- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
- Messages
- 9,837
- Purraise
- 197
You don't have rabies over there, though. Rabies vaccine is the one that should not be omitted, in the USA.
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Am I a bad mother?
- Thread starter chloe_minerva
- Start Date
No rabies in the UK. Lots of rabies in North and South America.
Rabies is one shot never to screw around about, unless your vet gives you written documentation to show authorities....as has been repeatedly said, one little 'accident', and at best you're looking at a long segregation for the animal - and that's the best case scenario.
Also, at least in my area, you will never be able to board an animal that does not have its rabies shot. Sure, you might think that's not an issue, but did you want to wait til it happens.
Rabies is one shot never to screw around about, unless your vet gives you written documentation to show authorities....as has been repeatedly said, one little 'accident', and at best you're looking at a long segregation for the animal - and that's the best case scenario.
Also, at least in my area, you will never be able to board an animal that does not have its rabies shot. Sure, you might think that's not an issue, but did you want to wait til it happens.
I would highly suggest finding a vet that will come to your house. I have a friend that has a cat that is a yearly fight to get her to to the vet. Its torture trying to get her into the carrier let alone what goes on once they get the cat to the vets office!!!!! The vet really can't even get a good look at the cat because she is so freaked out. Generally its a stab her with the shots and thats it
Anyway, my friend tried a vet that came to her home (a holistic vet as well). She did not get any shots.....just a checkup. She said that the minute the vet came through the door she was impressed. The cat never really even struggled. She was so much more relaxed in her home environment.
It is definitely a good idea to at least get your kitty looked at. There could be an underlying problem that you are not even aware of yet because the kitty doesn't show any apparent symptoms but there are things that the vet will notice.
Good Luck!
Anyway, my friend tried a vet that came to her home (a holistic vet as well). She did not get any shots.....just a checkup. She said that the minute the vet came through the door she was impressed. The cat never really even struggled. She was so much more relaxed in her home environment.
It is definitely a good idea to at least get your kitty looked at. There could be an underlying problem that you are not even aware of yet because the kitty doesn't show any apparent symptoms but there are things that the vet will notice.
Good Luck!
Just wanted to say that most years, the health department does a fly over, dropping vaccine laden "treats" for wildlife around here.
That is how serious rabies is taken in this state.
That is how serious rabies is taken in this state.
We have rabies outbreaks at least every few years. Usually it is only found after horses start turning up positive, from encounters with rabid wildlife, usually bats, skunks, squirrels, opossums or raccoons, usually skunks. They seem to be the most likely to be positive around here if they have a run-in with a skunk or bat they are the most common animals to be rabid here. I don't want to have to put my cats down because they aren't vaccinated. My ex-husband had to have his cat put down when he was a child after it got into a fight with a rabid skunk. If a rabid bat(or any bat they can't catch before release) ever gets in your house and your pet is not vaccinated you have sign their death warrant. If an unvaccinated animal is in a house with a rabid bat(or an encounter with any known or suspected rabid animal) they have to, by law, be put down, or at least they do here.
Paul had to shoot a paralyzed raccoon that showed up in Mitzi's wood bin. She actually called work and told them she'd be late until she could get her neighbor to come over and fix the problem since she was afraid to walk past it to get to her car. Now granted it could have been hit by a car and made it to the bin but it was sick. Paul used 2 pieces of wood to get it out of the bin and all he got was a very weak growl, it didn't try to do anything to him and we all know what a normal raccoon would do. He got it out of the bin and it got a 9 mm slug to the back of the neck, at the brain stem/top of the spinal cord, the quickest and most humane way to put down a sick coon, they don't feel a thing they die instantly. It is also the only place you can shoot one and guarantee it dies, otherwise you are just torturing it with multiple shots(just an FYI if you ever run into the need to humanely put a raccoon out of it's suffering.) Either way this coon was sick, it could have been hit by a car, could have been rabid or had distemper(a very very common illness in coons.)
For me it isn't worth the risk. I'd rather have them vaccinated than essentially sign their death warrant in case they ever did have an encounter with a rabid animal or a bat got in the house.
Like vaccinated my son, the benefit outweighs the risk. I had an aunt die in the 1930's from pneumonia before she was a year old, a very very common thing back then. Almost no one hadn't lost at least one child, usually before they were a year old. When burying my grandmother I saw a head stone with 4 babies buried there, they ages were 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 1 year, this was from the '30s or before, very common.
