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Post by HokieThea on Mar 5, 2003 16:37:37 GMT -5
I'm just filling out my spring shots order form for my vet, and I have a (maybe stupid) question. You know how dogs only need rabies boosters every few years? Do horses need one every year, or can they go every few years like dogs?
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Post by Smay on Mar 5, 2003 16:44:34 GMT -5
...about vaccination and all that...and so I actually have the vet chart that says rabies every single year. Once a year. I don't know why dogs can get a three-year shot but horses can't. Oh well. And after the vet went over TWENTY times why the Rhino vaccination does NOT protect against HerpesVirus I - the neurological strain that's been terrorizing Ohio - our DUMB leader goes and tells everyone that "if you vaccinate against the respiratory strain, then your horse can't develop the neurological strain..... DUH!!!! People are going stupid over this virus! They aren't even listening!
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Post by helend on Mar 5, 2003 16:50:11 GMT -5
Jiggs will be getting his first West Nile shot soon and so will a bunch of the people who board, but some of the borders don't want to spend the extra $60.
Is there a vaccine against the herpesvirus I?
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Post by Lynne on Mar 5, 2003 18:02:29 GMT -5
good questions to start a serious thread. I'm needing to do my spring yearlies too. Am I wrong in thinking that the EHV is the vaccine for the herpes? And doesn't it come in a couple varieties (like EHV-1 and EHV-4 or something like that?).
What do you guys know? Give us the low down.
Also, Michelle, I think it was you that talked about doing bloodwork on your horses just to establish a baseline? I have a 25+ year old and a nineteen year old and I was thinking about doing at least a CBC on them just to see where we are and to have it for comparison in the years to come. Is this a silly idea? Anyobody else do it?
Lynne
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Post by Smay on Mar 6, 2003 10:38:43 GMT -5
there IS no vaccine that protects against EHV-I Your regular flu shot (Rhino) protects against the respiratory version of that herpes virus, and the Pneumobort K is the killed version of the vaccine that protects broodmares, but the version that causes the neurological disease is not avoided by vaccine.... The horses that all died up in Findlay Ohio at the college are vaccinated on a two-month rotation against Rhino! They didn't "progress" from respiratory to neurological...they just went down with neurological BOOM. Dead. What our pony club leader was incorrectly saying was that horses vaccinated recently against Rhinopneumonitis are not going to get EVH-1 Wrong. It's not a new disease, there just hasn't been an outbreak of it recently, and there is no vaccine.
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Post by Einstein on Mar 6, 2003 11:14:17 GMT -5
Lynne, I do a CBC and Chem panel on my boys once a year, that way I have a base line (first time) and can see how they're doing each year. Just like people, each horse is different. Some people's temp is always above 98.6 degrees so a 100 defree fever is not as big of a deal. Does that make sense? So, yes, I like to do it every year. But I do it myself, so I get a big discount ;D Nothing like spending 30 minutes looking at horse blood under the microscope ;D
Also, I don't vx for rabies right now, but in dogs it's the law. The 1 year and 3 year vx are the same, but the city and county determine weather a 1 year or 3 year vx is legal. Also, if you have to have rabies shot #1 today, March 6, 2003, you have to have rabies shot #2 (by the same manufacturer) ON OR BEFORE March 6, 2004 for that second shot to be good for 3 years.
Did I just bore and confuse everyone? ;D
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Post by Lisann on Mar 6, 2003 12:30:26 GMT -5
I just bought rabies shots for my herd. Found them at the feed store (in MO). Jeffer's and Valley Vet won't ship rabies vaccines to MO....  I might not do rabies for the horses, except that where I live is quite rural and there a lot of critters. I'm not doing PHF (vet's advice) and I'm on the fence about Strangles. All got WNV shots last year, and this year I'm doing spring and fall WNV boosters since there were so many cases in this area last year. |
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Post by adcooper on Mar 6, 2003 15:25:43 GMT -5
Here is some information from my vet's website, specific to vaccinations and EHV. For full articles, go to ponyexpressvet.comVaccinating horses against EHV will help reduce the severity of illness with respect to the respiratory form of the disease and the subsequent shedding of the virus, but it does not prevent a horse from becoming infected. Vaccination has also been shown to greatly reduce EHV related abortions, but does not appear to protect against the neurological form of the disease. ...the EHV-1 vaccines currently available for prevention against Rhinopneumonitis make no claims for prevention against the neurological disease. Vaccination in the face of an outbreak is controversial and should not be relied upon as the only strategy to prevent infection from Equine Herpes Virus infection. ... We have received several phone calls in regard to vaccinating horses with the "modified live virus" vaccine against EHV, ("Rhinomune"). Any vaccine, whether composed of a modified live or killed virus, will not prevent infection of EHV nor will it have any preventative effect against the neurological form of EHV. We recommend to our clients that they remain on their current vaccination program. If you are not currently vaccinating against rhinopneumonitis, you may wish to add that vaccine to your program. However, the vaccine does not impart long term immunity against EHV, nor will prevent infection with EHV. At the best, it may reduce the severity of symptoms from an EHV infection or reduce the risk of abortion in pregnant mares. If your horses have been vaccinated against EHV within the last 3 months, regardless of product used, there is no reason to give them an additional vaccination. If your horses have been vaccinated between 3 and 6 months past, then you may elect to booster the vaccine, understanding that this will have no effect against neurological complications should your horse become infected with EHV. If your horse has not been vaccinated within the last 6 months, unless they are housed by themselves, you should consider a Influenza/Rhinopneumonitis booster. The situation at Findlay University will be studied so that we may learn more about EHV. The rest of the horse population outside of Findlay University is no more at risk now, than before this outbreak took place. |
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Post by Einstein on Mar 6, 2003 18:19:06 GMT -5
Lisann, federal law says a vet must actually give the rabies shot for it to be legal. Also, is there a different rabies shot for dogs and horses? There's not for dogs and cats.
