Rabies Vaccinations

What NOT having a rabies vaccinated animal can cost

To many pet owners, having to load up the animals and schedule veterinary visits can sometimes be a hassle. The required rabies vaccinations that are needed annually can not only save your animals life, but also that $13-$20 dollar vaccine can end up saving you a lot of money as well.

During a recent class trip to a local equine clinic, students of Community Care College Veterinary Assistant Program, truly got to learn of the vaccines importance and why we educate our pet owners to follow through with vaccines for pets.  Just like most of the students, you might be thinking a horse with rabies, because most of the public only thinks of dogs, cats and bats as being the carrier of the disease.  In this case it was a horse, and when brought to the clinic, the staff thought of it to be a case of West Nile Virus.  After being monitored for a few hours, symptoms changed and the horse started seizures and showing signs of aggression. This is when the veterinarian changed possible diagnosis and rabies testing was performed after euthanasia.

Following a positive test result for the Rabies Virus, everyone who handled the animal went through a course of questions regarding their involvement, and then post exposure vaccination protocols.  This resulted in thousands of dollars spent to ensure everyone involved would not contract the virus. Average cost per person for rabies exposure is between 4-5 thousand dollars, and all could be prevented if only the owner had the animal vaccinated properly.  Rabies is not treatable and nearly 100% fatal.

Have all of the animals you love properly vaccinated annually!