So of course, I have to blog about it and inform people. I genuinely cannot believe that what just happened to us just happened to us.
Is this whole rabies-free Hawaii, quarantine, FAVN test requirement a complete joke??? How is this even legal?!
We went through every possible measure the state of Hawaii requires to import a 14 week old puppy whose paws had literally never even touched the outside ground of planet earth in his lifetime. From within the state of Hawaii itself, we paid about $2,000 to the state of Hawaii and the Oahu veterinarians who gave him not one, but <<two rabies shots>> in under a year. My emotional support dog was kept from me for 120 of the longest days of our lives to ensure that he was rabies-free, you guys. I had to experience one of my biggest phobias by myself, and had to cancel my virtual work early that day because of my phobia happening without help, all because the dog was in Hawaii’s quarantine facility.
God damn I am SO pissed rn you guys don’t even know. I literally went through all of that *for nothing*. Literally for. nothing.
Because we just did a FAV-N blood test. According to the state of Hawaii this test is what qualifies your dog as eligible to travel to and from the state of Hawaii for three year timeframes. And he failed that shit.
That means that no, after a 120-day quarantine, and after not one but two rabies shots were administered by the State Of Hawaii’s department of Agriculture facility itself, my dog was proven to still not be sufficiently protected against rabies less than a year thereafter. That second rabies booster was allegedly supposed to be good for a three year timeframe.
Well guess what, people? The State of Hawaii is literally taking thousands of dollars and lying through their teeth. A 3-year rabies booster shot, and a 3-year long certificate that says your dog passed a FAVN test does NOT sufficiently protect dogs against rabies for a three-year timeframe. We literally just took (and failed) a test that proves my point. So despite the 120 day quarantine, and despite all the rabies shots and titers test in the world, dogs are indeed traveling to and from Hawaii with insufficient rabies protection. Which means it’s sheer coincidence that our state allegedly remains rabies-free. Rat droppings have been found on aircrafts, people. Google it yourselves.
The FAVN test I chose cost me over $600, and was given by (sorry to throw you guys under the bus, but people deserve to know the truth) Honolulu Pet Clinic. Worse yet, Honolulu Pet Clinic told me that I would have to pay for a re-do FAV-N test after yet another rabies booster. In what world would they have the audacity to even charge people *twice* if your dog fails the damn test, when they already charge double what other places charge? Uh, you trippin’. So literally, in order to get my emotional support animal validated by the State of Hawaii to travel to and from the mainland with me, because the state of Hawaii’s rabies vaccinations are insufficient, this veterinary clinic thinks I’m going to pay another $600+. Yeah fucking right. I’m genuinely debating if I can take the vet to small claims court to get my money back.
Why the hell would anyone agree to pay $600 twice in our circumstances? Paying $600 twice for a FAVN test is literally the exact same cost as putting the dog back through a second 120-day quarantine. Good lord help me not lose my temper as I write this.
Why should anyone who has already gone through a $1200 quarantine, and who has had their dog receive not one but two rabies shots in under 1.5 years, and already paid $2,000 total to ensure rabies-freedom have to pay *again* for a FAVN retest, ever? Oh wait…. we shouldn’t. If our dog fails the FAVN test after all that bullshit, the redo should be complimentary and paid for by the state of Hawaii. Because they were the ones whose protocol is apparently insufficient. Clearly.
Here’s what dog owners deserve to know, so that no one else gets dicked by Hawaii veterinary clinics and/or the state of Hawaii. I love hawaii and this is my home. And it’s home to five generations of my dog-loving family. But this whole rabies bullshit is a dog blood money monopoly and the people deserve to know, most importantly, that no. Your dog is NOT, I repeat *NOT* sufficiently protected against rabies for three-year timeframes, even though the State of Hawaii’s FAV-N import/export requirements are issued for three-year time frames. That means that *YES* dogs who may have contracted rabies and who are not yet symptomatic can absolutely be flying in and out of our state. Because they got that FAV-N test cleared 2 to 2.9 years ago and it’s still valid in the eyes of HDOA/ airlines.
And it is complete bullshit that they are making people endure 120-day quarantines and shell out thousands of dollars to ensure that our dogs are rabies-free when their own absurd procedures don’t even hold up to objective testing standards to adequately protect the dogs from rabies.
Here are the details.
0.5) No offense Honolulu Pet Clinic but do NOT choose Honolulu Pet Clinic to complete your dog’s FAVN test. They are the most expensive FAVN test on this island. I called around after this nightmare to cost-compare FAVN prices on island, stay tuned for that post. When I called them and explained my circumstances, explaining that I already did the 120-day quarantine, paid $1200, and that HDOA is the one who gave Nalu not one but two rabies shots in 2020, which were supposed to be sufficient rabies protection for a three-year window, the lady on the phone was clueless. She had no idea what the protocols were for HDOA’s rabies program. She had no idea that people are paying $1200 and OD’ing their dogs with rabies shots in order to try and get them to pass this test, and they can apparently still fail it.
When she understood how absurd it was for us to not only fail the test but for me to have to shell out another $600 for a re-test, I basically tried to negotiate for any possible price reduction. I know damn well that in the human medical industry, prices for services and prescription medications are decided upon literally on a day-by-day basis. It’s humans who decide the price points. It’s not like there is some veterinary clinic God who standardizes what things should cost. According to the Kansas facility that does these tests, that shit only costs them $84 (see photo above). This is transparent, googleable information. Where the rest of the $516 is going is beyond me.
