In North Carolina, the health officials are on their toes and making citizens realize how important it to get their pets protected from the deadly rabies vaccination. This is an awareness being spread to all pet owners, especially for pet owners who have new born or very young pets around, says a source.
They found seven puppies exposed to the deadly diseases, some say maybe the pups were exposed to an infected animal, such as a raccoon from the wild that may have been rabid. Although the puppies showed n signs of being sick, but one lost its life because of the disease, says a source. The other puppies are now being discussed on, if they should face euthanasia or should they be quarantined altogether. Just because of that one pup which died due to rabies, ten humans who were attending to the litter are now being administered to post exposure prophylaxis treatments, say inside sources.
Although the state law of NC clearly stated that every pet should be vaccinated and kept safe from the deadly disease, pet lovers argue that the litter was too young to be administered a dose for the same. This is something which has now become a source of concern for pet owners who have very young pets at home. Pets, such as cats, ferrets and even dogs as early as 12 weeks can be vaccinates, but they wouldn’t be considered to be safe until the twenty eight weeks of the immunization post the vaccination for rabies is done. This is a period when the pets shouldn’t be exposed to the disease of an animal with it, says a source and that would be the onus of the pet owner and his responsibility to take care of.
The pet owner should ensure his pet is kept inside the house and when outside, he should have a watchful eye on them, abiding the local leash laws laid down by the state. Pets shouldn’t be fed outside since that would attract other animals around who could be rabid. Owners should not feed feral dogs or cats when outside. Garbage cans should be well secured, so that rabid animals don’t wander in for a bite or two, and spre3ad the disease more, says a source.
It is not uncommon to find juvenile pets to be infected with rabies, says a source, however most were still surprised to know that kittens and puppies could be infected and killed with this disease, and says a source. When the pets are grown up big enough to be protected through vaccinations, the owners should take the pets to the nearest vets in the locality and get them their vaccinations administered on time, say vets.
Vets say that rabies shouldn’t be taken lightly, since the disease can kill. The nervous system of the animal gets affected and there is no chance of the animal’s recovery once it has been affected says a source. To get more information on the disease and how you could keep your little one safe, it would be best to speak to the local vet as soon as possible, say vets.