Wow, this is shocking, I hadn’t considered the anti-vaccination sentiments would extend down to our pets. Is the postvaccination sarcoma a thing? Obviously benefits far out weigh risks either way. I wonder how many dog sitting/kennels require vaccination like schools?
When my patients suffer a dog bite, it is usually from a domestic/pet dog and we are mutually reassured the dog “has all shots.“ Always check documentation in the age of anti-vaccination and never assume/trust the dog has been vaccinated against rabies, right?
Injection-site sarcomas (ISS) are a thing in cats, although very rare (reported to be 1 in 10,000 - 30,000 cats vaccinated or less). That said, as pets of vets attract rare things, one of my own did have it. He had an amputation and recovered well with good quality of life. This risk is why most vets now recommend cats be vaccinated as distally on the limb as possible (even on the tail!) to have a "break glass in case of emergency" if the worst happens. I agree that on net, the benefits of vaccination way outweigh the risks, but it is still understandably scary to owners.
We used to think these sarcomas were specifically due to vaccines, but we have since seen they can occur with *ANY* injection in cats, ranging from medications to sterile balanced electrolyte solutions used for fluid therapy, hence the "rebranding" to ISS. I have heard anecdotally vets way up north (like Minnesota and Canada) have occasionally seen cats that sleep under cars and get burned when the owners turn them on develop similar sarcomas following the thermal injury. It seems to be a particular quirk of cat immune systems to develop massive fibroplasia in response to wounds and inflammatory lesions.
To my knowledge, a similar vaccine/injection-related phenomenon is not really a thing in dogs. There a few reports of foreign-body induced tumors in dogs, such as osteosarcoma following orthopedic implants and a single case report of a dog that developed a cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma secondary to a pacemaker wire it received years earlier!
The immune system is certainly a crazy thing at times...
To your point about "trust but verify" -> you are absolutely correct and I would ask for the documentation. I'd wager virtually 100% of owners would tell a physician that to avoid any follow-up complications. This can be important because whether or not the bite victim is recommended to get the (expensive and rarely covered by insurance) rabies post-exposure prophylaxis may depend on the vaccination status of the dog.
Awesome reply thank you, I am much better informed. I only have a cat in the reading room section of my website because I am totally allergic to them in real life ;)
I'm sorry to hear that, Stacy :( Parvo is such a terrible disease. Some dogs do recover with a less aggressive protocol such as outpatient care with SubQ fluids and meds, but the more costly hospitalization and IV fluids is what is often recommended for the best odds. There is a new single-dose monoclonal antibody for canine parvo that very recently came out, I'm not sure how useful ER vets on the ground find it. Hopefully more studies are published on it in the future
Yes. The vet recommended hospitalization, but he was an unneutered stray Rottweiler puppy. I didn't think he wouldn't make it through the night so I negotiated with my husband that we could "nurse him for a few days to see what happens." After two days, he ate the tiniest piece of (organic, free range, Boar's Head) turkey. And he never looked back. Or ate another piece of normal dog food. It was miraculous. Or as Todd calls it, just another Tuesday.
Wow, this is shocking, I hadn’t considered the anti-vaccination sentiments would extend down to our pets. Is the postvaccination sarcoma a thing? Obviously benefits far out weigh risks either way. I wonder how many dog sitting/kennels require vaccination like schools?
When my patients suffer a dog bite, it is usually from a domestic/pet dog and we are mutually reassured the dog “has all shots.“ Always check documentation in the age of anti-vaccination and never assume/trust the dog has been vaccinated against rabies, right?
Injection-site sarcomas (ISS) are a thing in cats, although very rare (reported to be 1 in 10,000 - 30,000 cats vaccinated or less). That said, as pets of vets attract rare things, one of my own did have it. He had an amputation and recovered well with good quality of life. This risk is why most vets now recommend cats be vaccinated as distally on the limb as possible (even on the tail!) to have a "break glass in case of emergency" if the worst happens. I agree that on net, the benefits of vaccination way outweigh the risks, but it is still understandably scary to owners.
We used to think these sarcomas were specifically due to vaccines, but we have since seen they can occur with *ANY* injection in cats, ranging from medications to sterile balanced electrolyte solutions used for fluid therapy, hence the "rebranding" to ISS. I have heard anecdotally vets way up north (like Minnesota and Canada) have occasionally seen cats that sleep under cars and get burned when the owners turn them on develop similar sarcomas following the thermal injury. It seems to be a particular quirk of cat immune systems to develop massive fibroplasia in response to wounds and inflammatory lesions.
To my knowledge, a similar vaccine/injection-related phenomenon is not really a thing in dogs. There a few reports of foreign-body induced tumors in dogs, such as osteosarcoma following orthopedic implants and a single case report of a dog that developed a cardiac rhabdomyosarcoma secondary to a pacemaker wire it received years earlier!
The immune system is certainly a crazy thing at times...
To your point about "trust but verify" -> you are absolutely correct and I would ask for the documentation. I'd wager virtually 100% of owners would tell a physician that to avoid any follow-up complications. This can be important because whether or not the bite victim is recommended to get the (expensive and rarely covered by insurance) rabies post-exposure prophylaxis may depend on the vaccination status of the dog.
The full AVMA guidelines on rabies management can be found here: https://nasphv.org/Documents/NASPHVRabiesCompendium.pdf
Awesome reply thank you, I am much better informed. I only have a cat in the reading room section of my website because I am totally allergic to them in real life ;)
Thanks again for a thoughtful and expert reply!
We found our Rottweiler puppy half dead from Parvo in the middle of a back country road. The vet gave us some subcutaneous fluids and not much hope.
I would never want an animal to suffer like he did.
I'm sorry to hear that, Stacy :( Parvo is such a terrible disease. Some dogs do recover with a less aggressive protocol such as outpatient care with SubQ fluids and meds, but the more costly hospitalization and IV fluids is what is often recommended for the best odds. There is a new single-dose monoclonal antibody for canine parvo that very recently came out, I'm not sure how useful ER vets on the ground find it. Hopefully more studies are published on it in the future
Yes. The vet recommended hospitalization, but he was an unneutered stray Rottweiler puppy. I didn't think he wouldn't make it through the night so I negotiated with my husband that we could "nurse him for a few days to see what happens." After two days, he ate the tiniest piece of (organic, free range, Boar's Head) turkey. And he never looked back. Or ate another piece of normal dog food. It was miraculous. Or as Todd calls it, just another Tuesday.
That is amazing! I'm so glad the story had a happy ending ❤️
I was honestly hoping someone would talk about this. Thanks for the write up.
Antivaxxers are all willfully ignorant...until their pet or their child dies from rabies. Then maybe they'll realize the idiocy of their beliefs.
With cases of rabies in the wild, not a good plan. I am still trying to get over the vaccine causing autism on cats and dogs.
On no, the dogs are going to get anti vaccine propaganda on their social media... that shit is everywhere. Smh