Why do you guys give rabies to horses? I know parts of Texas have rabies issues in dogs, but I haven't read or heard of giving it to horses. Of coarse I live in Colorado and not Texas, but I was just wondering.
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Post by ZenRider on Mar 6, 2003 23:18:20 GMT -5
I give my horse rabies shots. More of a can't hurt, might help kinda thing. We don't have a high occurance of rabies in Illinois, but it is out there and there are confirmed animals with rabies every year, just not at plague levels. Mostly found in racoons, bats, and possums. Two of which have a tendoncy to go into barns looking for food, particularly in the winter.
It was just a few years ago, I think it was at a horse fair in Kansas, there was a case of a puppy someone had taken to the fair having rabies. Of course, the owners of the puppy didn't know it at the time. There was a big bulletin put out looking for everyone who had been in contact with the puppy. It was after that, a lot of the horse fairs stopped allowing people to bring their dogs into the buildings at the fairs.
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Post by niaru on Mar 7, 2003 17:02:32 GMT -5
I feel the same way about rabies. Better safe than sorry, and NH and Maine have had cases. The vet is coming on March 15 to give Charm her Spring shots. I'll do the 4-way vaccine and West Nile, too. I've read somewhere that there was a vaccine for EHV-1 but it has to be repeated every 3 months and is not 100% effective  It's scary. Although in the article I read (in an old HI magazine) they were saying that EHV-1 was quite rare, that most horses displayed symptoms of EPM ('drunken' walk, flacid tail etc) but that most recovered with supportive care. |
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Post by ZenRider on Mar 7, 2003 23:23:06 GMT -5
Oops, should say, I have my Vet give the Rabies shots. I do all the others. OK, except West Nile and that's cause it's not available yet in the single doses. Though he did give me the boosters last year so that I could do those and save him a trip and my a trip charge. Though since it's here to stay, I'd think it should be available in another year or two.
My Vet recommends vaccinating for pretty much everything in our area, as pretty much everything travels through our area. Sigh. Lots of racing and showing and horses moving about because of it.
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Post by Lisann on Mar 8, 2003 7:47:51 GMT -5
Having a vet give the rabies shot is the only way to get a rabies certificate (for dogs, cats, ferrets), but I don't think horses TEXT a rabies certificate. I don't think the general population considers horses a carrier/danger for rabies transmission.
BTW, the rabies shots I bought were marked for dogs, cats, and horses. Horses get 2cc's, dogs/cats get 1 cc.
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Post by HokieThea on Mar 8, 2003 10:50:21 GMT -5
There was a case last summer in SE Michigan of a pony that had rabies. It was at a petting farm, so everyone was worried that the school kids that had come in contact with it. I always get Sid the rabies shot- every once in a while I see a raccon waddling down the middle of the indoor arena.
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Post by Einstein on Mar 8, 2003 11:48:53 GMT -5
Lisann, you're right, the only reason Rabies mandatory by law is bacause Dogs and cats are carriers. The government doesn't care if your puppy dies of Parvo from no vx, but they do care if that puppy has Rabies and infects someone.
Hehehe, had visions of a 10 pound chocoalte lab rabid puppy ;D OK, not funny, but it's basically not in Colorado, where I am, so we are very lucky.
Also, while you may not need or want a cert for horse Rabies shot, by federal law a vet still must inject the horse. I can see why that wouldn't matter though. That's good to know about the 2cc. Who made the Rabies shot? Fort Dodge? Just wondering, we've never done it since being here, but in NJ I think our farm vet did it.
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I might not do rabies for the horses, except that where I live is quite rural and there a lot of critters. I'm not doing PHF (vet's advice) and I'm on the fence about Strangles. All got WNV shots last year, and this year I'm doing spring and fall WNV boosters since there were so many cases in this area last year.
It's scary. Although in the article I read (in an old HI magazine) they were saying that EHV-1 was quite rare, that most horses displayed symptoms of EPM ('drunken' walk, flacid tail etc) but that most recovered with supportive care.