How safe is rattlesnake vaccine is safe for pets? It is manufactured by a reputable company. Hygieia Biological Laboratories, which manufactures the rattlesnake vaccine, has specialized in veterinary vaccines since 1991. The vaccine is not sold directly to dog owners; it is only administered through veterinarians.
Every vaccine batch is tested and inspected before being released for sale. The vaccine uses only quality ingredients and is conditionally licensed by the USDA. The vaccine has long since passed the USDA requirements for proving safety and purity of this vaccine.
The vaccine is widely accepted by veterinarians. Over 4,000 veterinary hospitals nationwide have used and recommended the vaccine since 2003. Hundreds of veterinary clinics per year add rattlesnake vaccine to their inventories. The vaccine is also widely accepted by veterinary associations. It was listed in the American Animal Hospital Association 2006 canine vaccination guidelines and noted for presumed efficacy.
Pet insurance companies now encourage the use of Rattlesnake Vaccine for dogs at risk. VPI Pet insurance, the largest pet insurance company in the United States, thinks the vaccine is so important that it covers rattlesnake vaccination costs without deductible in their pet wellness plan. This is an important endorsement of the vaccine because it indicates that rattlesnake vaccine has become a standard of veterinary care and that the advantages of the vaccine are economical as well as medical.
The vaccine has also been widely accepted by dog owners. Over 500,000 doses have been used in over 100,000 dogs since 2003. This is a tested and proven vaccine nationwide.
What are the potential side effects from the vaccine and how can they be treated? Far fewer than one percent of dog owners report any side effects from the vaccine. This rate is far lower than some human vaccines. Most of the time, these side effects are mild and don’t need veterinary treatment.
The most common side effect from the vaccine is a small, temporary, and painless lump at the injection site. This hard lump will usually go away in three or four weeks without any treatment. These lumps are reported at a rate of about one in fifteen hundred.
Sterile abscesses, or soft fluid pockets at the injection sites, occur in about one in 300 injections. These may need some minor veterinary treatment if they become too large. Lancing an otherwise harmless and manageable injection site reaction is more likely to cause problems than resolve them. A hot moist compress, applied 15 minutes at a time several times per day, has been shown to help these injection site reactions resolve more quickly.
There may be a benefit to some side effects: Dogs that have injection site reactions may be responding more vigorously to the vaccine antigen so they may be getting higher antibody titer levels and more protection from the vaccine. If a veterinary clinic is getting a higher than normal rate of injection site reactions they can call Red Rock Biologics and get advice on how to adjust their injection protocol to help minimize these reactions.
Flu-like symptoms are reported in fewer than one in 3,000 vaccinations. These symptoms are so rare that many may be unrelated to vaccine use. Typically these symptoms go away in two or three days without treatment.
Other miscellaneous symptoms are reported in fewer than one in 15,000 injections. Such symptoms are rare, and don’t seem to follow any particular pattern, so many could be totally unrelated to the vaccine use. About one third of these systemic reactions were reported in dogs with a prior medical history of reactions to other vaccines so some dogs just have more problems than other dogs. Anaphylactic reactions (immediate severe allergic reactions) are estimated at fewer than one in 250,000. Though this could happen with any vaccine, as of 2008, Red Rock Biologics had only had one confirmed case and one suspected case of anaphylaxis in the previous five years of use.
A smart dog owner should intelligently weigh the actual risks and benefits of any type of vaccination. While no medicine or medical procedure is 100% free of the risk of potential of side effects, any rattlesnake exposure is extremely dangerous. Even the most rare and and severe of side effects from the vaccine are likely to be a lot easier for a veterinarian to treat than an average rattlesnake bite. Rattlesnake Vaccine appears to be one of the safer canine vaccines on the market.