I nursed my son through pneumococcal pneumonia, they do vaccinate against that but either it was a strain not covered or the vaccine didn't take. He was so sick I wish they had hospitalized him but his ped was a prick and refused to do it. My MIL an ICU nurse also wanted him admitted because he was refusing to drink(much less eat), we were having to force fluids in him(most of which came right back up), a fever of at least 103(on Tylenol and/or Motrin) and he just looked really sick. He got to the peds office and they rushed him back immediately and took his vitals to make sure he was ok enough to not need to get him to the ER/ hospital immediately for care. I had to take him back to the doctor every day for a week so he could be looked at so they could give him antibiotic shots(on top of the oral ones he was receiving at home, we finally found one that didn't make him barf on the 4th try at different antibiotics.) Plus make sure he had each of his 4 inhalers at least 2-3 times a day(try using an inhaler on a 3 year old.) It also made us lose all progress in getting him potty trained, he had to go back into diapers. He also gave it to me. I have never been that sick in my life. All I could do was sleep and wake up drenched in sweat. I got a shot of an antibiotic in my rear, an x-ray and an immediate breathing treatment, plus my own script for powerful antibiotics.
Stuff happens, even with vaccines but I was told if he didn't have some of the immunities from the vaccine I most likely would have buried my 3 year old or he would have had a very long hospitalization and he would almost certainly died if he had been younger. Isn't worth it. Benefit outweighs the risk.
My child and my cats are fully vaccinated. I'm mad that he got the chicken pox vaccine but that is a different post on a different message board. He also doesn't get yearly flu shots, those 2 are my FeLV and FIV vaccines, unneeded and not worth it, benefit does not outweigh the risk.
You pick and choose what vaccines you want/need, but I make sure both my son and my cats have the important ones. Rabies is not negotiable, they will always be vaccinated for rabies. Benefit really outweighs the risk considering rabies is 100% fatal if contracted. I'm jealous of the British, Hawaiians and Aussies since they don't have to worry about rabies since they are rabies-free.
Rabies is not a joke, like I said if it is even suspected the animal had an encounter with a rabid animal and is not vaccinated they are by law put down.
Taryn
Paul had to shoot a paralyzed raccoon that showed up in Mitzi's wood bin. She actually called work and told them she'd be late until she could get her neighbor to come over and fix the problem since she was afraid to walk past it to get to her car. Now granted it could have been hit by a car and made it to the bin but it was sick. Paul used 2 pieces of wood to get it out of the bin and all he got was a very weak growl, it didn't try to do anything to him and we all know what a normal raccoon would do. He got it out of the bin and it got a 9 mm slug to the back of the neck, at the brain stem/top of the spinal cord, the quickest and most humane way to put down a sick coon, they don't feel a thing they die instantly. It is also the only place you can shoot one and guarantee it dies, otherwise you are just torturing it with multiple shots(just an FYI if you ever run into the need to humanely put a raccoon out of it's suffering.) Either way this coon was sick, it could have been hit by a car, could have been rabid or had distemper(a very very common illness in coons.)
For me it isn't worth the risk. I'd rather have them vaccinated than essentially sign their death warrant in case they ever did have an encounter with a rabid animal or a bat got in the house.
Like vaccinated my son, the benefit outweighs the risk. I had an aunt die in the 1930's from pneumonia before she was a year old, a very very common thing back then. Almost no one hadn't lost at least one child, usually before they were a year old. When burying my grandmother I saw a head stone with 4 babies buried there, they ages were 1 day, 1 week, 1 month and 1 year, this was from the '30s or before, very common.
I nursed my son through pneumococcal pneumonia, they do vaccinate against that but either it was a strain not covered or the vaccine didn't take. He was so sick I wish they had hospitalized him but his ped was a prick and refused to do it. My MIL an ICU nurse also wanted him admitted because he was refusing to drink(much less eat), we were having to force fluids in him(most of which came right back up), a fever of at least 103(on Tylenol and/or Motrin) and he just looked really sick. He got to the peds office and they rushed him back immediately and took his vitals to make sure he was ok enough to not need to get him to the ER/ hospital immediately for care. I had to take him back to the doctor every day for a week so he could be looked at so they could give him antibiotic shots(on top of the oral ones he was receiving at home, we finally found one that didn't make him barf on the 4th try at different antibiotics.) Plus make sure he had each of his 4 inhalers at least 2-3 times a day(try using an inhaler on a 3 year old.) It also made us lose all progress in getting him potty trained, he had to go back into diapers. He also gave it to me. I have never been that sick in my life. All I could do was sleep and wake up drenched in sweat. I got a shot of an antibiotic in my rear, an x-ray and an immediate breathing treatment, plus my own script for powerful antibiotics.
Stuff happens, even with vaccines but I was told if he didn't have some of the immunities from the vaccine I most likely would have buried my 3 year old or he would have had a very long hospitalization and he would almost certainly died if he had been younger. Isn't worth it. Benefit outweighs the risk.
