Bear with me here a bit, this is all relevant to my cat's health in the end. TL;DR at the bottom. My vet sent me a little postcard reminding my cat's due soon for re-vaccination. I'm hesitant to do it though. If it were a simple matter of just taking him to the vet to get a shot, I would just book it and be in and out. The problem is, taking him to the vet is never a simple matter, throw a shot in the works and there will be chaos.
He's a nearly three year old male Siamese, overall I would say he's a very sweet cat, very cuddly and affectionate to family and a few select friends, but he's just psychotic when I take him to the vet. He had three vet visits in his first year excluding his neutering, and a fourth and fifth one a year ago. Each of them escalated from the experiences of the previous.
During his first visit he was just 6 weeks old, he was so small they had to take him into the back to use the baby scale to weigh him. they took a bit of extra time as I noticed they were all gathering to adore the little guy, little did they know they were snuggling what they would eventually come to know as Satan personified as a cat. His second visit he was nearly twice as old, it went fairly smooth, he hissed a little and even sprayed the vet a bit, but all I had to do was hold him still. His third visit he was a good 4 months old, this time holding him still didn't work out so well. They ended up taking him to the back once again, it required two people and the protective gloves, but they managed to give him his shot.
Then came the fourth... Prior to his visit I took him to a cheap pet store groomer to put claw caps on him in case he swatted at my baby niece who would be around during the holidays. I couldn't get him to stay still for it, so we figured a professional could just do it for us. I left him with the girl and walked around the store a while. I could hear a commotion going on with a cat, amused and thinking who's cat that is. Of course it was mine, some poor kid working there got scratched up trying to help the other girl, they had to abandon their attempt, saying he became just too aggressive and couldn't be reeled in. She joked a bit that she's never handled a cat like this before. I shrugged and figured maybe my vet could do it when I take him for his shots, maybe the groomer wasn't that experienced.
I advised the vet of the whole groomer thing and how he reacted, they said they could do the caps for me at no charge when I bring him in, and that they should be able to deal with him. They were wrong, they were very very wrong. They couldn't get near him, and what shocked me was that he wasn't being completely defensive either, he would advance on them, a preemptive strike sort of thing. It's actually a terrifying thing because he's abnormally large and muscular for a Siamese, and those are some massive claws he's got. I was told I should leave the room to give them space to work since this wasn't going so smoothly. As I sat outside the room it was just pandemonium. The attempt was ultimately abandoned and we discussed our options.
We re-booked and had him sedated where they gave him his shot and put the caps on. Now a year later I have to do it again, but I'm concerned about his health, I don't want sedation to be something he has to go through a lot. I'm thinking of not having him redone. I was reading once the opinions of a vet that re-vaccinating indoor cats is a money grab in the industry and that they're at virtually zero risk. I'm almost wondering if this is something I should hold true to. Is the minimal risk my cat faces from remaining unprotected worth it when the alternative is getting knocked out repeatedly?
TL;DR: Cat has to be sedated for re-vaccinations. Is it even worth putting him through that when he's an indoor cat?
He's a nearly three year old male Siamese, overall I would say he's a very sweet cat, very cuddly and affectionate to family and a few select friends, but he's just psychotic when I take him to the vet. He had three vet visits in his first year excluding his neutering, and a fourth and fifth one a year ago. Each of them escalated from the experiences of the previous.
During his first visit he was just 6 weeks old, he was so small they had to take him into the back to use the baby scale to weigh him. they took a bit of extra time as I noticed they were all gathering to adore the little guy, little did they know they were snuggling what they would eventually come to know as Satan personified as a cat. His second visit he was nearly twice as old, it went fairly smooth, he hissed a little and even sprayed the vet a bit, but all I had to do was hold him still. His third visit he was a good 4 months old, this time holding him still didn't work out so well. They ended up taking him to the back once again, it required two people and the protective gloves, but they managed to give him his shot.
Then came the fourth... Prior to his visit I took him to a cheap pet store groomer to put claw caps on him in case he swatted at my baby niece who would be around during the holidays. I couldn't get him to stay still for it, so we figured a professional could just do it for us. I left him with the girl and walked around the store a while. I could hear a commotion going on with a cat, amused and thinking who's cat that is. Of course it was mine, some poor kid working there got scratched up trying to help the other girl, they had to abandon their attempt, saying he became just too aggressive and couldn't be reeled in. She joked a bit that she's never handled a cat like this before. I shrugged and figured maybe my vet could do it when I take him for his shots, maybe the groomer wasn't that experienced.
I advised the vet of the whole groomer thing and how he reacted, they said they could do the caps for me at no charge when I bring him in, and that they should be able to deal with him. They were wrong, they were very very wrong. They couldn't get near him, and what shocked me was that he wasn't being completely defensive either, he would advance on them, a preemptive strike sort of thing. It's actually a terrifying thing because he's abnormally large and muscular for a Siamese, and those are some massive claws he's got. I was told I should leave the room to give them space to work since this wasn't going so smoothly. As I sat outside the room it was just pandemonium. The attempt was ultimately abandoned and we discussed our options.
We re-booked and had him sedated where they gave him his shot and put the caps on. Now a year later I have to do it again, but I'm concerned about his health, I don't want sedation to be something he has to go through a lot. I'm thinking of not having him redone. I was reading once the opinions of a vet that re-vaccinating indoor cats is a money grab in the industry and that they're at virtually zero risk. I'm almost wondering if this is something I should hold true to. Is the minimal risk my cat faces from remaining unprotected worth it when the alternative is getting knocked out repeatedly?
TL;DR: Cat has to be sedated for re-vaccinations. Is it even worth putting him through that when he's an indoor cat?
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