Tails of Truth: The Truth about Veterinary Medicine

The Rabies Vaccine Recall: What Pet Parents Need to Know

• Dr. Angie Krause, DVM CVA CCRT • Episode 52

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We're recording this one still getting over being sick because this feels important. A rabies vaccine recall affecting dogs, cats, and ferrets has left pet parents across the country with an unexpected problem: a vaccine their pet already received may no longer be legally valid. In this episode, Dr. Angie and JoJo break down exactly what happened with the Boehringer Ingelheim IMRAB 3TF recall, what it means for your pet's rabies certificate, and the emotional reality for holistic pet parents who already navigate vaccine decisions carefully. Dr. Angie shares one patient story from this recall that still breaks her heart.

If your pet was vaccinated between September 29, 2025 and January 8, 2026, check your rabies certificate for Serial Number 18665. If it's there, this episode is for you.

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to stay in the loop. https://boulderholisticvet.com/pages/signup-for-our-newsletter

Key Takeaways: 

  1. The recalled product is IMRAB 3TF, Serial 18665, expiration March 12, 2027, distributed to vets between September 29, 2025 and January 8, 2026.
  2. Only a small sample of vials were found to contain only sterile water but that triggered a recall of the entire lot.
  3. Any pet vaccinated from this lot is considered legally unvaccinated regardless of whether their specific vial was affected.
  4. Dogs, cats, and ferrets are all included in the recall and revaccination recommendation.
  5. Rabies titers are not a recognized substitute in this situation as most jurisdictions do not accept titers in place of a valid rabies certificate.
  6. Revaccination is considered safe. A second rabies vaccine does not pose a significant health risk for most pets.
  7. The recall placed a disproportionate emotional burden on holistic-minded guardians who made the vaccine decision carefully to begin with.
  8. The hidden cost of the recall fell largely on veterinary clinics with phone calls, lost appointment slots, follow-ups, and re-entering rabies certificates.

Sound Bites:

"It's its own class of vaccine because it's protecting against a disease that kills people uniformly." ~ Dr. Angie 

"It is the vaccine that every pet should have." ~ JoJo

"And, I have one case in particular that I used this recalled vaccine for that just breaks my heart."~ Dr. Angie 

"Because it is rabies and it kills people too most places don't support titers and we don't know how long they last and there's not enough evidence." ~ Dr. Angie 

"It's not just dogs. In case you're listening and you have ferrets, they get this vaccine as well. And so can cats." ~ JoJo

Please subscribe and review! xoxo Dr. Angie & JoJo


Dr. Angie Krause (00:00)
Welcome back to Tails of Truth where we tell the truth about veterinary medicine. I'm Dr. Angie and this is my co-host and veterinary nurse extraordinaire Jojo. And we are going to try not to cough through this entire episode. We're both getting over terrible illness, but we're going to talk about a recall of rabies vaccines.

JoJo (00:21)
what a disaster.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:22)
Totally. It's been really annoying. And I have one case in particular that I used this recalled vaccine that just breaks my heart.

JoJo (00:31)
I think I know which case you're talking about is my guess. Okay, so should we high level it first what happened?

Dr. Angie Krause (00:32)
Yeah, I bet you do. Yeah.

Let's high level.

JoJo (00:40)
Okay, high level, Boehringer Ingelheim We're going to go with BI here forward for that name. So I don't have to keep saying it and Dr. Angie doesn't have to keep saying it. BI is a manufacturer of rabies vaccines. They are one manufacturer. Your clinic happens to use them. And we use them. Yes. And they sent out their rabies vaccines as they always do.

Dr. Angie Krause (00:46)
Yeah, no one wants to say that. Yeah.

Yeah. And so do we. Yeah.

JoJo (01:06)
You vaccinated, clinics across the country vaccinated, and then there was a recall because some of the vials contain only sterile water. So some dogs, only five. so it's like craps, shooting craps about whether not.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:16)
Five of them. Five. Only five.

And you would know because it wouldn't be pink.

JoJo (01:27)
That was what was gonna ask you. I'm like, so did somebody just vaccinate with what looks like clear water versus pink water?

Dr. Angie Krause (01:31)
No, no,

no, no one would do that. And I think they probably found them and they were probably never used, but they had to recall the entire lot.

JoJo (01:43)
this makes this so much worse. Because I was thinking maybe it went through their process and still got whatever the pink, what is, I don't know what makes it pink in the first place.

