failed blood test for taking my dog to england

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laura owner

Boxer Pal
can anybody help... i live in greece and want to take my dog back to england which involves taking a blood test and following clear results (enough antibodies) waiting six months before entering england. i had her blood test done mid february and am shocked to hear from my vet this morning that my dog has failed - there are not enough antibodies. He suggested that this might be because she has epilepsy (i'm not sure if he meant her medication) and that we should take the blood test again. I am so concerned about this and just wonder if there's anyone out there who can help because although my vet is excellent sometimes it's difficult to understand exactly what he means because of Greek/English culture/translation.... does anybody have any advice please?
 

boxer

Boxer Insane
The blood test is for rabies antibodies. Since the UK is a rabies-free island, they take the rabies thing pretty seriously and won't allow any animal to enter that could be at risk of bringing the disease with them.

The required process is to first microchip your dog, then to vaccinate it against rabies, then to test whether the dog has produced sufficient antibodies against that disease to be protected against getting it. If your dog has failed the blood test, it means it has produced insufficient antibodies to be considered protected against rabies.

Now the reason your vet is suggesting taking another blood sample is probably because it can take a little time for the antibodies to be produced in sufficient numbers to reach the level the UK government requires. So if it was only a month between the vaccination and taking the blood sample, it is possible that she has now produced a greater (and sufficient) number of antibodies... So worth a second try.

How much time do you have though? If you've got a spare month, I'd suggest giving her a second rabies vaccination right away and then taking another blood sample in a month's time. I know that's a lot of vaccinations, but you just take another sample now and she still fails, then you're in the position of either having to give her another shot/blood test or else just not taking her.

I recall that the first time I wanted to take some dogs from the UK to Europe (same procedures apply, since the dogs have to return to the UK) and I had plenty time available, my vet suggested two rabies vaccinations a couple of months apart before taking the blood sample. His reasoning was that since some percentage (can't recall what) of animals wouldn't produce sufficient antibodies after only one vaccination, it was wiser to simply give them two rounds before proceeding with the blood testing. It worked - they all passed. Quite likely they would have anyway, but the point of that story was just to let you know that there is a percentage of animals (of which your girl is obviously one) that don't produce enough antibodies to be protected after only one vaccination and a second shot is generally the answer to that.

Good luck, and do let us know how things go.
 

laura owner

Boxer Pal
thank you so much for you reply because it has really settled my mind .... and your vet's advice on the two rabies vaccinations might be what i have to do - i will tell my vet. before i read your message i took my dog to the vet last night again and he gave her another rabies jab, he actually suggested doing the blood test first in 2 weeks and then again later.... he wants to help. what you say about the antibodies is completely in line with what he told me. i was very worried yesterday as i did not realize that it did actually happen that some dogs fail it so i began to think there was something wrong with mine.
my vet explained that because she has been on alot of medication (really alot epilepsy/pneumonia med following very near drowning) this might have interefered with her rabies antibody production. so i am crossing fingers that i will get a good result in the next month or so...i will let you know. i am okay in terms of time , although not ideal i have a kennel here in athens where the people are fantastic so in the worst case i will leave her there until she can join me in the u.k. ... not bringing her with me is just not an option... thank you again for your help
 

boxer

Boxer Insane
You're welcome :)
Not sure she'll need yet another shot - she's now effectively had two, so hopefully that will do the trick. Possibly blood testing her in two weeks time might be a little premature though, and it could be worth waiting a month.

I do note that the UK regulations say that the blood test cannot be taken sooner than 30 days from the rabies shot. Not sure whether or not you'd be able to count that as being since the first shot. Well, probably you could. Let us know how it goes :)
 
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