Vaccination Questions

[juniper]

So sorry about your kitty, glowbugm!

Mellanie, do you mind if I ask what clinic you are at? I really like the sounds of how things are done at your clinic, so if I talk to my vet and it doesn't sound as good, and yours isn't terribly far away, I'd be really interested in having the vaxes done there. You can PM me if you don't want to announce where you work to the whole board for privacy/safety reasons (and if you're not even comfortable telling me, I totally understand!).

 

[ktlynn]

So sorry about your baby's leg, Heidi, and your kitty as well, Glowbugm. I, too, lost my terrific boy Louie, to a VAS.

IMO vaccines have been a mixed blessing. They're a wonderful advancement in the care of our beloved felines, but we overuse them. It was once thought that vaccines were mandatory annually. That thinking has changed. Now it is being recommended that they can be given every 3 years. I don't doubt that several years from now the protocol will again change and vaccines will only be administered once with a one-time booster for the life of the cat.

My cats are strictly indoor. Two have been vaccinated for rabies and distemper when they were kittens, with a booster at one year. They are now 10 and 4 and in good health. I will not vaccinate them again. My oldest is 16 and I dutifully vaccinated her every year of her life until she was 9 years old. I have not vaccinated her since. She has numerous health problems, some of which are suspected to be the result of too many vaccinations. In addition to VAS which causes disfigurement or worse, death, there is evidence implicating vaccination as the cause of many serious chronic health problems, including auto-immune disease, allergies, skin problems, arthritis, even kidney disease.

I think everyone needs to evaluate the pros and cons of vaccinating depending on their own situation. If you run a cattery, or deal with many foster cats or are a shelter worker, you may choose to vaccinate your cats because of the increased risk of exposure for your cats. Kylie, if Meeko and Esmeralda are indoor only and are healthy, IMO I wouldn't vaccinate them again since their risk of exposure is virtually non-existent, especially for rabies. Your cats are already 8 and 9 years old and have been doing just fine.

Keep in mind that if you decide to vaccinate, that all vaccines are approved for use in healthy animals only. If your cat has any signs of disease or a chronic condition, vaccine manufacturers do not recommend administration of the vaccines. Despite this, many vets still vaccinate cats who are ill. Also, unless something has changed, the 3 year rabies vaccine still uses the harmful adjuvant that is suspected to cause VAS. If you do decide to give rabies shots, you'll have to ask for the Purevax rabies which must be given annually. The trade-off is the safer adjuvant.

 

[juniper]

Originally Posted by KTLynn

So sorry about your baby's leg, Heidi, and your kitty as well, Glowbugm. I, too, lost my terrific boy Louie, to a VAS.

IMO vaccines have been a mixed blessing. They're a wonderful advancement in the care of our beloved felines, but we overuse them. It was once thought that vaccines were mandatory annually. That thinking has changed. Now it is being recommended that they can be given every 3 years. I don't doubt that several years from now the protocol will again change and vaccines will only be administered once with a one-time booster for the life of the cat.

My cats are strictly indoor. Two have been vaccinated for rabies and distemper when they were kittens, with a booster at one year. They are now 10 and 4 and in good health. I will not vaccinate them again. My oldest is 16 and I dutifully vaccinated her every year of her life until she was 9 years old. I have not vaccinated her since. She has numerous health problems, some of which are suspected to be the result of too many vaccinations. In addition to VAS which causes disfigurement or worse, death, there is evidence implicating vaccination as the cause of many serious chronic health problems, including auto-immune disease, allergies, skin problems, arthritis, even kidney disease.

I think everyone needs to evaluate the pros and cons of vaccinating depending on their own situation. If you run a cattery, or deal with many foster cats or are a shelter worker, you may choose to vaccinate your cats because of the increased risk of exposure for your cats. Kylie, if your cats are indoor only and are healthy, IMO I wouldn't vaccinate them again since their risk of exposure is virtually non-existent, especially for rabies. Your cats are already 8 and 9 years old and have been doing just fine.

Keep in mind that if you decide to vaccinate, that all vaccines are approved for use in healthy animals only. If your cat has any signs of disease or a chronic condition, vaccine manufacturers do not recommend administration of the vaccines. Despite this, many vets still vaccinate cats who are ill. Also, unless somethin has changed, the 3 year rabies vaccine still uses the harmful adjuvant that is suspected to cause VAS. If you do decide to give rabies shots, you'll have to ask for the Purevax rabies which must be given annually. The trade-off is the safer adjuvant.

Thank you for the advice! And so sorry about the loss of your kitty. To be honest, I would really prefer to not vaccinate at all - I just don't like the risks. However, in my province, rabies vaccination is mandated by law - I've been breaking that law for the past few months and I'm really not comfortable with that, so I know that I need to vaccinate at the very least, against rabies. I really wish that the law was different, and that I didn't have to, though.