flatwallet farms
Decades ago when I had a horse farm in New Mexico, we had rabies in our area (southeastern NM). I had my horses rabies vaccinated. Almost 20 years later, while living with my stallion on our farm in East Texas, rabies was found very near us. A neighbor’s horse had been attacked by a rabid bobcat, and it wasn’t realized until after the whole family had been exposed. By then my stallion had developed cancer and was not a candidate for vaccination. I had a rabies antibody titer test done on him. He was still protected—after just 1 vaccination 18+ years earlier! My horse lived to be 30.
I have titer tests run on all my dogs every 3 years after they’ve received an initial vaccination. The tests, run at the K-State Lab at Kansas State University, can get expensive. They run around $140 US each so I try to spread them out on all my guys. And many vets don’t think they are definitive indicators of protection. The only instance I would agree with that is when a result is below zero, indicating low protection, because I know that, in those cases, if the animal is exposed to rabies, the immune system could kick in causing a higher titer value.
Also, I’m sure the certificate of titer findings probably would not protect my guys from the law, but at least I know they are protect from rabies. That’s more important to me and I’ll pay fines and go to jail with my dogs to stand by it.