# One vaccination you should not miss



## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Rabies shots for your pets. When SHTF, there will be packs of dogs roaming around, intermingling with local wildlife. Rabies will definitely rear its ugly head, even more so than now, and we have more than enough cases each year as it is. If your good watch dog encounters one of these feral dogs which are fearless of humans, rabies could very well be transmitted to your pet and then to you. Terrible stuff. The best prevention is to keep your pets' vaccinations up to date. We vaccinate our horse/mules, as well as our dogs and cats. I don't want a scene from "Old Yeller" at my place! (The rabies vaccination for dogs is good for 3 years, even though some places require yearly vaccination to keep up with transient populations. )


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

Very interesting. In a long term SHTF, when vaccinations for pets are no longer being given, will all unfamiliar dogs have to be viewed with suspicion? Maybe even shot on sight? How easily is the virus passed?


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## Broncosfan (Mar 2, 2014)

I agree thats a good thing to keep current. We have so many loose dogs running now near our house. We see that have tags but never know if their shots are up to date.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

sideKahr said:


> Very interesting. In a long term SHTF, when vaccinations for pets are no longer being given, will all unfamiliar dogs have to be viewed with suspicion? Maybe even shot on sight? How easily is the virus passed?


Any warm blooded mammal (human, dog, cat, horse, or otherwise) can contract rabies in several ways. Obviously a bite. Contact with saliva from infected animal. Contact with urine or feces from infected bats. Contact with spinal fluid or brain tissue from infected animal If the virus gets through your skin, into your eyes, or on a mucus membrane, you are infected. We had some 9 year old boys that petted a sick bat (later proved + for rabies) at school and all the boys had to undergo rabies prophylaxis. It is possible that they could have had the virus on their hands after touching the bat and then rubbed their own eyes, causing transmission.

Yes, if you have roaming packs of dogs, you will have to shoot them. They can carry rabies, but they will also kill your livestock. They will be very dangerous once they get good and hungry and they have no inhibition about approaching human habitation.


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## fred.garvin (Sep 20, 2015)

We had a skunk that Buck (not his real name) said had rabies. He killed it with a 22. Spud (not her real name) would not have anything do with it so Buck took it home. In a SHTF, would a skunk be OK to eat?


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

What a nightmare, RNprepper.


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## sideKahr (Oct 15, 2014)

You, too, Fred.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

fred.garvin said:


> We had a skunk that Buck (not his real name) said had rabies. He killed it with a 22. Spud (not her real name) would not have anything do with it so Buck took it home. In a SHTF, would a skunk be OK to eat?


ARE YOU CRAZY????????? WHO WOULD TOUCH A RABID ANIMAL, MUCH LESS EAT IT!!!!!!!! Saliva! Spinal fluid (like in cutting off the head)! AND THIS IS THE GUY WHO IS GOING TO TEACH YOU ABOUT GUN SAFETY?????? ARE YOU ALL INBRED???????? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU????????


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

If we are trying to survive in a primitive manner, it can be a real challenge to care for a dog unless it is a hunting dog. To release them to run freely and hopefully fend for themselves is a big mistake. Some will die a horrible death of starvation, exposure or be devoured by other dogs or animals. Some, especially big dogs, will form packs. Since our pets are not afraid of people, they will most likely become a serious menace. Dog packs can and will herd other animals and humans to feed upon. This has already been witnessed in third world nations during times of famine. The thought of myself or my loved ones being ripped apart by a pack of ravenous dogs scares the crap out me. It may be necessary to humanely "put down" our pets. If you should see a wild dog, don't try to befriend it or catch it. Dogs in Africa allowed to go “wild” have learned to use one dog to lead or herd a person into an ambush and then the whole pack attacks. Be ready to destroy ANY and ALL wild dogs you come across. Your life may depend on it.


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## fred.garvin (Sep 20, 2015)

Buck is good with guns and knows how to cut up animals. We (Spud and I) are just trying to learn.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Yum, yum. Rabid skunk for dinner. Probably shot in the head to splatter brains around. I wish you all the best in your educational endeavors with Buck. Please tell me you do not live west of the Mississippi.


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## paraquack (Mar 1, 2013)

Opening up a rabid animal to me is like trying to disarm a nuke with a nail clipper, in the dark, and under 25 feet of water.


