Yearly Vaccinations

maiseycat

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My Maisey turned 4 in May. She's due for her annual shots, but I moved an hour away from where her vet is, and have a difficult time working out a time to get her down there. I've had several unexpected costs come up, and I've just been a student for the past several months (my parents have been helping me until I graduate). I've hesitated to look into vets up here because I'm unsure if I'm going to stay in the area or go back "home." I'm graduating at the end of this month, and looking at jobs in both places. In short, it's a harried time and I'm wondering how neccessary it is to get the shots done.

We live in an urban area - she never goes outside, except when I take her out on her cat leash. She's good about not getting out, but if she did, I'd be more worried about her getting hit by a car than getting rabies. I rarely see stray cats running around here - it's just too dangerous. I've also heard about vaccinations being more harm than good, causing bad reactions. When I was living in a semi-rural wooded area, she got regular shots and flea/mosquito treatment. That is also something I'm curious about. We don't have near the problem with bugs here in the city than we did in my hometown. Frontline doesn't even cover mosquitos. Heartworm is what I'm most concerned about, being deadly. Maisey has had tapeworms which were easily treated, and that was only shortly after I adopted her (she'd been a stray). I've had problems with Revolution (a 3-1), and she won't take the Heartguard tablets I got from the vet. I've heard bad things about chemical treatments, so I don't know what to do about that or the vaccines. The vet keeps sending me postcards, but I'd like to get settled in a job first. My lease expires in October, and I'd like to get out of this apt. complex because I'd like to be in a nicer area. When I'm working full-time, though, it will be even tougher to find time unless they have late hours. I have doctor's appts. I'm behind on, plus I have to have my wisdom teeth out. Things are really a mess, so I don't know if it's best to wait, or if this even needs to be done at all. I know she needs a vet up here (if I stay in the city). What do you think?
 

sol

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You don't have to vaccinate every year. Every third year is enough.
 

jaycee

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viral vaccines are good for the life of the cat. i wouldnt bother with getting any more vaccines in the future except for rabies only because its required by law.
 

urbantigers

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I don't, personally, think that annual boosters are necessary. However, if you put your cat in a cattery - and bear in mind emergencies when you might have to do so in a hurry - you will probably need to have them. You do here in the UK, at least. That's why my cats always have their boosters each year.
 
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maiseycat

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What are viral vaccines? When I first brought Maisey to the vet, they gave her feline leuk and rabies shots, and I don't think anything else, though I could be wrong. I thought rabies shots were only required under certain states' laws. I looked up Ohio and couldn't even find an answer. One site said that if she bit someone she could be quarantined until it was determined she didn't have rabies.
 
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maiseycat

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Ok, never mind, I found it.

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/200...rabies160.html

"Ohio law requires dogs, cats and ferrets to be vaccinated against rabies only if they've been quarantined and are about to be released, said Bret Atkins, an Ohio Department of Health spokesman."

Good, that's one less thing I have to worry about.
 
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maiseycat

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Originally Posted by jaycee

rabies is caused by a virus and i think feline luk is too.
Ok, so I wonder why they harp on me to bring her in every year? I am mad if it's true that they last for life and I've been buying into their little money-making scheme. How can they get away with saying they need to be done each year if that's not true?? Grrr... another thing I have to look into.
 

jaycee

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Originally Posted by maiseycat

Ok, so I wonder why they harp on me to bring her in every year? I am mad if it's true that they last for life and I've been buying into their little money-making scheme. How can they get away with saying they need to be done each year if that's not true?? Grrr... another thing I have to look into.
yeah its to make money.
 
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maiseycat

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I'm thinking of this from a legal perspective (I'm a soon-to-be paralegal) - it's probably also so if your kitty bites somebody or another cat, you can pull out your vet receipt and say, "Look, no rabies, no leukemia!" But, yeah, if it's true that the vaccines are effective for at least a few years, it would be likely that they wouldn't have to go through testing just to be sure. People are so litigation-hungry these days, that I'm sure the animal bite alone could cause me to lose my pet, even though she's disease free. Maisey did get scared and bit a houseguest before. Nothing came of it, fortunately. Other cat owners are understanding, though others aren't (esp. those who dislike cats).
 

vanillasugar

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The thing with vaccines, is that they don't KNOW for sure how long they keep the cat immune. Sometimes it is for the entire life of the cat, and sometimes it's not. I completley agree that annual vaccines are completley unnecessary, but if you ever wonder if your cat is still immune, they can run a titer test to see if the vaccine is still working. Most vets are moving to the 3 year vaccine cycle as they've learned that yearly is not only unnecessary, but overvaccination can lead to some serious problems!
 

minxie

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Originally Posted by maiseycat

it's probably also so if your kitty bites somebody or another cat, you can pull out your vet receipt and say, "Look, no rabies, no leukemia!"
Are vaccinations a 100% guarantee against the viruses they vaccinate against? I didn't think they were from my readings....
 

footersownsme

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If your cat is a inside cat and doesnt get out to have contact with any other cats then the only thing that you should definately have for her are Rabies (required everywhere), unless you have a flea problem use Frontline or Revolution. Working as a vet tech and having to learn the ins and outs of vaccines heres a little info id like to pass along. Actually I had a big long thing typed up and then i found this website. Pretty good at breaking everything down so you can understand vaccines. Very good reading

http://www.avma.org/vafstf/rbbroch.asp



p.s. working as a vet tech i was required to get my rabies vaccination. lol pretty funnie right, a series of 3 shots they just left me achy. Now every 2 yrs i get titered.
 
