Let's talk about rabies in cats - is your cat vaccinated?

[boodle]

 All 4 of my cats are indoor-only, but I also worked as a vet tech many years ago & I'm all too familiar with the animal control procedure when an unvaccinated animal has possibly been exposed to rabies. I would never want to lose my babies that way. In GA, the rabies vaccine is also mandatory for all cats & dogs. So I try to make sure they all get a yearly rabies vaccine.

Anne, you have a great point about cats being exposed to rabies via bats. I'd never thought about that possibility, but know they can certainly find their way into homes.

 

[Anne]

I really enjoy reading the replies! I think they show once again that TCS brings together a special kind of cat lovers with a higher than average level of knowledge of cats. 

I wish things were the same in the general population. According to the CDC, cats simply don't get as much veterinary care as dogs do 

 and that includes rabies shots -

Rabies in Cats on the Rise

While dogs have historically been associated with rabies transmission to humans, cats are more likely to be reported rabid in the U.S. Cats are often in close contact with both humans and wild animals, including those that primarily transmit rabies. This creates a situation in which rabies may be more easily transmitted from to humans from cats.

In 2009, rabies cases among cats increased for the second consecutive year. Three times more rabid cats were reported than rabid dogs. In addition, cat owners might not be as likely to visit a veterinarian's office, where they can receive shots that can keep their cat safe from rabies. Data from the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) indicates that more than 36 percent of U.S. cat-owning households did not visit a veterinarian in 2006. This is more than double the percentage of dog-owning households that did not visit a veterinarian.

It's definitely one  of the things I hope we, as a community, can help improve by educating more owners about proper health care for their cats. 

While browsing the CDC website, I also came across this. It's the protocol in the US and was mentioned by several of you in the thread. 

From the CDC - 

Unvaccinated dogs, cats, and ferrets exposed to a rabid animal should be euthanized immediately. If the owner is unwilling to have this done, the animal should be placed in strict isolation for 6 months and vaccinated 1 month before being released.

Animals with expired vaccinations need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Dogs and cats that are currently vaccinated are kept under observation for 45 days.

Basically, as far as I can see, vaccinating your cat at least once, could save him/her from being put down or from being quarantined in isolation for six months! Frankly, I'm not even sure which is the worst of the two options. 

It's also interesting to see that not all vets use Purevax for cats. I plan on researching this in depth. I think it's worth an article on the site. Maybe something people can then print out and show their vets so they can push towards better availability of non-adjuvanted vaccines for cats.

 

[thekittykeepers]

I live in the Philippines, and we have 30+ rescues (just added another yesterday). There is no real laws or enforcement of shots, but we do get our cats vaccinated for rabbits and other diseases, as our budget allows. All our cats are indoor cats, and we deworming them every 3 months. Any new rescues are dewormed immediately, and kept in isolation from the other cats for several weeks after rescue, just to be sure (we don't do it perfectly, but we do the best we can).

Our priorities are worms and spay/neuter. It is difficult to get the vaccines we need here, and when we do find them, they are usually very expensive, so we do them in groups of 3 or 4 as funding allows. Since we are self funded, we have to balance the needs of our animals, and our ability to pay the bills and eat. Sigh, the kittykeepers. (I wish I was independently wealthy)

 

[crazy4strays]

Yeah, animal control procedures in a bite situation can be fairly horrendous. I don't see any reason to put my animals through that. The risk of euthanasia in a bite situation is probably higher than any risks from the PureVax shots. Plus, imagine if your cat was exposed to a rabid animal and then happened to bite you afterward?

Even if you euthanized your cat and sent the brain tissue off for examination, the postal service isn't 100% reliable and they can fail to deliver the package in a timely manner for brain tissue examination. Then, what do you do? Vaccinate the human at a cost of thousands of dollars?

