Rabies in horses
October 15, 2008
We have decided to give our personal horses the rabies vaccine. It looks to me like rabies is slowly closing in on Northern Colorado, and I would rather be ahead of than behind the curve. It does concern me that one of our client horses, an aged but otherwise vibrant gelding, developed colic two nights ago from a reaction to a combination of shots that included the rabies vaccine. One of our human clients reminds me that her 8-year-old, robustly-healthy mare, also acted “down” and looked bad enough to warrant an oral banamine dose on the advice of her vet following vaccinations that included rabies. The grim fact remains however, that unlike many diseases, once rabies develops, it is fatal. There is no cure. Wildlife carriers for rabies include bats, foxes, raccoons and skunks, all of which are common on or around semi-rural farm properties like our Poudre River Stables. To minimize the discomfort of a reaction and to prevent inflammation, we plan, at our veterinarian's suggestion, to administer phenylbutazone (“bute”) along with the shots our horses receive. For our 25-year-old Morgan mare, who is healthy and strong, but generally sensitive, insulin resistant, and a laminitis survivor, we plan to maintain bute for three days. On a hopeful note, another client's gelding, who comes from Illinois, where they receive many more inoculations than we do in Northern Colorado, has repeatedly been vaccinated for rabies with no ill effects. I would like to thank Equine Medical and Dr. Allen Landes for the links below. Please read carefully before making your own decision.
Colorado Department of Public Health news release 10_02_08
Colorado Department of Agriculture Animal Industry home page (Contains a number of valuable rabies-related .pdf files.)