When should we get the rabies vacc.?
 

Chloe had her last puppy shots on March 21. She is now 4.5 months old.

When we were there on the 21st the vet really wanted to give her the rabies shot, but I told her I felt more comfortable waiting until she was a bit bigger.

She was 2.5 pounds at her last checkup, and I have a feeling that she is growing a lot (probably 3 pounds now!) When should she get her rabies shot? I was thinking of waiting until she is 6 months old. Is that too long to wait? Thank you!

this is a tough one!

i know certain areas all have laws as to when a pup must be vaccinated. with that said, the law here is 12 or 16 weeks (i forget which) and my vet is fine with holding off on bree's rabies until i feel comfortable. she is a little over 2lbs at almost 7 months old.

i know i am technically breaking the law but i personally have a problem with the whole annual / every three years rabies law but that is JMO ;) :D i do not take her out in public parks or anything like that and there is no threat of her giving rabies to anyone or getting rabies from any of her older siblings since they are all vaccinated.

Sorry I can't help you. Maddie is a bigger girl so I was find with her getting her vaccine at 16 weeks.
However, I just did a google search to find more info. I just typed Yorkie Rabies vaccine and WOW the whole first page was all scary stuff/side effects from the shot. :eek:

Yes, you'll have to check what the laws are for your area. Here is a good guide for the US so you can see what the "norm" is as far as laws go--looks like some are 3 mo. and some are as late as 7 mo.(http://www.zbirdbrain.com/VAX/RabiesLaws.pdf) Here is something I found for Ontario Canada (SiriusDog.com - Rabies Immunization for Dogs), which says that dogs must be vaccinated by 3 mo. for rabies.
[Btw txrosegirl, TX's law 4 mo.]
That being said, IF you wanted to wait a bit....maybe til 6 or 7 mo....you definitely CAN'T take her to a dog park, to be groomed or boarded, on a plane, etc, etc... And, not only do they usually not allow it, but you SHOULDN'T simply because if she were to bite someone, even in play, and broke the skin, you would be required to provide proof. If you don't have proof, then they have to euthanize her to test for it! :( :( :( That is why I personally just go with the law on this one because I do not want that to happen to Bella, even though I can't imagine any situation where she would bite anyone......still.
Bella is only 4.3 lbs. now, and she got her rabies shot when she was 16 weeks old, so she was probably not quite 3 lbs, or right around 3 lbs anyway. I think 2.5-3 lbs should be just fine! (now, those tiny tots that are <2 lbs at that age....or for that matter never get any bigger than 2 lbs!....then I'd be more worried even though I know the tiny ones get the shot too.)

Jackson will be getting in within the next week or so. He's ALMOST 6 months old and weighs 13 pounds. I believe the law here is 6 months of age they're required to have it.

Abbi was 4.5 months old and 1.3 pounds when I took her for her rabies shot. The vet talked me out of it. She said that it wasn't likely that Abbi would come into contact with rabies and she thinks it's dangerous for such a small dog to have such a potentially lethal injection.

So I'm not going to have her get a rabies shot at all.

Michele :-)

Brittany,
According to http://www.zbirdbrain.com/VAX/RabiesLaws.pdf AND Humane Society of Washington County, Maryland (4th paragraph), Maryland requires you to have your dog vaccinated by 4 mo. old :eek: Glad you're getting him in soon!!

I would worry more about a situation where Abbi would need proof that she had been vaccinated (such as she bites someone was was purposely picking at her and picking at her until she got mad enough and bit them....I've heard of this happening, especially with kids). I also would think it would be very unlikely that Abbi would even come into contact with rabies, but IF she ever NEEDED proof and you didn't have it, they would euthanize her to test. That is sad, sad to me! I don't know what people do with the teenies....maybe just make sure they are never around people?? That's also sad to me though....

If the state of MI didn't require it, I wouldn't do it either.

I absolutely agree Crystal! I hate that it's a requirment.....but I'm too worried to not do it, especially since Murphy's Law seems to apply to me all too often! ;)

I'm going to try to get out of it for Miss Ellie since she does NOT need more problems. We'll see how the vet feels about that though.;)

It's just more pressure on the owner to never give them a chance to bite, get loose, scratch, come near strangers, etc. No problem.:rolleyes::( Basically I'll just have to hold Ellie forever.

Holy cow!!....You must have a gem of a vet!!!!.....Those kinds of vets are few and far between that would actually talk a client out of a vaccine!

Well, I'm going against our law. Tootsie is 10 mos and 2 lbs. I refuse to give her a rabi shot. She's in the house all the time, so unless I have rabi's I doubt very highly she will get it. I'm just not going to take a chance with her. I don't think if she even did bite anyone, she would do much damage, but, I don't see her ever biting anyone anyway.
I think after reading, I may go through animal control to see if I can get Tootsie exempt from getting the shot
The Rabies Vaccine for Dogs and Cats: What You Need to Know Now

I agree. I wouldnt get it either if it was not required in Texas, but it is .....

OMG!i didnt know any of this!! shame shame on me, Im a bad mommy! bella JUST got hers and shes a year and 2 months...