Brain Inflammation

The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) strongly supports the National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians' (NASPHV) recommendation that all dogs, cats, and ferrets should be vaccinated to protect against rabies infection. Rabies is almost always fatal in animals and humans; therefore vaccination is a critical step in protecting public health. However, AVMA recognizes some animals might require a waiver from rabies vaccination (form below) because the vaccination poses an unacceptably high risk to the health of the individual animal, and/or a waiver might be necessary for research purposes.

If adequate steps can be taken to minimize the chance of exposure to rabies virus, the AVMA recommends that such animals be granted a waiver from mandatory rabies vaccination, upon recommendation of a licensed veterinarian and with the concurrence of the appropriate public health authorities. The "Model Annual Rabies Vaccination Waiver Form" below may be used as a template for this purpose.

BUT - waivers should not be issued arbitrarily upon client request and should be based upon clinical evidence that the animal would be at considerable risk of being harmed by the vaccine because of a diagnosed medical condition. Modern killed virus or recombinant rabies vaccines have no risk of inducing rabies in the vaccinated animal and are NOT contraindicated in most immunocompromised animals. Advanced age of the animal or a desire on the part of the client or veterinarian to minimize the use of vaccinations (in the absence of a specific contraindication to vaccination) "should not be considered sufficient justification for issuing a rabies vaccination waiver."