I originally had the information that follows embedded in another post (here, on rescue dogs and vaccinations), but decided to post it separately because I think it is so important to highlight.  I realize that what I am presenting is based on “anecdotal evidence”, but I find the argument both logical and compelling…

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“Rabies vaccinosis” – this is a term that is becoming increasingly common, but what exactly does it mean?  Few people know what I am talking about when I mention this term, even though I now see its impact clearly in many (ok, most) of the dogs that I meet.  So I’ll see if I can explain it here.

Let me start with an example of rabies vaccinosis in dogs: water obsession.  Many dogs like to attack water coming out of the hose and most people think it’s a fun game to play with their dog.  But fear and obsession are closely linked and water obsession is an extension of hydrophobia.  And hydrophobia is the common name for rabies.

Take a peak at the little blurb in that link on how rabies presents itself in horses.  I found it to be quite interesting.  Here’s what it says about the onset of rabies:  Once the animal starts to experience symptoms, it become “susceptible to moving objects; excessive light, noises, the entrance of an attendant, or any other disturbance will cause the patient to be on the defensive.  It apparently sees imaginary objects; the slightest noise is exaggexated into threatening violence; the approach of an attendant or another animal, especially a dog, is interpreted as an assault and the horse will strike and bite.”

In short symptoms of rabies include reactivity to light, noise sensitivity, seeing imaginary objects and interpreting approaching people or animals – especially dogs – as an assault.  Does this sound at all familiar?  It sure does to me.  All of these are symptoms we see very commonly in dogs today, and especially in border collies: light and shadow obsessions and chasing, thunderphobia and other noise sensitivities, reactivity to motion, alarm barking seemingly at nothing, fear aggression towards approaching people and especially towards other dogs, and so on and so forth.

The article continues as follows:  The horse “will rear and attempt to break its halter and fastenings; it will bite at the woodwork and surrounding objects in the stable.” How many dogs do you know who panic to the point of damaging themselves trying to escape from crates or even a house?  Either due to thunderphobia, or separation anxiety or some other irrational fear or panic at being contained in general.  “If the animal lives long enough it shows paralytic symptoms and falls to the ground, unable to use two or more of its extremities.”  I have already written twice on the paralytic danger of rabies vaccines, so ’nuff said there.  “But in the majority of cases, in its excesses of violence, it does physical injury to itself.”  I know one dog who died trying to escape from her kennel during a thunderstorm.  Broke her back trying to get through the bars.

And more symptoms: “At times throughout the course of the disease there is an excessive sensibility of the skin which, if irritated by the touch, will bring on attacks of violence.”  How many dogs have you met who hate being touched?  My old Jake was one.  By the time he was 10, you could not touch him anywhere except on the top of his head. Anywhere else and he’d bite you.  Most dogs are not that severe and just hate having the feet touched, or their ears inspected and so on. I also know many dogs who can’t stand to have their hind ends touched, the location of many of the problems this disease causes.

And finally, getting back to our water discussion, “The animal may have appetite and desire water throughout the course of the disease, but on attempt to swallow has a spasm of the throat, which renders the act impossible.  This latter condition, which is common in all rabid animals, has given the disease the name of hydrophobia (fear of water).”  As I mentioned earlier, many dogs have an obsession with water: biting at hoses, snapping at water surfaces, playing obsessively in their water dishes, diving into every puddle and river they can find, even breaking through ice to do so and so on.  This also presents as a fear of water and I know many dogs who refuse to swim and some who are even afraid of rain.  Furthermore, I would consider dogs who have trouble eating or drinking (ever met a dog who has a really hard time taking a treat, or who dribbles food and water everywhere as they eat?) as suffering from a mild version of this mouth and tongue paralysis.

In sum, symptoms of rabies vaccinosis include the following:

Obsession with water, especially running water
Fear of water (including fear of going out in the rain)
Reactivity to light or reflective surfaces
Light and shadow obsessions and chasing
Noise sensitivity
Seeing imaginary objects
Irrational fear of objects that are harmless, as if seeing a ghost or monster
Interpreting approaching people or animals – especially dogs – as an assault
Thunderphobia and other noise sensitivities
Reactivity to movement
Alarm barking seemingly at nothing, especially in the dark
Fear aggression towards approaching people and especially towards other dogs
Separation anxiety
Panic at being contained (i.e. excessive desire to escape their crate, house etc.)
Seizure activity
Hind end weakness or paralysis
A dislike of being touched (feet, ears, and especially hind end)
Trouble eating or drinking, as if tongue is partially paralyzed

Of note, the above symptoms are all neurological, not surprising as the central nervous system is the site of attack of the rabies virus.  There can, of course, be other causes, including exposure to other toxins (pesticides, herbicides, food preservatives, flea, tick and heartworm chemicals, household cleaners and so on), other vaccines (distemper, for example), trauma and so on.  If your dog is experiencing any of the above symptoms it is important to look at its complete history to determine any and all potential triggers and do your best to eliminate them.  Neurological and – in particular – mental symptoms are an indication of chronic disease at its deepest and most dangerous, and should not be overlooked or ignored.

From a homeopathic perspective the way vaccines work is to give the individual a low-level chronic version of the disease, which prevents the acute, full-blown version from being able to set in.  This is very different from the conventional understanding of how vaccines work, but given the number of dogs that I have owned, fostered or know who exhibit the aforementioned symptoms of rabies, the homeopathic perspective sure explains a lot.  That is, all these symptoms we are seeing in dogs today are in fact low level chronic rabies caused by not only the vaccines they have received themselves, but by the ones their parents and grandparents have had too.  (I will write more on the collection of symptoms linked to other vaccines – distemper, parvo etc. – in a later post).  In humans this can be seen in, for example, Polio vaccinosis: chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia – two ‘mystery’ symptoms that exist in nearing epidemic proportions in our society – are low level chronic symptoms of Polio, also found in people who have survived the actual disease.  Why are so many people developing symptoms of polio without ever having the full-blown disease?  I’ll let you connect the dots…