My child and my cats are fully vaccinated. I'm mad that he got the chicken pox vaccine but that is a different post on a different message board. He also doesn't get yearly flu shots, those 2 are my FeLV and FIV vaccines, unneeded and not worth it, benefit does not outweigh the risk.
You pick and choose what vaccines you want/need, but I make sure both my son and my cats have the important ones. Rabies is not negotiable, they will always be vaccinated for rabies. Benefit really outweighs the risk considering rabies is 100% fatal if contracted. I'm jealous of the British, Hawaiians and Aussies since they don't have to worry about rabies since they are rabies-free.
Rabies is not a joke, like I said if it is even suspected the animal had an encounter with a rabid animal and is not vaccinated they are by law put down.
Taryn
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #26
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2007
- Messages
- 12
- Purraise
- 2
Thanks for all the input, gang!
My main concern is the rabies vaccine as I live in rural PA and rabies is everywhere here. We had a bat in the house earlier this summer and by the time I found it, Chloe had knocked it out of the air and was stalking it across the bathroom floor.
Having a vet come to the house is a good idea ... for any other cat. But Chloe hates strangers in her house even more than she hates going to the vet. So that would just be trading one trauma for another. What can I say? She's a total problem child.
I did a little research and the rabies vaccine is only required every 3 years so I think that's what I'm going to do from now ... take her in every third year and skip the years in between.
Thanks again to everyone who weighed in!
My main concern is the rabies vaccine as I live in rural PA and rabies is everywhere here. We had a bat in the house earlier this summer and by the time I found it, Chloe had knocked it out of the air and was stalking it across the bathroom floor.
Having a vet come to the house is a good idea ... for any other cat. But Chloe hates strangers in her house even more than she hates going to the vet. So that would just be trading one trauma for another. What can I say? She's a total problem child.
I did a little research and the rabies vaccine is only required every 3 years so I think that's what I'm going to do from now ... take her in every third year and skip the years in between.
Thanks again to everyone who weighed in!
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
- Messages
- 9,837
- Purraise
- 197
Just check your records, (or call your vet) and make sure you know which rabies vaccination Chloe had last time. If she had the PureVax, that is an annual vaccine (also much safer than the 3 year adjuvanted vaccine) and she will need to be vaccinated again this year.Originally Posted by chloe_minerva
Thanks for all the input, gang!
My main concern is the rabies vaccine as I live in rural PA and rabies is everywhere here. We had a bat in the house earlier this summer and by the time I found it, Chloe had knocked it out of the air and was stalking it across the bathroom floor.
Having a vet come to the house is a good idea ... for any other cat. But Chloe hates strangers in her house even more than she hates going to the vet. So that would just be trading one trauma for another. What can I say? She's a total problem child.
I did a little research and the rabies vaccine is only required every 3 years so I think that's what I'm going to do from now ... take her in every third year and skip the years in between.
Thanks again to everyone who weighed in!
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2008
- Messages
- 131
- Purraise
- 4
I won't be vaccinating one of my cats anymore. He has herpes, and when I recently got him the FVRCCP (is that the acronym?) he got a URI. I'm not sure if the rabies shot will set him off that way, but I don't really want to take the chance. He's scared of going outside, so he doesn't try to get out. He does come with me to my mom's house and likes to hang out with her four dogs, but they are all vaccinated.
I'll keep my other guy vaccinated, though, because he does try to go out. He loves one of the strays that lives in my complex, so he's always trying to get out and see him.
When my mom got two of her dogs from a westie rescue organization, the lady in charge gave my mom some paperwork about how vaccine frequency is a controversy in the veterinary world. It said that studies have shown that vaccines aren't needed nearly as often as they're given, but they're one of the biggest money makers for vets, so vets are reluctant to change recommended vaccine schedules. It said that giving too many vaccines can be a risk factor for immune conditions like arthritis. Keep in mind that the paper was talking about dogs, but I imagine that could be true of cats as well. So that does give me pause concerning vaccines.
I'll keep my other guy vaccinated, though, because he does try to go out. He loves one of the strays that lives in my complex, so he's always trying to get out and see him.
When my mom got two of her dogs from a westie rescue organization, the lady in charge gave my mom some paperwork about how vaccine frequency is a controversy in the veterinary world. It said that studies have shown that vaccines aren't needed nearly as often as they're given, but they're one of the biggest money makers for vets, so vets are reluctant to change recommended vaccine schedules. It said that giving too many vaccines can be a risk factor for immune conditions like arthritis. Keep in mind that the paper was talking about dogs, but I imagine that could be true of cats as well. So that does give me pause concerning vaccines.
