- Joined
- Mar 1, 2021
- Messages
- 76
Hello everyone.
Yesterday my dog made out with a skunk. It happened fast so I'm not 100% certain, but pretty sure (as is a witness) they were mouth to mouth. No bite wounds on my dog, but mouth to mouth still means saliva exchange.
Rabies had been super low in my area, but has been on the rise. Even in that there have only been few reports in the last few years and only two have been skunks. This one seemed normal if not a little disheveled, but I figured it was because out of nowhere it was 70° and people were probably in his winter spot. He tried to walk through my yard not noticing us. I saw him and told my dog to stay (they couldn't see each other because of the house, but skunk was between us). All three of us frozen in space until I tried to go around so my dog stopped listening and tried to come to me. He then saw the skunk and pounced before the skunk saw him. It was around 6pm yesterday (if that matters). The skunk seemed normal to me, but my partner thought he seemed "brazen." Didn't run away right away when I separated the two, but didn't once he yelled at him.
My pup (neutered French bulldog who will be 9 in the summer) has had the vaccine and two boosters, the last four years ago so is almost exactly one year overdue. I intended for that to be his last and to get a titers test, but never did. In hindsight the last vaccine he had did have a lasting effect on his health.
Things I know, a new rabies vaccine would likely also have an effect on his health. It's probably unlikely that he doesn't have the antibodies or that the skunk has rabies, but I can't be certain of either.
I know I have to make this decision on my own, but any guidance or opinions from others would be really helpful on whether to vaccinate again in the 72-hour window or monitor for the next 10/45 days. :-/
Thank you all,
July
Yesterday my dog made out with a skunk. It happened fast so I'm not 100% certain, but pretty sure (as is a witness) they were mouth to mouth. No bite wounds on my dog, but mouth to mouth still means saliva exchange.
Rabies had been super low in my area, but has been on the rise. Even in that there have only been few reports in the last few years and only two have been skunks. This one seemed normal if not a little disheveled, but I figured it was because out of nowhere it was 70° and people were probably in his winter spot. He tried to walk through my yard not noticing us. I saw him and told my dog to stay (they couldn't see each other because of the house, but skunk was between us). All three of us frozen in space until I tried to go around so my dog stopped listening and tried to come to me. He then saw the skunk and pounced before the skunk saw him. It was around 6pm yesterday (if that matters). The skunk seemed normal to me, but my partner thought he seemed "brazen." Didn't run away right away when I separated the two, but didn't once he yelled at him.
My pup (neutered French bulldog who will be 9 in the summer) has had the vaccine and two boosters, the last four years ago so is almost exactly one year overdue. I intended for that to be his last and to get a titers test, but never did. In hindsight the last vaccine he had did have a lasting effect on his health.
Things I know, a new rabies vaccine would likely also have an effect on his health. It's probably unlikely that he doesn't have the antibodies or that the skunk has rabies, but I can't be certain of either.
I know I have to make this decision on my own, but any guidance or opinions from others would be really helpful on whether to vaccinate again in the 72-hour window or monitor for the next 10/45 days. :-/
Thank you all,
July
