Protect Your Pet Against Rabies

In Arizona it is required by law that your dog be vaccinated against rabies and be licensed by the age of 3 months and stay up to date on their rabies vaccine.

Keeping both your cats and dogs up to date on their rabies vaccines protect them, other pets, and you!

All mammals are susceptible to rabies. Rabies is a deadly disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system. 

The virus is secreted in saliva and is usually transmitted to people and animals by a bite from an infected animal. Less commonly, rabies can be transmitted when saliva from a rabid animal comes in contact with an open cut on the skin or the eyes, nose, or mouth of a person or animal. Once the outward signs of the disease appear, rabies is nearly always fatal. 

Currently, the World Health Organization estimates that between 50,000 and 60,000 human fatalities from rabies occur annually.   

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

· Over 90% of rabies exposure in humans is due to exposure to rabid dogs.

· Exposure to rabid dogs is the cause of more than 99% of human deaths from rabies worldwide.

The most likely route rabies will take to get from wildlife to you is through your pets. 

The rabies vaccine is a barrier to protect you!

Animals with rabies may show a variety of signs, including fearfulness, aggression,   excessive drooling, difficulty swallowing, staggering, paralysis and seizures. Aggressive behavior is common, but rabid animals may also be uncharacteristically affectionate. 

Rabid wild animals may lose their natural fear of humans, and display unusual behavior; for example, an animal that is usually only seen at night may be seen wandering in the   daytime.

The good news is rabies is entirely preventable through vaccination!

Your pet should receive their first rabies vaccine by 16 weeks of age. Thereafter your pet will need a rabies vaccine booster every 1-3 years depending on the type of vaccine your pet receives.