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
- Messages
- 9,837
- Purraise
- 197
I have an indoor cat with herpes too. He also has a seizure disorder and liver disease. He is 11 years old. He gets his PureVax rabies annually. Not only is it the law, I want him protected.
Rabies is rampant and no one should leave their pets unvaccinated. You just never know what is going to happen.
There is also a three year shot, but it contains an adjuvant. I prefer the adjuvant-free annual PureVax rabies.
I just don't know why anyone would want to put their pets at risk. The distemper (FVRCCP) vaccine is different, and I agree that your indoor herpes boy no longer needs that. Mine doesn't get it anymore either. He never needed the "FV" part. My younger cats stilling get an RCCP every three years, since they need to be protected from Tolly's herpes.
But don't skip the rabies.
Rabies is rampant and no one should leave their pets unvaccinated. You just never know what is going to happen.
There is also a three year shot, but it contains an adjuvant. I prefer the adjuvant-free annual PureVax rabies.
I just don't know why anyone would want to put their pets at risk. The distemper (FVRCCP) vaccine is different, and I agree that your indoor herpes boy no longer needs that. Mine doesn't get it anymore either. He never needed the "FV" part. My younger cats stilling get an RCCP every three years, since they need to be protected from Tolly's herpes.
But don't skip the rabies.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #30
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2007
- Messages
- 12
- Purraise
- 2
One thing my vet does that I love ... every reciept includes what shots are due and when. So all I have to do is look at the receipt from the last time I bought flea medicine and I know that her rabies vaccine is due Dec. 9, 2011.
She's been getting the three years rabies vaccine all along and doing fine with it so I have no concerns about continuing with it.
Here's a picture of my little drama queen in one of her mellow moments.
Attachment 14716
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
- Messages
- 9,837
- Purraise
- 197
Oh that's great you know she's not due until next year, that's a worry off your mind.Originally Posted by chloe_minerva
One thing my vet does that I love ... every reciept includes what shots are due and when. So all I have to do is look at the receipt from the last time I bought flea medicine and I know that her rabies vaccine is due Dec. 9, 2011.
She's been getting the three years rabies vaccine all along and doing fine with it so I have no concerns about continuing with it.
Here's a picture of my little drama queen in one of her mellow moments.
My vet's receipts are like that too. My vet is on line now with www.epetrecords.com, so I can go in and check on things about my cats anytime I want, for each cat. I can also order refills on meds and food, and schedule routine appointments, via e pets records, it's really great.
She is so beautiful!
Pardon my ignorance, but is it possible to give vaccinations yourself, like if your vet gave you the vaccine? People with diabetic cats give them insulin...when I brought Albus home from the shelter and he was dealing with hipatic lipidosis, they were going to teach me to give him a saline IV if he got dehydrated and B12 shots to perk him up a little. Is giving a vaccination that much different, or do they just want to see the cat in person? Obviously for the exam, but is there a reason seeing the cat would give them a reason NOT to give the vaccine?
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
- Messages
- 9,837
- Purraise
- 197
Some vaccines, like distemper, can be bought and given at home, though I think you may need a prescription for them.
http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.c...&subtotal=0.00
http://www.petcarerx.com/pcrx/omnise...spx?q=vaccines
I don't see rabies listed in any of the on line stores I checked. I guess that one has to be done by a vet.
I am experienced in sub q fluids and sub q shots at home for my cats, too. However, in spite of my knowledge and skill, I don't think I'd want to mess with vaccines. Too worried about messing it up.
Wrong dose, wrong place, it's just too important, IMO, for inexperienced people to be giving their pets vaccines.
Besides, I believe in bringing cats to the vet, my cats get well visits every six months.
http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.c...&subtotal=0.00
http://www.petcarerx.com/pcrx/omnise...spx?q=vaccines
I don't see rabies listed in any of the on line stores I checked. I guess that one has to be done by a vet.
I am experienced in sub q fluids and sub q shots at home for my cats, too. However, in spite of my knowledge and skill, I don't think I'd want to mess with vaccines. Too worried about messing it up.
Wrong dose, wrong place, it's just too important, IMO, for inexperienced people to be giving their pets vaccines.
Besides, I believe in bringing cats to the vet, my cats get well visits every six months.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2005
- Messages
- 27,231
- Purraise
- 38
the 3 in 1 to 5 in 1 shot s are Available OTC and usually at feed stores( most can be purchased in single doses as well as the "breeder" sizes that indeed take some knowledge... no RX required... Rabies HAS to be done by a Currently lisenced vet
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2008
- Messages
- 9,837
- Purraise
- 197
Thanks for the info Sharky!