Dr. Angie Krause (01:53)
Yeah, I mean, probably just dye Yeah, I don't know that for sure. No, no, it was.

JoJo (01:54)
Yeah, so I was like, maybe it was dyed sterile water. And so, because I was thinking

who would be dumb enough to be like, oh, this one is clear. Which makes this so much worse. Okay. So then basically, these five dogs may have gotten

Dr. Angie Krause (02:02)
Nobody was. Nobody was. Don't have to do.

Yeah.

No, I don't think any dog, I mean, I could be wrong about that. I don't know any veterinary clinic that would inject a clear vaccine. mean, Lepto borders on clear, but it's still kind of cloudy, but like no one would just do that because all the vaccines are, they're colored. I've never seen one that isn't unless it's like a Bordetella, but it's still cloudy. So, but they found them.

They left the facility and maybe a clinic found them. I'm not sure. I can't speak to those details, but there were five of them. Probably no one used them, but they had to recall the whole lot.

JoJo (02:48)
It just makes it so much worse because when they recall it the recommendation then is that every dog who received this vaccine from this particular lot be revaccinated. So if your dog was vaccinated last week, when they recall that lot it is no longer valid for rabies certificates is my understanding.

Dr. Angie Krause (03:01)
Mm-hmm.

Correct.

JoJo (03:12)
So your dog has to be revaccinated for a valid rabies license. Ugh. Okay, this is like even worse now that we're actually, I mean, I've read all about it, but talking about it feels worse. And it gets worse too.

Dr. Angie Krause (03:16)
Yep. I know.

Yeah. I think we had 55 at

our clinic. That was 55 phone calls to say, hey, you know that rabies vaccine we just gave you? It's not valid anymore. It probably worked and it was totally fine, but your license is now invalid. So come back for another one. It'll be free, but come back for another one. And you know what? Honestly, for a lot of dogs, it's fine.

getting another one is fine, they don't have a significant, you know, like a lot of dogs get a rabies vaccine and have no significant reaction. But I had one particular patient, particular client, who has really tried to minimize vaccines, but who has decided, she wants to, I think, enroll in a training program or something, and it was a big deal for her to decide.

for her to decide to do this rabies vaccine and this dog. Well, it wasn't the initial one. Yeah, but it was, it was a really big deal for her to do it. And then to have someone tell her and the dog did fine, but the dog has had chronic health problems before. And so she was really hesitant. And I mean, it was a big emotional decision and then doing it, she felt emotional about it. And then to have.

JoJo (04:15)
The initial one.

Okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (04:39)
her be part of this lot and to have this dog be part of the lot. was just like, no, are you kidding me? And so now she is faced with the decision of like, do I revaccinate my dog? Even though probably this dog is fine, it just doesn't have a valid license.

JoJo (04:57)
⁓ But is this not a situation in which BI could have said if they want a titer because a titer right after rabies vaccine would be pretty Pretty evident

Dr. Angie Krause (05:05)
Well, they,

but not with rabies. I mean, it would, it would be evident, but, and I don't think anyone, if you gave a pink vaccine, no one was like, is this a good vaccine? But because it is rabies and it kills people too, like you just can't, most places don't support titers and then we don't know how long they last and then there's not enough evidence. Like we just don't have what we need.

JoJo (05:16)
Right.

Yeah.

⁓ it's such a big mess. That's a big mess. Because, there's the emotional weight that it just put on clients, especially your subset of clients, because they are more holistically minded. And so vaccines are a big decision that a lot of them make in a complicated decision that a lot of them make. And so to be like, let's just double down on vaccines and

Dr. Angie Krause (05:33)
It's a mess.

right.

JoJo (05:54)
give you another one. And it's just not dogs. It's just in case you're listening and you ferrets get this vaccine as well. So I don't know. Yeah, some cats. And so ⁓ what a disaster because and then it's the trickle down of how the impact of small clinics or maybe even big clinics, maybe I shouldn't limit it to small clinics. But the staff time to call everyone of those people back to schedule them.

Dr. Angie Krause (05:55)
Ugh. Yes.

And so can cats. Yeah.

JoJo (06:22)
to take an appointment time to redo this. And my understanding is BI did not compensate for what it would cost to do, like to take away an appointment time to do a vaccine is because rabies vaccines cannot necessarily be a tech appointment sometimes in some states.

Dr. Angie Krause (06:33)
Right.

