Question for N.C. Pet Owners (Charlotte: new home, moving to, relocating to)

[Catrick]

Hi.

My husband and I are making the move to our new home in North Carolina in a few weeks. We have a dog and a cat. I went to our vet here today to get their shots and have them checked out. He suggested to me that when we get to N.C., we get the pets vaccinated for Lyme disease. We don't have that here in Florida (the vaccine) so we were wondering if that is what pet owners do.
They are on flea and tick prevention already but we would do anything to protect them. So is the vaccine the way to go or was the vet being overly cautious?

Thanks

[SunnyKayak]

I just get the rabbies vaccine and use front line for tick prevention if you are preventing the ticks then you will not have to worry about lyme disease or rocky mounted spotted fever since you are killing or preventng the source which is ticks

[mm34b]

According to the American Lyme Disease Foundation, the risk of infection is low in both Florida and North Carolina.







American Lyme Disease Foundation

[southward bound]

I like to minimize vaccinations, and get only what's absolutely necessary. I don't vaccinate against lyme. Even if they were to have a tick incident, and tested positive for lyme, a round of antibiotics would take care of it. That happened to us three years ago up north, and there has been no problem since.

[DaBears]

one of my dogs had lyme disease last summer and it went 'away' after 2 days of meds...(we did continue with it of course to make sure it was out of her system)...we just use OTC stuff for prevention...

[Catrick]

Thanks for the responses. I figured that the flea and tick applications would take care of the problem. Just wanted to make sure.

Also, we have heard that you need health certificates for your pets before relocating to North Carolina. Is this true?

Thanks again.

[cynwldkat]

You know I was also concerned about having all the health certificates in order and all needed shots before I left CA moving to NC. I had no one what-so-ever ask me for anything for any of my pets as I drove across country. I do believe it is wise to have all your pets up on all their shots and to be throughly checked by their vets before making a move with them. Peace of mind! My vet did change their topical applications to "Frontline Plus" for the ticks and heartworm. But as far as anyone checking for health certificates I didn't experience that and I moved from one end of the US to the other!! My vet in CA never even suggested getting my cats vaccinated for Lime disease...and I throughly trust her 100%. Now for dogs it may be a different story.

[Catrick]

Peace of mind is what it is. I think the reason the vet suggested the vaccine for the cat even though she is indoors is because of the possibility of the dog bringing something in on him. But again with the flea and tick medications they should be fine. We do have ticks here in South Florida and the Frontline has protected the dog so far.

The health cetificate question came up because someone my husband works with knows someone (I know) who was moving to Charlotte and had their dog in the car. I guess they were pulled over for speeding and the trooper asked if they had a health certificate for the dog. They didn't and I guess the dog was quarantined until tests could be performed on it to clear the dog. I guess I would rather err on the side of caution then deal with that. If it's true.

[cynwldkat]

I think there is a good possibility that could happen! "IF" you did get pulled over by the law. We were fortunate and had no run-ins with the law. It's a way to protect the other states from anyone bringing in any sort of disease from wherever they came from. And I agree. It is one way of keeping down the spread of some of these dreaded diseases. Yes, it was well worth the $$ and the effort to know my animals were healthy and fit to travel. And that I would not be bringing anything to NC or any othere state that could harm another animal. It's just logical to me!! And if you do have all of your animals throughly checked and all their shots up to date you will automatically get their health records if you request them. Personally I would not give my cats the Lime vaccine only because I believe you can over do the vaccine thing. I got the rabies the other typical vaccines and use the Frontline Plus and feel confident my animals are protected. At least as best as I can protect them!!

[cassy1]

I asked my vet in MI to give me copies of Cassy's history, that way I was able to just hand them over to my new vet here and they knew her medical history.