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maiseycat

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Originally Posted by minxie

Are vaccinations a 100% guarantee against the viruses they vaccinate against? I didn't think they were from my readings....
I'd assume it would be close to 100%, but does it really matter? You flash someone a piece of paperwork, and 9 times out of 10, they'll go with it. They can get their cat or themselves test to make sure, but I'm not paying for it. And I doubt that person would have any legal claim for the money because of the documentation. I would think that a regularly vaccinated cat getting bitten by an infected cat and becoming afflicted happens close to never. You'd better believe if that happened to my cat, my vet would be slapped with a lawsuit! Probably the best reason, in my case, to vaccinate Maisey is to avoid legal complications in the case of a bite. I can tell the injured party that my cat never goes outdoors and is never exposed to other cats, but they won't believe it until they see documentation. Which is why even though vaccinations may last more than a year, I'm probably doing them every other year at least.
 
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maiseycat

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Originally Posted by FootersOwnsMe

If your cat is a inside cat and doesnt get out to have contact with any other cats then the only thing that you should definately have for her are Rabies (required everywhere), unless you have a flea problem use Frontline or Revolution. Working as a vet tech and having to learn the ins and outs of vaccines heres a little info id like to pass along. Actually I had a big long thing typed up and then i found this website. Pretty good at breaking everything down so you can understand vaccines. Very good reading

http://www.avma.org/vafstf/rbbroch.asp



p.s. working as a vet tech i was required to get my rabies vaccination. lol pretty funnie right, a series of 3 shots they just left me achy. Now every 2 yrs i get titered.
Thanks for the info. Though, rabies shots are not required everywhere. Like the article says, they're required in most areas of the country. My state doesn't require them.
 

footersownsme

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Maisey with your cat being 4 yrs old the only 2 vaccines you would possibly
need right now are Fercp and Rabies. Then another 3 yrs and you need those again. If she doesnt go outside refuse Feline Leukemia which is given every year. Even more so if she never comes in contact with any other cats just make sure you have the Rabies. Even though it is not required everywhere all it takes is your cat to bite the wrong person and they can request rabies testing. Rabies testing = decapitation. Rabies is 1 vaccine I would definately get for my animal just so that freaky occassion does not happen to me.

Also 1 last thing you said you were giving your cat heartworm pills, skip on those, yes heartworm is deadly if cats get it but she doesnt go outside so she cant get bitten by a mosquito. Also heartworm is very very rare in cats because they do move around so much and little buzzing things almost always require a "what are you and can i eat you" responce from cats.

Originally Posted by minxie

Are vaccinations a 100% guarantee against the viruses they vaccinate against? I didn't think they were from my readings....
Good question. i'm doing some research
 

minxie

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Originally Posted by maiseycat

I would think that a regularly vaccinated cat getting bitten by an infected cat and becoming afflicted happens close to never. You'd better believe if that happened to my cat, my vet would be slapped with a lawsuit!
With some vaccines not being 100% effective (and surely the effctiveness of the vaccination being dependent on the immune system of each individual cat), I think it would be quite hard to slap lawsuits on vets unless you can prove negligence (e.g. they administered the vaccination incorrectly, for example) - anyway, it would cost plenty in expert examinations and reports to prove, I think (IMO).

Maiseycat's above quoted post has however has got me thinking. I'm wondering whether you (as in all of you) are aware some form of liability exclusion by the vet when it comes to vaccines (e.g clause on invoice/receipt, printed in office, or explained verbally)?

When my cats have been vaccinated...nothing has ever been pointed out to me about any exclusion in the vet's and/or the vaccination manufacturer's liability. You would think that the experts would be trying to qualify and exclude their liability wherever and whenever possible!

I wonder if such exclusion of liability information is on the vaccination packaging? I wonder if there are terms of business which our vets have printed expressly setting out such an exclusion clause (which we have never seen..well I never have anyway)?

I think the efficacy of a vaccine is an important issue, in addition to any related liability on the vet and/or vaccinaction manufacturer. It should not be for a client to ask a vet to find out such info or have to resort to researching it on the net! I think vets have a duty (of good service) to give this information. Maybe your vets do this...the ones I have visited never have. In fact, I have not thought 'how effective is this vaccine?' or 'if my cat gets ill with an illness it has been vaccinated against, who is liable? until reading this post. I have just taken it for granted that the vaccination does the job because the vet and the books encourage vaccination.

Hope I'm making sense lol
 

karabear

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The last time I took my Kitty to the vet for a check up and shots, she told us they are starting to discourage vaccinations in indoor cats because sometimes it causes problems. And then we were asked if we still wanted to vaccinate her. We said yes partly because I was thrown by what she told us and didn't know what to say. I have always thought vaccinations were good. I also have a hyperactive imagination. There is a random cat that comes up on our deck where our big living room windows are and where the cats always hang out. This does not happen very often but I still worry about germies coming in through the screen.

But I am wondering if I should continue the practice of vaccinations (besides rabbies of course) What do ya'll think?
 
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