Right. mean, yeah, there just needs to be a veterinarian in the building. But yeah, I mean, it depends on how each clinic, you know, it depends on their policy.

JoJo (06:51)
I think in some states,

techs aren't even allowed to administer it. Yeah, it has to be administered by a veterinarian. So a veterinarian's time is not the same financially equivalent to a tech's time. And so they didn't, I don't think they compensated for time so much as they compensated for the vials.

Dr. Angie Krause (06:54)
really? Okay. ⁓

right.

Okay, I don't know. wasn't part in the clinic I'm working for right now. I wasn't part of understanding what BIA compensated for. But I, yeah, so I can't speak to that piece, but man, it was a big deal. Because there was a lot of phone calls. And the owner, the veterinarian of the practice though, and the practice made every phone call herself.

JoJo (07:33)
Yeah, it's the phone calls, it's the appointment time to do this again. It's the follow up, because we typically follow up after a vaccine to make sure your pet is doing okay. And then it's the re-entering of the information for a rabies certificate. it's boo. And I know accidents happen, they do, but in the veterinary community, there's been a lot of...

Dr. Angie Krause (07:34)
Cuz

Yeah.

Yeah. Boo.

JoJo (07:58)
shade on BI in terms of not a lot of ownership, not a lot of ⁓ compensation, and it just felt dismissive and short-sighted. ⁓

Dr. Angie Krause (08:02)
really?

Okay.

That I can't speak to, but yeah, mean, it was just, yeah, it was really, it was a big deal and it was a big deal for weeks. It still is. actually just got an email, in my inbox saying like, what should I do? It was, I know it was a pink vaccine. What should I do? And that's.

JoJo (08:25)
⁓ You

don't really have a choice, I don't think.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:28)
I mean, I suppose you always have a choice, but I mean, it just depends on why you need it. I mean, in our, we went through and all of our records had to basically say that didn't happen. And so that, for our records, for all 55 of those dogs, unless they got revaccinated, we had to basically say they're not up to date. Yeah.

JoJo (08:51)
I'm

just gonna say what a disaster. just feel like the tightness of what when that came in. I've just the just the exasperation of what that's going to mean.

Dr. Angie Krause (08:54)
So for all the people that need like off leash tags.

yeah.

Yeah. I mean, I think we're, I think we've pretty much moved past it. Not everyone came in to get re-vaccinated. And so you, it's hard to know what that's going to mean for them at their next annual visit or you know, what, what they're going to decide to do and why. And so that's, it's tricky.

JoJo (09:24)
It is tricky and it's in a time when I don't know if there's actually I haven't done I haven't done the research to know if there's actually a rabies outbreak in this country, but it is definitely being talked about more on big news media channels and and such. Yeah, so I was like, ⁓ are we? Is it part of the news cycle, the fear news cycle right now? Or are we actually seeing an uptick in rabies?

Dr. Angie Krause (09:38)
Is it really?

I mean, we've always had rabies. Well, as long as I've been practicing, we've had rabies in Boulder County with bats, skunks. Yeah. I mean, it's definitely it's around. Yeah.

JoJo (09:59)
Yeah, it is the

vaccine that every pet should have.

Dr. Angie Krause (10:02)
Yeah, if they're healthy enough to get it and they're, if they have exposure and yeah. And it's, it's its own class of vaccine because it's protecting against a disease that kills people uniformly. Like maybe someone survived rabies once, but they didn't come out whole on the other side of it. Do know what I mean? Like.

JoJo (10:23)
or like just not quite right after that. Well, and those rabies vaccine series are not fun to have if you've had an exposure. I have not. My neighbor had to with all her kids and everything because of a bat in the house. And I was just like, I don't want to ever have that.

Dr. Angie Krause (10:30)
Have you ever had the post exposure?

I did,

no, I did even my my vaccine series in vet school, but I'm so sensitive to vaccines. I had such a hard time with my rabies series. They had to like delay and like alter my schedule because I was still so sick for my last one. So sick.

JoJo (10:57)
So do you

have to have it as a veterinarian? Okay.

Dr. Angie Krause (11:00)
No, they, every time

you go to continuing education, they'll have a booth where they'll check your titers. And I just don't check mine because I know they're not going to be good. I'm, I can't, no, cause I'm sick for like weeks. yeah. They wouldn't let you go to school. Yeah. yeah. Yeah. And then halfway through school, they make you check a titer. And of course mine wasn't good enough. And so then I had to, I think my third year get another vaccine.

