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Vaccinations - do you bother
- Thread starter mooficat
- Start Date
I've read so many bad things about vaccines that I am afraid to. cats are indoors .
http://www.pet-grub.com/pet-health/vaccines.pets
http://www.pet-grub.com/pet-health/vaccines.pets
Same in Massachusetts - if I had refused a rabies shot for any of my boys I would have had my drivers license suspended. I don't know what they do to people who don't drive, but I for one need to get to work every day.
Absolutely! It is in the best interest of my animals to try and protect them as best i can- and having them properly vaccinated helps!
It reduces their odds of contracting certain things that could potentially kill them. Also - since i work at an animal shelter and i also foster numerous animals -ANY added protection helps! I spray baccide/rocal on myself every day before leaving the shelter to try and reduce the odds of tracking any illnesses home to my animals. I also test my foster animals and vaccinate the ones i'm able to before brining them home- even then they are still kept seperate. But what is something were to happen and an unknowingly infected animal came in contact with one of mine and one of mine wasn't vaccinated against that illness? And as a result one of my furbabies died? I would definitely blame myself if i had knowling chosen not to vaccinate them against something that could have potentially been prevented. Vaccinating is a no brainer for me. The pros definitely outweigh the cons. Vaccinations safe lives -plain and simple. I would welcome just about anyone who is unsure about vaccinations to go visit your local shelter and see the animals who come in with distemper, feline leukemia, upper respiratory....the list goes on- all of which could potentially have been prevented had their caretakers been responsible and vaccinated them. All of my animals get vaccinated
In New York Rabies is required but the woman we adopted Roxie from told us specifically not to worry and not to give her that vaccine. Our vet tried to talk us into it but we kindly refused despite his speech about how any of our visitors can now sue us if our cat bites them and they contract rabies... I re-emailed the woman who runs the organization and she reaffirmed what she told me before, that Roxie didn't need it and not to worry.
Because I care about my cats' health and overall quality of life, I don't let my vet get anyhwere near them with vaccines. Other than the rabies, which is required by law, and which my vet and DH overruled me on.
gosh, i wish it was absolutely cut and dry. some posts make me think i should get stoli a rabies shot and vaccinate luxor when it's his time....but i'm so scared to over vaccinate them. especially stoli. i'd hate to have something happen BECAUSE i vaccinated them....they NEVER go out, except for the 4/5 minutes here and there with stoli on a leash.
We allow the CORE vaccinations FVRCP and rabies to our cats, (Ragdolls), and our kittens are not allowed Felv or FIP or it will void my contract. I do not allow my cats or kittens outdoors, and feel there is too much risk involved with the Felv and the FIP vaccinations, to feel they are needed. For anyone who looks at the what the AAFP and the AVMA recommend, it is also just the CORE vaccines for indoor cats. In studies it has shown that the FIP vaccine does little for protection, if a cat does get exposed.
I only say rabies, as it is state mandated here, I don't think rabies should be needed for indoor only animals, but I certainly understand if one needs to kennel an animal.
I live in a southern US state, so rabies is common, so I do understand why it is mandated. In southern states as well, it is almost needed to keep a flea and tick protection year around, as the temperatures stay so warm. If you have a indoor/outdoor dog, they can bring the fleas and other things inside.
I only say rabies, as it is state mandated here, I don't think rabies should be needed for indoor only animals, but I certainly understand if one needs to kennel an animal.
I live in a southern US state, so rabies is common, so I do understand why it is mandated. In southern states as well, it is almost needed to keep a flea and tick protection year around, as the temperatures stay so warm. If you have a indoor/outdoor dog, they can bring the fleas and other things inside.
I do not overvaccinate. I do the kitten rounds and then one, maybe two adult shots depending on the cat and if it is outside sometimes. Then that is it. I also vaccinate my own cats so I keep track myself and do it whenever is needed. If a cat is over 5 years old I do NOT vaccinate anymore and when I adopt them out I tell people not to do it to them.
I LOVE how you put that. I completely agree. I avoid the vet as much as possible. I do all exams, fecals, deworming, vaccinating and whatever myself and they go to the vet for spaying and neutering. Believe me, if I was allowed to do THAT myself, I would!
It doesn't even make any SENSE to vaccinate ANY living thing every single year or even every few years! People get vaccines...do we boosters EVERY SINGLE YEAR? NOPE! It just makes absolutely no sense to me.
While my vet has sent reminders regarding my cats' vaccines in the past, I do not feel that my two senior indoor only cats require any more vaccines. Odo is definitely done. We believe he is about 15 years old, and he had a round of them at the shelter last year. He won't need any more of them. Willow may have one more in her life--the one for the upper respiratory viruses--only because she may be exposed in the future to a shelter cat or an infected cat at the vet's office. But she's been up-to-date on her vaccines until this past year, and I feel she has enough immunity to last her for the rest of her life. If there is ever a question about her immunity levels, I'll look into titer testing.
