By law, a current rabies vaccine is required for all dogs and cats in the state of Texas, with no exceptions, due to the human health risk that it poses.
The rabies virus is transmitted through the saliva of the infected animal when it bites a human or another animal. In this area, skunks are the primary source of the infection, but other wild life such as foxes and coyotes will also transmit the disease. It is almost always fatal in people – less than 10 people have been reported to survive exposure to the virus according to the CDC. Because the protection of human health is a high priority, a current rabies vaccine is required for all patients at LazyPaw Animal Hospitals.