JoJo (11:05)
⁓ interesting. Okay.

and you don't want to do it again. But in school, you had to have it done.

Okay, I didn't know that actually. Okay.

⁓ yeah, I've heard they're not. That's a really hard vaccine to get.

Dr. Angie Krause (11:33)
I,

my classmates were fine, JoJo. It was just me.

JoJo (11:36)
⁓ I've only heard horror stories

of it, but you're pharmaceutically sensitive. I am too and So if it's gonna feel bad I'm probably going to feel bad

Dr. Angie Krause (11:43)
So sensitive.

So when I just had the flu, had influenza B, and I'm like laying there for days, just cooking a fever like nonstop. And then I was thinking, if I would have gotten the flu vaccine, would this have not happened to me?

JoJo (12:03)
Now you probably

would have felt that way after the vaccine.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:06)
I know and that's the thing. So I'm, so I'm like, should I get the flu vaccine next year? Because this has been financially catastrophic for me because I missed all the work and then I ended up in the ER. I haven't gotten that bill yet, but then I'm like, should I start getting vaccines? But then I would probably miss work from my reaction to the vaccine.

JoJo (12:13)
Mm-hmm.

It's true

because there is no PTO.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:29)
I don't have no yes. Yeah.

JoJo (12:30)
Every day that you were in bed, I was like, man.

Because I

live with a finance guy, so I just think in numbers all the time.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:39)
Yes, yeah, I thought about that in numbers too and I was like,

JoJo (12:44)
Yeah, it's not very cost effective to be sick.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:47)
I know, and that's why vaccines are so good, but also if you're me, then are they? don't, I'm not sure. I'm not sure.

JoJo (12:55)
Well,

I don't remember if you ever got the COVID vaccine. I ended up getting it. And it was so bad. Because Adam and I were in the car the next day, and we fell asleep at a light. Then yeah, the next day. Just could not like it just hit so randomly. I don't like I don't like to I don't like to feel that something's in my body causing me to not feel right.

Dr. Angie Krause (12:58)
Yes.

Both of you? Yeah.

Yeah.

JoJo (13:21)
⁓ anyhow, that's not what this episode was about, but rabies vaccines and

Dr. Angie Krause (13:21)
Man, I... No.

I'm so sorry

if you were part of that recall. That was annoying.

JoJo (13:29)
Yeah,

or if you don't know if you were here, I could tell you real quick. It was shipped to veterinarians between September 29 and January 8. Lot number serial number 18665, which would be on your rabies certificate.

Dr. Angie Krause (13:45)
him.

Yes. Okay. Well, because you listened to this podcast, we're going to give you a free course. We've made courses about all kinds of things, including what have we made courses about?

JoJo (13:46)
So, yeah.

Well, we do have one about vaccines and cats. I believe we do.

Dr. Angie Krause (14:01)
Yes.

Yes. Did we transfer it over?

JoJo (14:06)
Yes, I think so. I'm in the middle of doing some a little more shifts to our website. So you may see more courses show up. And we're hosting live courses. So just if you're not on our newsletter, that is a really big deal. Join our newsletter. And if you can't figure out how to join our newsletter, you can email us info at boulderholisticvet.com and I will get you a link to join the newsletter. Something goes out every week. And so stuff like

Dr. Angie Krause (14:08)
Okay.

We have sales.

JoJo (14:33)
Yes, we do have sales. We have live courses. We have just free information that goes out. Dr. Angie is constantly sharing what's going on.

Dr. Angie Krause (14:42)
Yes, yes. So ⁓ you can use, if you go to our website, boulderholisticvet.com and you go to learn more, you can see our course selection and you can use Truth Tales. and it's spelled T-A-L-E-S or T-A-I-L-S and you can get a free course. And we would love to hear from you. Leave a comment. Be sure to subscribe.

JoJo (14:55)
it.

Dr. Angie Krause (15:06)
and let us know what you need and if you were part of this BI recall.

JoJo (15:11)
And we still love BI and the product that they put out. We should probably say that.

Dr. Angie Krause (15:13)
Yeah.

Yeah, BI's fine. Yeah, there's no. Yeah, no, it's a very neutral. They have the best cat vaccines. have, so I mean, it's not, it's no shade towards BI. Okay, see you later, bye.

JoJo (15:17)
Yeah, love is maybe a strong word. We are still in relationship with BI

Yes.

Yes, OK. See you later. Bye bye.