I don't know about not taking the kitties to the vet... Our girls get their shots from the shelter when they need them, but they'll all be getting yearly checkups forever from the vet just to make sure there's nothing happening with them that I've missed or can't check myself.Originally Posted by alice_curiouser
No, because I believe the risks from going to vet, as well as the vaccines themselves, are higher than the diseases. I would never get the F-leuk vax - nthat thing scares the heck outta me.I'm pretty anti-vaccine on whole; my kids only get the vaccinations that are legally required to attend school.
I would still make sure the kitties rabies vaccination is up to date. If your kitty does bite someone (even if it's minor), and the person has to go to the doctor because it gets infected (which often happens), they generally have to tell the doctor what happened and which cat it was (certainly around here anyway). The doctor calls animal control, and they check that the rabies vaccination is up to date, and if it's not, the kitty gets quarantined for months I believe at the owners cost (I recall someone a little while back went through this with their cat). Odds of this happening are slim, but gee I'd rather have a rabies vax every 3 years than have this happen...
Mine get boosters for Cat FLu and Enteritis yearly purely cos I foster - they dont get vacc'd against FeLV though, as they were both adopted at the age of 13, we know they have had outdoor access, potentially unvacc'd, so I Think they have a natural immunity by now.
Mine get the FVRCP yearly for the time being. I might consider spacing the frequency out on that one, but I do think it is an important one as that covers things they can easily catch through the air, or things I can carry in from handling other cats.
I wouldn't vaccinate an indoor cat for FeLV, and my vet agrees.
She doesn't give the FIP vaccine at all, last I checked. From what my vet said and I've read, the safety of that one is questionable at best. Things may have changed, I haven't read up on that lately.
Rabies is required here, but there's no registration required like there is for dogs.
I wouldn't vaccinate an indoor cat for FeLV, and my vet agrees.
She doesn't give the FIP vaccine at all, last I checked. From what my vet said and I've read, the safety of that one is questionable at best. Things may have changed, I haven't read up on that lately.
Rabies is required here, but there's no registration required like there is for dogs.
Jen-
wow, you do your own vet stuff?? I think thats great. Kinda have to these days.
Familytimes- I just love your gorgeous himmy.
I think that with indoor animals they have gone bonkers with the rabies shots. I want to switch to a holistic vet & be done with that vaccination stuff. And its true, you can buy vaccines too, so how can they say you have'nt vaccinated/?
wow, you do your own vet stuff?? I think thats great. Kinda have to these days.
Familytimes- I just love your gorgeous himmy.
I think that with indoor animals they have gone bonkers with the rabies shots. I want to switch to a holistic vet & be done with that vaccination stuff. And its true, you can buy vaccines too, so how can they say you have'nt vaccinated/?
MY 2 cats are both totally indoor cats. I have been taking them yearly to get vaccinations and teeth cleaned. The vet won'd do that unless they have vaccines.
Tell me, do you think they need Prevention for heartworms if they never go out?
How do you do all the testing for fecal stuff without the things to test?
Tell me, do you think they need Prevention for heartworms if they never go out?
How do you do all the testing for fecal stuff without the things to test?
How old are they, and when did you stop giving the vaccines?
What made you stop?
What do you do when they get sick? Will a vet see them if they have not been vaccinated?
What made you stop?
What do you do when they get sick? Will a vet see them if they have not been vaccinated?
I don't get my cats vaccinated every year, and my vet sees them. She just said that if we ever need to board them, we will need to get them done.
Chloe is 17, Katy is 14 and Bailey is 9. I stopped getting them because so much of what I was reading said that after a certain point they'll have built up all the immunity they're ever going to. I've discussed this with several vets and they've all said that there has been a lot of discussion about the frequency of vaccines over the past several years. Chloe has HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy) and IBD, Katy had hyperthyroidism (treated) and has HCM, asthma, IBD and chronic pancreatitis, and Bailey has IBD, and I just don't think their little immune systems need to be stressed any more.
I will say that I recently had a discussion with my vet about Bailey. He gets fairly frequent URIs, and since it's been quite a while since he's gotten his vaccines, it might be a good idea to get that one just to boost his immune system. I guess I'll decide that when the time comes.
They all 3 go to the vet frequently . . . I can't begin to tell you how much . . . and Katy and Bailey have had to be hospitalized for several days, both at their regular vet's and at Iowa State, and no one has ever questioned their vaccination status. If I ever had to board them and I absolutely had to get their vaccines, then I'd do it, but I have a pet sitter that I use when I'm out of town so I've never had to make that decision.
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