And this chick is like “well… the thing is we serve so many animals in life-or-death situations whose owners promise us they’ll pay, and then they don’t pay. And many times we struggle to make payroll. So…”
umm… a veterinary clinic’s inability to make payroll is not my problem. Somebody’s making payroll this week because you guys stole $600 for nothing. Needless to say I will NOT be going back to them for a FAVN redo.
1) The first rabies shot is supposed to be good for a year; and the second booster shot is supposed to be protective for up to three years–but that doesn’t mean it actually will be. Your dog might spend 120 days in doggie solitary confinement, and get two rabies shots in a year. And maybe less than a year after all of this, you dog may still not be adequately protected against contracting rabies according to a blood titer test.
The test is like a snapshot in time. At the time of the test, the level of rabies vaccine in the blood may be high enough to meet the threshold required by the state of Hawaii to allow a dog to travel to and from Hawaii. But that snapshot in time may not be actually reflective of the level of vaccine present in the blood whenever it is people finally decide to travel with their pet. Nalu is living proof. The rabies vaccine is literally fading from your dog’s system as soon as they get it. They’re not necessarily protected from rabies across a three year window, even if the green light to travel between Hawaii and the mainland is good for three years. Doing this test is essentially a nonsensical formality they just make everyone do for a false sense of security and for a guaranteed source of revenue.
2) If you put your dog through Hawaii’s Animal Quarantine, just pay for the approved vets to come in and do your FAVN blood draw. It may cost a few hundred dollars extra, but at least you can get your dog out 30 days earlier, and you will receive the green light to fly with your pet for up to three years thereafter. Just remember tip 1, and make sure you consistently get that rabies booster shot 3 weeks prior to mainland travel. There is no cheap way to test the level of rabies antibodies present in the blood.
If a biological genius wants to create a saliva swab rabies antibody at home test kit (I’m talking to you, Braddah Cliff Kapono), you will save Hawaiian residents hundreds of dollars and ensure that Hawaii does in fact stay rabies free. Funny how a saliva swab antibody test for COVID was developed in a matter of months following the onset of the pandemic. But no one has thought to create a saliva swab rabies antibody detection test for canines. I mean, in truth, why are we still leaving that shit up to two FAVN testing facilities in the midwest, when Hawaii is probably the place that needs the FAVN done the most? Why aren’t we doing all the FAVN tests on island? Is that perhaps too logical? That other places should have to send their dog blood to Hawaii, and pay the state of Hawaii in order to verify that animal imports into our state are rabies free? Why are we outsourcing something that we know we need on island, forever? hell-o. All those hundreds of dollars we’re paying Kansas should be coming to us. If not us, then at least have the wherewithal to let UC Davis handle FAVN tests. At least UC Davis is on the west coast, closer to Hawaii.
3) Word round the torch fire is that Dr. Osgood does the most humane blood draws for FAVN tests. He is not, however, the cheapest price for FAVN tests and vet fees available on the island. But if money is no object and you want a high-quality vet, I can tell just from his voicemail alone that Dr. Osgood delivers high-caliber service.
4) This is how you get your dog to pass the FAVN test: you should administer a rabies booster shot, wait three weeks, and then execute on the FAVN test three weeks after booster administration, when the antibody level in the dog’s blood is allegedly at its peak. Apparently in the eyes of HDOA/ import-export protocol, it doesn’t matter if, 1.5 years later, the level of vaccine in their system has dwindled to ineffective levels– you just need to pass the damn test three weeks after the rabies booster shot; and you’re good to go for a three-year period.
5) Again, if you genuinely care about your dog *actually* being protected against rabies while traveling to the mainland, it’s on you to make sure they get a rabies booster shot three weeks prior to flying out each year you plan travel to the mainland with them. Knowing that even two rabies shots in one year can’t sufficiently protect my dog from rabies 1.5 years later, I will be requesting 1-year rabies booster shots and just getting them done three weeks prior to any annual plan on taking him to the mainland.
Nalu’s breed exists for ratting. Has Nalu found and sniffed dead rats on our walks in Hawaii? Yes, multiple times. Would I expect him to hunt rats and other small rodents in the mainland, where there are rabid rats, squirrels, chipmunks, possums, raccoons, and other nasty rabid rodents? Hell yes I would. Even just smelling all the things on the ground in the mainland would probably make me nervous. I would assume there could be rabies residue on like, everything.
In the mainland, it’s very common to have live mice and rats inside houses. In Hawaii, Nalu hunts live cockroaches (my phobia) if they come in the house. He even finds them at my friend’s houses. So I wouldn’t put it past him to hunt a live mouse or rat in someone’s house in the mainland. And if so, he needs to be unquestionably protected. This is actually why the Brussels Griffon tail is historically docked– so they don’t get bitten on the tail by rats, get rabies, and cost the owner their working dog.
So there you have it, dog mamas and papas. Don’t let Hawaii gyp you if you’d like to import your dog or travel with your Hawaiian fur baby to and from the mainland. Stay tuned for my post where I will lay it out for you all and give you a list of FAVN test prices from multiple Oahu veterinary clinics. You’re welcome.
puppy & paradise 