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Post by ghostrider on Mar 29, 2014 22:27:22 GMT -5
In Green River we were backed up to the Green River therefore the Potomac was recommended. In Rock Springs we were 20 miles from it with nothing but prairie in between and not recommended by the vet. My vet never recommended the rabbies shot till I moved to MO and we gave them a rabbies because we were coming here. But there we don't have all these little animals they have here. Squirrels, skunks, raccoons, etc.. Probably why they don't worry about rabbies there?
One year they were out of Ft.Dodge and because we were forced to use the other brand of W.Nile we had to booster it. Evidently if you vary the brand you have to start all over with both shots, thought that was weird. I didn't have to booster it the following year though when we switched back to the Ft. Dodge. And haven't had to use another brand again.
Shots are easy to do as long as you make sure it's not in the vein. I had a friend who showed me how to draw a box with your finger on their neck hair so you have a target. Still always pull the plunger back to make sure though.
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Post by ghostrider on Mar 29, 2014 22:31:05 GMT -5
HS the first year I moved here the vet assistant told me I couldn't give my own rabbies. When I explained that I could she got on the cell with the vet and he told her yes you can with a horse but no the dog rabbies has to be given and recorded with the vet. Since dogs bite I'm glad we don't have to take someones word for it though. Sad that some would neglect then lie but I see a LOT of people I'm sure never vaccinate around here and since we're not in the city...
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Post by luvmymorgan on Mar 30, 2014 9:22:15 GMT -5
I've got an appointment next Saturday for spring shots. In AZ they do rabies in the fall, E/W & Tetanus in the spring with WN & flu. I think I'm going to check with a different vet as the price they quoted me for spring shots & what I paid last year for 2 horses. I don't do them myself-hate needles-but the BO said she would do them for me if I buy the vaccines even though her attorney told her she shouldn't due to the liability issue. In AZ a vet needs to do the rabies shot or it isn't "recognized" as being done.
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Post by ghostrider on Mar 30, 2014 12:31:53 GMT -5
I can understand that in a dog or maybe even a cat because both could bite someone.
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Post by luvmymorgan on Mar 30, 2014 13:58:02 GMT -5
Rabies is the only vaccination my dogs get. They aren't boarded or at a dog park around other dogs. The cats don't get any since they are strictly house cats and never around any other animals. Some might not agree with this but it has worked for me this way for over 15 years with no problems. I think a lot of animals are over vaccinated.
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Post by cyndi on Mar 30, 2014 15:26:03 GMT -5
Found out today at the barn that Strangles has gone through three barns to the north of us. Eww. M is doing some precautionary things, to make sure it doesn't come to our barn, because if Harley (the de-toxing OTTB) gets it, it could kill him. His immune system is really weak right now.
LMM, after faithfully vaccinating our cat for over 10 years, we stopped doing everything except rabies (because it's law to have it). I think there is a problem with over-vaccinating, too. A year ago Fanny had vaccinosis, in her case it was too much tetanus vaccine in her system, and I ended up not vaccinating her at all, so I will do it this year. I think she needs her teeth done, too. She had them floated two years ago, but last year she had nothing done. We'll see what the vet says.
The barn fee is something like $50 here, but I don't mind paying it because then I know the vet has checked her out and all is well. If I take my dogs to the animal clinic, the office call is $50, so it's no different. We are nice and close to our vet clinic now...probably not much more than 10 minutes.
I know of a competition barn about a half hour away that has a lot of horses in it that don't get traditional vaccines. One of the boarders is a homeopath, so she vaccinates her own horse, the barn owner's horses, and other boarder's horses with homeopathic remedies. No problems, and they have healthy horses.
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Post by horsespoiler on Mar 30, 2014 21:35:07 GMT -5
Cyndi, I wish a farm call was only $50, it's more like $85 because of how far out we live. The small animal vet is only $19 for an office visit and it doesn't matter if it's all the dogs at once, just 1 charge. That guy is awesome.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Mar 30, 2014 22:38:55 GMT -5
Ghostrider, there was a cow that was rabid in Massachusetts and a whole troop of boy scouts drank the unpasteurized milk, over 1900 people eventually ended up getting vaccinated against rabies. Please don't think that horses or cows can't get and spread rabies. They can and will bite if rabid. Squirrels and rabbits won't spread it because they die from rabies too quickly but raccoons definitely can incubate the virus www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056759.htm
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Post by ghostrider on Mar 30, 2014 23:43:43 GMT -5
Thanks for that info Kirk, I would never have thought you could contract rabbies from milk? I thought it spread through saliva. We vaccinate everything on the farm for rabbies, even the ferral (not quite tame) momma cat and all three kittens. We even spayed all 4 knowing they may not stick around. Lucky us they not only stuck around though they've moved in to the house with the other three. LOL I've heard next week the litter box and food dishes are all moving out to the garage though since winter's over. (we'll see)
I hate to say this but I have NO idea what other shots Diesel gets. Every year I get a card and I take him in and then they ask if I want to give him the wormer at home or if I want them to give it and I take it home. I give him his heartworm meds every month and slather some tick and flea meds above his shoulder blades. I know he gets something else because they only get rabbies shots like every two or three years? I think he gets tetnus and flu maybe? I know this doesn't make me too good of a momma but I figure the vet knows more than I do so I just wait till June or July? for my apt card.