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## fred.garvin (Sep 20, 2015)

I agree. No cutting up rabid animals.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

RN any idea on the shelf life of rabies shots?


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Auntie said:


> RN any idea on the shelf life of rabies shots?


You can't buy them yourself. A vet has to administer them, as there is a "chain of custody" so to speak. If your pet got bit by a rabid skunk (like the one Buck shot), the animal control people and the state health department HAVE to know that the animal was vaccinated properly, that the vaccine was not expired, that the vaccine was stored at the right temperature, etc. I could be wrong, but I don't know of any state that allows OTC sale of rabies vaccine.


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## Auntie (Oct 4, 2014)

Okay thanks


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## fred.garvin (Sep 20, 2015)

What if I gave a rabies shot to a 260lb person? Should I doubel down on the amount?


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## fred.garvin (Sep 20, 2015)

Double down, my mistake.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

fred.garvin said:


> What if I gave a rabies shot to a 260lb person? Should I doubel down on the amount?


OK, Slippy , ummmm Fred, you are just too much for me tonight. I'm going to bed. And no, the dose doesn't change.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

Hey, Fred (not your real name), tell me where you get your rabies vaccine.


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## 1skrewsloose (Jun 3, 2013)

There are many sites where you can buy almost anything restricted from US purchase. Just have to look a bit. My mother who once lived in McAllen, Tx., used to go to Matamoros to buy her scripts. /no doctor needed, or required. Waaaay cheaper too.


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## rice paddy daddy (Jul 17, 2012)

We live in the country, where encounters with wildlife are possible for our dogs in our own yard. Especially with the red foxes that live in our woodlot, and in the woods around us. There are also other carriers, such as raccoon and coyotes.
We keep the dogs, and the horses, up to date on all vaccinations, including rabies.
It was only last year that a few miles south of us a lady was bitten by a rabid raccoon, during the day, while she was tending her garden.

And if you are bitten, or even scratched, by a feral animal that you are unable to catch, you will have to undergo the rabies treatment. My wife had used a live trap to catch some kittens birthed by a feral cat under one of our sheds. While transferring them into a carrier to take them to Animal Control she was scratched on her hand. The kittens were quarantined and observed for rabies symptoms. They did not exhibit symptoms so my wife was spared the series of painful shots. Thank goodness.


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## barterdoc (Sep 20, 2015)

As a Doctor the one vaccine I'd recommend not missing is tetanus. By the time you get symptoms they are not treatable. They're just telling you you're going to die.


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## A Watchman (Sep 14, 2015)

barterdoc said:


> As a Doctor the one vaccine I'd recommend not missing is tetanus. By the time you get symptoms they are not treatable. They're just telling you you're going to die.


Glad you are sticking around Doc.


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## 8301 (Nov 29, 2014)

My friend, Chuck, has many cows and a bull that he had had many years suddenly charged him and tried to trample him out in the field. Chuck is 73 yrs old but managed to escape that old normally gentle bull. He went to his truck, the 12 bore was loaded with birdshot but he shot the bull for spite before going to the hospital with broken ribs and a kicked head (massive black eye and swelling on his arms ect.). He went back later with a rifle and shot the bull and the county checked the carcass for rabies.

Positive, Chuck got 3 shots to the belly from a doctor and his herd was quarantined for 90 days. Rabies is a real problem.

Got a call from a neighbor a while back who didn't know I'd recently moved. He's shot a rabid raccoon in my old driveway after it had attacked his family across the street.


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## RNprepper (Apr 5, 2014)

barterdoc said:


> As a Doctor the one vaccine I'd recommend not missing is tetanus. By the time you get symptoms they are not treatable. They're just telling you you're going to die.


Yup, I've been on the tetanus band wagon for a while . Took a poll a few weeks ago and over 70% of the respondents here said they were current on their tetanus vaccination. That's great at least for those 70+ percent! When water sources are compromised, hepatitis A, and possibly typhoid, will also be issues. Both will knock the socks off someone, with typhoid being possibly fatal without treatment. Even then, some people are never the same after recovering from typhoid, even years later. Such preventable diseases, yet so much resistance. When SHTF, all hands need to be on deck, with full strength and health.


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