What is rabies？
Rabies virus is a highly dangerous infection that has serious effects on the brain. It is spread through contact with the saliva of infected animals and poses a risk to pets, livestock, wild animals and humans. Most cases of rabies infection involve wild animals. Bats, raccoons, foxes and skunks are the main carriers of the virus. Sadly, rabies is almost always fatal once symptoms are manifested.
The incubation period of rabies
The incubation period is the time between exposure to the rabies virus and the onset of symptoms of the disease. In most cases, your pet will begin to show signs of disease within 2 weeks of exposure, but sometimes symptoms may take several months to appear. This is why it is important to get your dog vaccinated. If your pet is infected with rabies, it can spread the virus to other pets and humans until 10 days before it begins to show any signs of disease.
How dogs get rabies？
The virus can spread from infected mammals to any other mammals, including wild animals, pets, livestock, and humans, through saliva. If your pet is bitten by a rabid animal, or its eyes, nose, mouth, or open wounds are infected with the saliva or brain/spine tissue of the infected animal, whether dead or alive, it will be infected with rabies.
Symptoms of rabies in dogs
- Different barking
- Excessive drooling
- Uncharacteristically aggressive, fearful
- Overreaction to touch, sound, or light
- Bite or lick the exposed wound area
- Difficulty swallowing
- Loss of balance while walking
- Partial or complete paralysis
Treatment of rabies
Once your dog is infected with rabies, the veterinarian cannot provide treatment for the disease. Isolation or euthanasia are the only two options. This is why prevention is so important.
Rabies vaccination
Rabies vaccines are usually included in the core vaccination list. Because it is the most effective form of protection against this serious disease. The best and easiest form of rabies prevention is to keep up-to-date vaccination. As vaccine antibodies weaken over time, rabies vaccines will begin to lose their effectiveness. This is why subsequent enhanced doses must be administered.
Wixbio vaccination program：
12 weeks: the first dose of rabies inactivated vaccine (strain CVS 11) (intramuscular injection)
14 weeks: the second dose of rabies inactivated vaccine (strain CVS 11) (intramuscular injection)
After that, get vaccinated once a year.
Will dogs still get rabies after vaccination?
Although your dog is still at risk of contracting rabies even when vaccinated, the chance is very low. The rabies vaccine is very effective, and vaccinated dogs are rarely infected. But it does not guarantee 100% protection.
Side effects of vaccines
All vaccinations cause a response from the animal’s immune system, which means that some form of side effects are common, although they are usually mild.
- Mild loss of appetite
- Mild to moderate energy loss 24 to 36 hours after vaccination
- Mild fever
- Potential swelling or soreness at the injection site
- Some dogs experience small but painless swelling at the injection site, which may last for several weeks. In rare cases, small circular areas of hair loss may appear at the injection site.
Keep in mind that some dogs will not experience any side effects of rabies vaccine at all. If side effects do occur, they usually begin within an hour after vaccination and disappear within a day or two.
Q&A
Can people get rabies from vaccinated dogs?
Although it is unlikely to get rabies from vaccinated dogs, there is still a slight risk. Vaccinated and unvaccinated pet bites must be quarantined for 10 days. If a dog or cat is contagious when bitten, signs of rabies in the animal usually appear quickly within 10 days.
How can I prevent my dog from contracting rabies?
The best thing you can do to prevent your dog from contracting rabies is to keep their vaccinations up to date. You should also not let your pets wander unsupervised, especially at night when bats and other wild animals are most active. You should prepare your home for bat protection, and you should never catch, deal with, or keep wild bats as pets.