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/bethlehem/index.ssf/2016/04/stray_cat_had_rabies_lower_sau.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/california-girl-us-survive-rabies/story?id=13830407

 

[denice]

I just watched a documentary about rabies and they had the girl, now a young woman who just had twins, from Wisconsin that survived rabies.  They had pictures from the hospital while she was in a coma and from her rehab.  She had to relearn everything.  The thing is she was bitten by a bat that had gotten into the church during mass.  Her mother knew she had been bitten and that it drew a little blood.  Because the bite didn't look bad she didn't do anything about it.

 

[piano cat]

 
My local low cost spay/neuter program gives a 3 year rabies shot to the ferals that come in.

You are lucky.  I'm in Canada and the three year is still new here, we''''''''''ve had it about a year, I think, and it's much more expensive.  Probably the protocol varies by rescue etc, maybe someplace they do it, but not where I am.  But the feral I'm talking about, I paid for his neuter myself and would have paid the rabies too.

 

[crazy4strays]

They have a very good package at the low cost spay/neuter program. It includes a spay/neuter, a 3 year rabies vaccination, a microchip, and a left eartip for $35.

 

[jolie0216]

I live in Ohio and as Denice stated above, there is no state-wide law requiring vaccination of rabies.  However, there is a legal order in certain particular counties that mandate vaccination of rabies for pets, but I don't live in one of those counties.    I vaccinated each of my cats for rabies around the time of their spay/neuter surgery, and I honestly doubt I will ever vaccinate them for rabies again, as long as I continue to live in this particular part of the state.  I've never seen or heard of a bat in this area, which doesn't mean they aren't here, I just think the likelihood of us encountering one is pretty low, and our cats are indoor-only.  I would reconsider my stance on this if we moved to another area though.   When vaccinating our pets, I consider the risk vs reward - I wouldn't vaccinate for something that I know our cats have an extremely low chance of ever encountering - like FeLV.  

Really, the only reason I even vaccinated them for rabies at all is that our vet required it before the spay/neuter - which is strange since it is not a state law, but I suppose the vet can set their own rules in their own practice.   I know a PureVax vaccine exists, but let's say your vet doesn't have it or you as a pet owner aren't aware of it to ask for it - in some cases, I think the risk of your pet catching rabies is less than the chance of them developing VAS (if your vet is using an adjuvanted vaccine), so it doesn't make sense to me to vaccinate in that case.  I think we already over vaccinate our pets - even the new guidelines of once every 3 years is still probably too often.  I wonder if the states that require rabies vaccines would accept a titer test in their stead?

 

[8485izzabella]

>>
The vaccines on internet for cats are the same that the ones that are provided at the veterinary?
Like can I get the vaccines on Internet ???
Is just a quick question, I had no experience with cats but need some advice especially when we are talking about a many cats at ones.
Thank you

 

[catpack]

>>
The vaccines on internet for cats are the same that the ones that are provided at the veterinary?
Like can I get the vaccines on Internet ???
Is just a quick question, I had no experience with cats but need some advice especially when we are talking about a many cats at ones.
Thank you

A Rabies vaccine can legally only be administered by a liscensed veterinarian.

As for other vaccines, I personally do not trust the authenticity of vaccines available for purchase over the internet. I also do not think any action can be taken should your animal have a reaction unless the vaccine is given by a liscensed vet and appropriately documented (someone please correct me if I am wrong on this matter.)

Many areas have low cost vaccine clinics. You can contact your local shelters or rescue group to find out more about services available in your area.

 

[piano cat]

<<>>
The vaccines on internet for cats are the same that the ones that are provided at the veterinary?
Like can I get the vaccines on Internet ???
Is just a quick question, I had no experience with cats but need some advice especially when we are talking about a many cats at ones.
Thank you

Some, few, places do not require rabies vaccination so that's the first thing to check.  In the hopefully rare event your cat bites someone, or someone claims your cat bit them, a Veterinarian's signature on a certificate attesting when the cat was vaccinated, with what vaccine, when it expires may be the only thing that keeps your cat alive.  This may vary by where you live but where I am in ONtario, Canada, if the claims above are made and your cat (or dog) is vaccinated it will still be quarantined for 14 or so days.  If it is not vaccinated the only other way to check if the cat or dog has rabies is to humanely kill it and examine the brain.  

