Pet perspectives: Why a canine parvovirus outbreak made me want to get my COVID-19 vaccine

I’ve been thinking a lot about today. My mind returns to when I worked through a canine parvovirus outbreak. It was the most difficult time of my career. In veterinary medicine, we administer more vaccines than some human general practitioners do in their whole careers. We are educated about vaccines and their value, safety, and efficacy. That being said, I don’t often think “I’m glad I don’t have polio.” This moment in my career made me consciously think “Vaccines are so important to survival.” Most patients who contract parvo are puppies, but we see older patients suffering from this highly contagious infectious disease- that can be vaccinated against. I remember our team desperately trying to save a litter of puppies. One by one they died and one by one we grieved them. We did everything we could, at our clinic’s expense (average cost $1000-$2000 per pup to treat), sometimes on our own time. Because you're in full PPE, we couldn’t hold them against our warm skin. We couldn’t kiss their noses or pet their fur. We gave love through paper and plastic. 

Rabies risks: Thinking about not vaccinating your pet against rabies? Here's what you need to know

I'm one of the many folks across the world anxiously waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine. Vaccines are one of the most impactful inventions for humanity, and working in veterinary medicine has allowed me to experience first hand the power of vaccines. Watching a puppy die from canine parvovirus is a devastating experience, but it has given me a deeper respect for vaccines. Especially the rabies vaccine. Rabies is a fatal disease that affects mammals. Rabies is a zoonotic disease, meaning it can be transmitted from animals to humans. Non-mammals, including fish, poultry, birds, reptiles, and amphibians can’t get rabies. Rabies is spread through the saliva of an infected animal. The animal bites a human or animal, breaking the skin, and the infected saliva gets into the wound, passing the disease on to the victim. You can also become infected by getting saliva, brain or spinal tissue from an infected animal (dead or alive) in an open cut, sore, wound, eyes, mouth, or nose.