I've never had a vet out to my house or barn. I have always taken them to the vets. I have no idea how much a call here would be.
Cyndi, we had a neighbor when we were in the corrals who had arabs. I talked to her and a few other horse owners because I was worried about my horses contracting strangles from her filly since there was only about 14' between our corrals. I was told that strangles is much like chicken pox in that once a horse has it they rarely get it again and most horses get a mild form of it when they are young and don't normally get it again when they are older. But if you do have a young horse you're better off to expose it now then to shield it and have it contract it later. Also it is contracted mostly by shared food dishes and water tanks or nose to nose contact. Someone told me that since my horses were all mustangs that they were probably exposed to strangles early as most wild horses are. I've never had a horse with strangles but if your horse is healthy like Fanny I wouldn't worry.
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Post by vsolubo on Mar 31, 2014 11:59:13 GMT -5
All warm blooded animals can get rabies; as a child the farm next to us had a cow get sick. After several days of helping treat her the vet finally asked for permission to put her down & send her head to K State for a possible rabies diagnoses; she was positive & the vet, all the vets techs, the owner & his entire family & all the neighboring families had to get the entire series of shots. All the cows, horses, dogs & cats on farms with a shared fence line had to be vaccinated & all farms were put into quaranteen for 6 weeks. They thought a farm cat had it & was spreading it. Shortly after that cow was put down, another on the same farm started acting weird so it was also put down.
GR; rabies is spread through bodily fluids, in most cases that is salvia because in most cases it is due to bites. It can also be spread through blood, urine & milk.
Whether or not an owner can buy or give their own rabies shot is up to the state. In Missouri you can give it yourself but in Kansas it is illegal to; only a vet can legally give a rabies shot. I live on the KS/MO line, but if I go over to MO & buy the vaccine, I not only break the law transporting it across KS state lines, I break the law if I give the vaccine to any animal.
Strangles is common in horses that are young & have a bad health immune system. It is an old wives tale that horses only get it once & if they get it again it will be mild. The immunity last from 5-10 years, depending a lot on how healthy a horse is. Older horses can get it, & it can be bad often because older horses don't have the immune system of a younger horse. Any horse with Strangles should be isolated & any person taking care of that horse should do so after taking care of all the other horses 1st. They should never share water or feed tubs & should never touch nose to nose (this includes a person rubbing a healthy horses nose after feeding/grooming a sick horse). One boarding stable I was at years ago thought that same old wives tale; it was a large boarding stable with over 100 horses, a person who went trail riding came back & it seems a horse at the trail ride was "snotty". The manager said not to worry, her horse had strangles several years earlier, wouldn't get it. Not only did that horse get it, eventually almost 3/4 of the horses there got it. On some old boarding stables strangles actually runs a 10 year cycle, with horses getting it every 10 years or so as the immunity runs down.
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Post by ghostrider on Mar 31, 2014 12:47:50 GMT -5
This was about 10 years ago when the lady's arab had it. I imagine things change in the animal world just like in ours.
If someone baling hay hits a skunk (which are carriers) can a horse eat the hay and get rabbies? I had a hay grower tell me they couldn't because it had to be spread by a bite/saliva but if it can be spread by body fluids then it seems something baled up inside hay would be infectious too.
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Post by ghostrider on Mar 31, 2014 12:58:37 GMT -5
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Post by cyndi on Mar 31, 2014 15:15:15 GMT -5
Around here, the big rabies carriers are skunks, raccoons, and bats.
I was all worried about Strangles, then read up on it and was relieved to know that it's not a really serious thing...although I know in some cases it can be. I feel better now. I'm not too worried about our barn getting it because we are a closed barn. M said she's going to ask for testing for any new horses that come in for training. Both Bailey and the horse before her came from "closed" barns, so they aren't a concern. M went for a trail ride with friends yesterday, but they are the ones who had their horse at our barn for training for the past few months, so that's not a worry either. My main concern would be poor Harley, the OTTB.
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Post by vsolubo on Mar 31, 2014 17:22:28 GMT -5
If a baler hit an animal I would be more concerned with the hay being bad. The chance of rabies would be small, but the body fluids rot & would basically poison the hay. If an animal eats feed or drinks water that contained a dead animals fluids, there is a good chance they would get very sick & if they get sick it isn't easily treated; thus most die from it. One of the bad things about large bales, an animal could be baled in it & you wouldn't know until the horse/cow consumes bad hay. With small bales the animal are usually easy to spot so you can throw that bale out.
Cyndi; the wrong thing most people do is start penicillin too soon with strangles. It should only be given as a last resort if they don't seem to be getting better. Penicillin, given incorrectly, actually gives the horse the worse form of strangles; also known as bastard strangles.
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Post by ghostrider on Mar 31, 2014 22:12:51 GMT -5
V, I read that too. I've never worried about strangles, if they get it I'll call the vet and take them in. My hay guy in WY said the worse thing he ever baled was a diamond back rattler. When he cut the string the snake was really pissed off.
cyndi the gal with the arab let it run it's course and it wasn't anything worse then a cold really. How old is Fanny again? She's over 5 right?
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