Do you vaccinate your cat?

[SummerRiot]

I work in a vet clinic - and what I have seen more and more is that people aren't vaccinating their cats against Rabies OR the FVRCP..

Anyone who has a cat here - do you get your kittys annual vaccines??

Lots of people have outdoor cats on here and they SHOULD be vaccinated at least for Rabies..

but even the indoor cats should be vaccinated.. they are BOUND to get outside at some point - even if you have a screen window and an infected raccoon comes up to "say hello" and your cat isnt' vaccinated.. *sigh*

So .. how many people actually vaccinate their cats too?

 

[jess2416]

If I had one I would..

but I know a few people that dont...

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Uhm.. yeah. Irresponsible not to.

 

[ToscasMom]

Like with my dog, I give the cats their first year series of shots and the follow up in the second year. I test them all for FELV and FIV using that snap test. After that, they no longer get any shots except for yearly rabies. When a cat passes 10, I stop all shots altogether. I am VERY suspicious of vaccinations in cats. I suspected Vaccine Associated Sarcoma in shot sites for years. Now of course, this problem has been admitted by vaccine makers. It infuriates me that cats were used as test subjects by these people when he problem had been identified for a long long time. Now I understand they are recommending giving the same damned shots in the leg or tail so that if a cat gets VAS, there is a chance of saving it via amputation. I predict there will be a LOT of three legged cats around in the next decade and that just plain pisses me off. The only reason I do yearly rabies instead of three-year rabies in my cats is because the three-year one is a VAS suspect, or so I have read. I think vet offices should be forced to warn their cat loving clients of the dangers of VAS before pumping them up with a zillion vaccinations yearly. Just my two cents, from someone who has seen cats die of site-specific VAS and is thoroughly disgusted.

 

[Lilavati]

I do vaccinate my cats, and I've switched to one year rabies for the reasons mentioned above. I ALWAYS do rabies, its the law, and further, rabies scares the hell out of me. Other vaccines depend on my vet's recommendations: both my cats are seniors and are never allowed outside because the female has a flea allergy. So I consult with my vet each year as to what she thinks is suitable. As a result, the elder cat only gets rabies and feline distemper. The younger one got the whole package last time.

 

[SummerRiot]

Hmm thats very intersting TM... I'm gunna have to do some reading about that!

 

[mjb]

Mine get vaccines. Charlie gets his annually. The vet recommended the yearly rabies rather than the 3 year, but he didn't say why.

Venus gets hers every 2 years.

Both are indoor-only cats, but I do keep Charlie up-to-date on his vaccines. He is bound to occasionally slip outside, and he also loves to be on the screen porch.

I only 'subject' Venus to the vet trip ever 2 years (unless she were to get sick, and she hasn't yet) because she is so scared and gets so nervous. She barely ventures downstairs. In her 5 years here, she accidently walked out the door once to the great outdoors, and she flew back in. I have decided that it's better for her to go through the trauma every 2 years than every year. I could be wrong, but it seems unlikely that she will come in contact with anything as long as we keep Charlie current.

 

[Red_ACD_for_me]

First year as kittens they get shots and spayed or neutered. After that they never see the vet again unless they are sick obviously, but no more shots. My cats are strictly indoors and I am very ANAL about them ever getting out. I know you can never say never but my cats also run the other way when the outside door opens so I don't really worry about that

 

[ToscasMom]

Just GOOGLE VAS cats Riot and you will get an eye full.

I also feel anyways, that like dogs, cats don't need every single vaccination every year to be protected. It's overkill.

 

[J's crew]

Just GOOGLE VAS cats Riot and you will get an eye full.

I also feel anyways, that like dogs, cats don't need every single vaccination every year to be protected. It's overkill.

I completely agree with you.

 

[PhotoMom]

Both of my boys are indoor only.. but I vaccinate against whatever cats need vaccinating against if my vets think its necessary. Just because they stay in, does not mean they will not escape one day, even thru my vigilance.. and my dogs may bring something in too. Anything can happen. So mine are done. No expence spared for my fur babies.

