rabies

last wed. i was home for lunch and saw my dog interacting with a skunk. i had animal control pick the animal up and it tested positive for rabies. i have kept the dog away from all contact from our kids etc. i took him to the animal control people saturday for the 90 day quarranteen[sp.] but it looks like if i cant find his shot records to lower the period to 45 days, at 10 dollars/day i will have to put him down. we cant afford 900 dollars. they said we could isolate the dog at home, but i am concerned about my kids[ages 2.5, 6.5, and new born.] 90 days is all summer trying to keep them out of the back yard. i have been paranoid about even letting them play in the yard since the dog left, but have done so anyway. with rabies being 100% fatal, i cant see bringing the animal home. anyone out there faced this situation before and if so, how did you handle it.
the dog was 22 days past his three year vaccine. he was given a booster shot today and the animal control folks will allow us a few days to decide.

 

Your vet will have records substantiating the vaccination.

You could put a portable kennel-run fenced in the yard for the dog for the 45 days.

The likelihood of transmission is low. Documented cases of rabies in domesticated dogs are extremely low. The vaccine does not disappear at the end of the three year period, it just fails titer after this period. The three year period is the time span that the vaccine is sufficiently strong to a laboratory-statistical model. The vaccine it received since the incident does nothing to help with the current exposure.

Since it could easily cost more than $900 to replace the dog, the quarantine makes sense to me.

Rabies is fatal to humans if it is not treated.

Did you find where the skunk got over/under the fence into your yard?

Not an easy decision.

 

Couple hundred bucks for a kennel would be money well spent. If you had no need for it after the quarenteen sell it.

 

thanks for the info guys. the issue at hand is we dont have verification that the breeder gave the pup its first shot. we gave it its one year [booster] that is good for three years if the first shot is given. we lost his papers in a move shortly after we got the dog. we also cant remember exactly who we bought from. they were just individuals who had two registered goldens and bread them to sale. didnt look like a true breeder type situation. w/o written proof of the first vaccination, the county is going to require 90 days.
the problem i have with isolating the dog at home is i am affraid that my kids will have some sort of contact with the animal when we are NOT LOOKING. maybe im being paranoid, but i dont now enough about this fatal disease to be comfortable with the animal anywhere near my children.
we have friends who have offered to let us put a dog run type area at there home if we will put up electric fence around it to keep their animals away. they live on a few acres outside of town. do you think i am putting their animals at risk? i would hate to put them in our situation.

 

If there is no physical contact, the disease cannot be spread. The transmission medium is saliva.

 

The rabies virus, present in the saliva of an infected animal, is usually spread by a bite or scratch that punctures the victim's skin. If dog has no puncture wound, then one could rest easier confining the dog at home after it spent at least 10 days in quarantine at the shelter. Too, while regulations vary from area to area regarding length of confinement, many areas require only 10 days of confinement.

http://healthlinks.washington.edu/nw...valuating.html

 

im pretty sure he didnt get bit, but i saw him sniffing and licking the skunk. i think it is highly likely he was in contact with saliva.

 

The rabies vaccine stays in their system for years after they say it does, so if he was just a few weeks past due, he is still good for years. My dog has had 2 rabies vaccines in 4 years and it has caused her illness, I WILL NOT give her anymore rabies vaccines, they do more damage then good. Actually their immune systems still have enough of it in them for years and years. He doesnt have rabies even if he was bitten and I will bet the farm he wasnt, couldn't they check him for puncture wounds?
Before I would put my precious dog down, I would invest in an outdoor and indoor crates and do it that way, then he could be in and out as appropriate.

and your vet or who ever gave him the rabies shot has record of the shot.

get the records from them.

Pinky