worked. 5 injections in all on a defined schedule. Being an RN I wasn't going to take her in for every shot and insurance ok'd me to give them to her myself. While reading the drug insert it said that it was good prophylaxis against rabies for vets, zoo employees, game wardens, national park officers etc since the ONE ROUND provided LIFETIME IMMUNITY. So why do we give this vaccine every 1-3 years?? (BTW it was the SAME RED serum I had given to our dogs before!!!) The answer was clear. MONEY. Now we are seeing auto immune diseases and increased cancers in dogs and cats. The common denominator? VACCINES.
I'm on the bandwagon with VAXXED the movie and the nationwide rebellion against mandatory REPETITIVE vaccines for our kids. But that's another story. The fact remains we are seeing more problems occurring in dog's and cats because of the overuse of vaccines. Why not draw a titer and see what the test reveals? Let's err on the side of caution. You know our health care and I'm sure vet care is pharmaceutical driven. Big money. Where there's big money there's corruption.

One of my cats got quite sick after a rabies vaccination. After learning about them, my more-holistically-focused vet noted on all 3 of my cats charts that they have severe reactions to one of the additives and should not be vaccinated. They are indoor cats and I don't GAF what my county says.

You're right, some vets are golden! I wish more were!

We live in a very large city in California located in the middle of five adjacent cities. About 10 years ago my city began requiring vets to report all animals that were unvaccinated or overdue for vaccinations so they could better enforce the licensing laws (& their coffers by issuing citations). My vet told me about this on what turned out to be my last visit. He was good, compassionate, and he LISTENED. He even gave me a copy of the letter he received and suggested I find a new vet in a neighboring city that I didn't live in and would have no such requirement. At the time both of my corgis had degenerative myelopathy and one had Addison's disease, both are on a recently published list of 60+ ailments that are now associated with vaccinoses. Of course I took his advice & now go to a vet (in a neighboring city) that who, coincidentally was an inturn for my previous vet. Two months ago I adopted my second extraordinary dog from a breeder (she's on the list of holistic breeders Dr. Falconer sent out a few months ago) and on our first "well baby checkup visit" she asked if the dog was current on her shots. This was clearly just a question on the form she had to fill out because she knew EXACTLY what my answer would be. I told her that this dog had never been vaccinated and that's the way I'd like her to stay. Vet looked at the form I'd filled out (to check my address) then, with a big smile, said, "Good" and went to the next question. Some vets are golden.

The only sadness is that the (killed) rabies vaccines that are used in the US generally only have a 5 year efficacy... recently revealed by the Rabies Challenge Fund project -- who is headed by Dr. Schultz. We were all disappointed to find that while the 5 year post-vaccinates did quite well when challenged, the 7 year post-vaccinates did not. :(
If the USDA were to approve a modified-live Rabies vaccine for dogs such as is used in Europe, I do believe that would confer a lifetime of protection for our dogs (and has been proven in Europe).
The good news is that there IS a modified live rabies vaccine available for cats here in the US: ask for "Purevax" (by Merial) and that (I believe) is a one-and-done-forever for our feline friends. (Yay)
As was iterated by another poster, when getting a letter to avoid vaccination, while the authorities will respect the letter for your now not vaccinated pet, if they bite, they will be considered unvaccinated and have to be quarantined for 10 days at an approved facility. (FYI, here in rural WI, where life is inexpensive, that costs about $800 for your dog, half that for a cat)
Interestingly enough, we used to vaccinate our pets yearly in years past, and our pets didn't have the problems we are seeing today. My personal belief is that it's something in the genetics (or even epigenetic) of these animals who have problems. I have never owned an animal who has suffered problems post vaccination, ever. I have been a hobby breeder for 20 years, and have only ever had one pup who had a reaction- a cyst-like lump that appeared on his scruff 3-4 weeks after where his owner got every vaccine under the sun in that spot on the same day (!!! The poor woman was a sucker at the vets office)... out of a couple hundred puppies.
I do keep my dogs current-- but then I show my dogs and one is my seizure alert dog.
I have found that a healthy lifestyle after a healthy start are the best things to avoid the problems seen with vaccination that we can do for our animals (and ourselves!). Unfortunately, with the influx of people pushing the "adopt" on our society, and the associated issues with that (another story), people are now owning dogs with unknown health, history, vaccinations over done by shelters, the myth that mutts are healthier (also another story), it's really no wonder our dogs are seemingly unhealthy in the public eyes-- (another story, but the best chance we have for a healthy long lived pet is to start out with a brand-new model and care for them right from the start!)
For those looking for a rabies titer, the only governmentally accepted laboratory is at KSU. Though I love Hemopet & Dr Dodds (who is offering the service now), the USDA accepts those sent to KSU only.
Live to the fullest, beginning to end!

If you live in California they have what is called "Molly's Law". This is a law that allows you to forego the rabies vaccine if your pet is immune compromised. You will need a vet to write a letter stating such but if you can find one you're home free. The law states that the pet must be on a leash of no longer than 5 feet and is considered "unvaccinated". Check your state to see if they have something similar. Often they will accept a rabies titer test in lieu of a vaccine as well. Good luck.

I decided in February after having many GI issues with my dog that j would stop all vaccines including rabies which she has had numerous times and her last one was almost 4 years ago. I did a rabies titer with dr jean Dodds just because and I plan to do one every year just as one more piece of evidence that I don't need the vaccine, even tho I know they won't care about a titer. I'm at more risk though because I'm in the woods with my dog almost daily and she goes to day care every day and thankfully they are ok with no vaccines for my dog because I asked although They require it for the other dogs. My vet also is ok with seeing my dog without a rabies vaccine and if they ever need to bring her in the back and I can't go I will just muzzle her, she should be fine but it's Just to protect her. I have spent a ton of time and money on her training both on leash and off leash obedience and we work on it daily and she needs to listen perfectly if she's in the woods off leash because of not being vaccinated. We're just flying under The radar was though with the town.
My big question though is what can I do if I want to travel to Canada with my dog? I have no problem with being deceitful if it means protecting my dog