Everyone is absolutely right. I have managed a vet clinic for 12 years and it is the same vaccine. It is usually the county government you live in that mandates how often your animal needs to be vaccinated, not your vet, and that is determined by the number of reported rabies cases in a given time. Some states may be the same all over, but I know in Tennessee it is mandated by the county and all counties are different. Our county has just recently ruled that we can now give the rabies vaccine every three years and we are using the same vaccine that we have always used and charging the same price (it does not cost us any more to buy it). The rules are: a rabies vaccine this year, another in one year which has to be given within a month of the date given last year and that one can be considered a 3 year vaccine. If you don't follow the law, and IF, and I say IF, your dog bites someone and they want to be difficult enough they can require you to have your dog tested for rabies or make you quarantine it for 10-14 days at your cost. The only test for rabies is a lab test that is performed on the brain which means the animal has to be killed. The vaccine is no more potent than the vaccine your dogs have been getting for years. I always give my boys a dose of Benedryl about 45 minutes before they are scheduled to get the shot. This helps if they happen to have a reaction. |