Amber

 

[juliefurry]

I do the neccasary kitten shots and rabies shots and spay/neuter the first year. After that I do the annual check up and rabies yearly. Our new boy wants to get outside SO bad but I don't want an indoor/outdoor cat so he's not going to be going outside ever (unless by accident).

 

[AnimalLoverCatRescuer]

I vaccinate up to one or two adult vaccines and no more. I am against overvaccinating, I think people who vaccinate their pets against the same thing every single year and making a huge mistake. I have seen too many cats at least come down with the diseae they are being vaccinated against by the time they get older. I would do every 3 years at the minimum. Also I don't understand why people don't titer or however you spell it to see how much immunity is left from the last vaccine before the revaccinate??

 

[ToscasMom]

Rescuer, you are right about titering, but I think the reason most people do not titer has to do with cost. Titers can be more expensive than those shotgun vaccinations full of simply everything that vets dump into our animals.

The other thing is, most people don't even know about titering and vets do not tend to mention it much.

I COMPLETELY agree on the three year regime, same as with my dog. Overvaccinating is dangerous and unnecessary at worst and a downright ripoff at best. My vet knows better than to even try, but I know that most people have no idea that all these yearly shots are not only unnecessary, but counterproductive to the pet's health in some cases.

 

[ToscasMom]

...I hate to admit it, but I also think vets push yearly shots to scare people into coming back to their office every year. Most people wouldn't bring animals back that frequently if they weren't uncomfortable about not doing it. I sometimes wonder if this is why some vets push bad food as well. Keeps those gastrointestinal systems all screwed up = vet visits. People think because their animal's coat is all shiney that their food is great. How many healthy young cats do you know that don't have shiney coats even on Purina unless they had a bad start in life to begin with? It's later when the problems start, that the visits to the vet come in. I know that's very jaded of me, but I just find it so hard to believe that a person who is smart enough to get thru vet school can't recognize that the ingredients in Science Diet really are not good things for dogs or cats--and that some actual MEAT rather than corn now and then is a GOOD thing.

 

[chinablu]

wow thank u to all for the info on feline shots, i have a girl "Stella" and her last visit the vet gave her a three yr.......now i am concerned about that VAS, i will def look into it closer, again thanks all..........

 

[noludoru]

...I hate to admit it, but I also think vets push yearly shots to scare people into coming back to their office every year. Most people wouldn't bring animals back that frequently if they weren't uncomfortable about not doing it. I sometimes wonder if this is why some vets push bad food as well. Keeps those gastrointestinal systems all screwed up = vet visits. People think because their animal's coat is all shiney that their food is great. How many healthy young cats do you know that don't have shiney coats even on Purina unless they had a bad start in life to begin with? It's later when the problems start, that the visits to the vet come in. I know that's very jaded of me, but I just find it so hard to believe that a person who is smart enough to get thru vet school can't recognize that the ingredients in Science Diet really are not good things for dogs or cats--and that some actual MEAT rather than corn now and then is a GOOD thing.

:hail: :hail: :hail: :hail:

I may possibly have said something to that effect to my vet the last time she tried to push food. And it's also quite possible I wasn't nearly as polite about it.

Anywho, yes, I vaccinate, of course. Their last rabies vacc was for 3 years, and they just hit 2-1/2, so , woohoo, more vet visits in the spring...

 

[mrose_s]

yes, panda was always vaccinated.

 

[ToscasMom]

I may possibly have said something to that effect to my vet the last time she tried to push food. And it's also quite possible I wasn't nearly as polite about it.

I've known my vet for over twenty years and we are on a very friendly first name basis. I just told him one day that I had no intention of ever feeding my pets that crap, especially considering I know for a fact that he feeds his pets Eagle Pack.

 

[noludoru]

I've known my vet for over twenty years and we are on a very friendly first name basis. I just told him one day that I had no intention of ever feeding my pets that crap, especially considering I know for a fact that he feeds his pets Eagle Pack.

Lucky.

Care to ship a clone down to VA?

What do you feed your kitties, anyway?