RABIES VASCULITIS

A good customer that frequents our store e-mailed me telling me his concerns about Rabies Vasculitis.  There are growing concerns about how much a person should vaccinate their pet-with good reason.  Often misdiagnosed, Rabies Vasculitis is a reaction to the vaccination which causes inflammation of the blood vessels resulting in compromise of blood supply to affected areas.  It is thought that the inflammation is due to the over stimulation of the immune system.  This is more common in dogs and less so in cats.
 
So what does that mean for your pet?  Your pet may exhibit lumps at the vaccine site, hair loss, ulcers, scabs, darkening of the skin, and scarring with loss of hair.   In addition to the vaccination site, lesions / ulcers can develop on the ear flaps, on the elbows and hocks, in the center of the footpads, lips, mouth, and scrotum.  Scarring may be permanent.  Some animals show other symptoms such as lethargy, decreased appetite, fever, muscle disease, joint inflammation, and swelling of extremities. Symptoms can show up within weeks of the vaccination or they can take several months to develop. 
 
The prognosis of your pet depends on the severity of the symptoms and the extent of damage done to the organs.  Treatment from your vet my include medications to suppress blood vessel inflammation.  Because your Vet may use drugs like steroids, pentoxifylline (the combination of tetracycline and niacinamide), dapsone, sulfasalazine, cyclosporin, or azathioprine, I would seek out a Holistic Vet and see if there would be a safer alternative way to treat my pet.  Because the immune system has now been compromised, there is a good chance, your holistic vet will focus on building your pet's immune system back up again. In some cases medication may eventually be discontinued, however some animals will require lifelong medication for control.
 
For pets who have developed a reaction to their Rabies Vaccination (or any vaccination for that matter) should review the vaccination protocol with their veterinarian and try to reduce future vaccinations to the extent medically and legally possible.  At the very least, vaccines from the same manufacturer should be avoided.  I have also read that giving the vaccine in another location and given in the muscle rather then under the skin is an option, but I would personally be hesitant to do this if my pet had a reaction from a previous vaccination.
 
I know there are a lot of controversy over the topic of giving vaccinations.  Even when we got Beau and Baxter, I had to decide what vaccines they should get - not knowing their history and weigh it against the exposure of the disease they could get. 
 
Instead of getting regular vaccinations, another option you can talk to your vet about is the Titer test.  A Titer test is

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