After the first rabies vaccination you could titre to see if it remains effective but that would be even more expensive.  Plus, where I am, the titre results would not be accepted by our office of Public Health.  Some places would accept them, something else to check.  I titred my sick dog and had a medical exemption on his rabies but due to a crackpot couple of neighbours with a bite incident and someone threatening to shoot dogs I got his vaccination again, more to protect him from crazy people than from the actual disease.

Are you looking after a colony of ferals?  If so that could be a public health concern and you might find an organization in human health to help out with $, and giving the shots.

 

[piano cat]

 

[basscat]

All of our cats are vaccinated (state law).
And from what I've been told, which may or may not be accurate.....
  If the animal in question is dead, it's brain is sent to a lab to determine if rabid.  If it's a wild animal, alive, and available....it's killed and brain sent to lab.
  If it's a pet.  It's confined and observed for 10 days.  If 10 days are needed....
Rabies takes time.  Usually several months after being infected before it turns into the latter stage of what everybody is familiar with (furious rabies). 
It's not transmitted through saliva, via a bite, in it's earlier stages.  Only during the latter/furious stage.

SO, if you are bitten by an animal or pet that could possibly be rabid?  You do have time.  Apparently, you have more than 10 days before anything need be done. (the animal is quarantined and observed for 10 days).   

 

[8485izzabella]

Hello.thanks for your comment.
I bring in my home a catmom with kittens, i vaccine the mom and test her and she is clean. Couple weeks ago I fix them all and now I'm searching for info/resources for the kittens vaccines. I look on line and I found the "same" vaccines that the clinic give to the cat mom and Im just wandering if is OK to buying the vaccines myself because is "affordable "...still expensive but so far and im just looking wht is best for us...

 

[8485izzabella]

The cat mom is vaccine and fix. Since I found them they never been outside or around other strays. Also I have a dog and he has all his vaccines.
It is spensive because I have 6 kittens. So far they are healthy, no issues with them.
I found on line the rabies vaccine for lIke 20$ better that 60+$ at the clinic. Do you guys think this vaccines are good??
I can't deny that the best thing yo do is going to the vet ...
I'm on Avondale Az.

 

[Willowy]

If your main purpose is to protect your cats against rabies, yes, you can buy rabies vaccines from various farm supply companies (people give them to horses, farm cats, etc.). But the vaccine will not be legally recognized so if there's a bite incident they'll be treated as though they're unvaccinated. Try looking up low-cost clinics and rabies vaccine events in your area. In Sioux Falls they have a low-cost vaccine event once a month so I assume any city that size or larger ought to have the same. Even small towns around here usually have one once a year or so.

 

[denice]

Pet stores in some urban areas also have vaccination clinics.  They often have a volunteer vet there so the rabies shot can be given and the certificate and tag is issued.

 

[piano cat]

ARe these online vaccine offers you are finding on the internet asking you for a Rx?  If not I believe they are acting illegally.  You also need to worry about the safety of the online vaccine, is it a real vaccine, is it out of date, is it completely fake?  Check the rabies incidence reports for your state.  You may find, as I did, that the reports of actual rabies in any animal is very low.  Even though it is required by law where I live I do not vaccinate the mother cat and kittens I took in when in the same situation as you, they stay inside.  I did vaccinate the inside/outside stray.

 

[Willowy]

It's not illegal to give rabies vaccines to your own animals. Farmers do it all the time. It's also not illegal to sell rabies vaccine. It IS illegal to ship rabies vaccine to some states, unless you have a vet license. But if you can get the vaccine it's not illegal to give it. It just won't be legally recognized. Which farmers are fine with, they just want their animals to not get rabies. But if you live in town you really want to make sure your pet is legally covered. And some towns have ordinances that all pets must have rabies vaccinations done by a vet so check your local laws so you don't end up with a ticket.

To the OP---you said you had the kittens fixed. Didn't they give vaccines then? Usually s/n clinics and vets won't do the surgeries without giving vaccines too.