How Important Are Vacinations?

[Jan Rebecca]

Tuffy is due for his yearly rabies shot and the other yearly booster thingee - (can't remember what it's called atm) And I'm wondering how important those are? I'm going through a divorce and money is really really tight right now - would it hurt to skip a year if he comes in no contact with the outside world or other cats? I don't want to do anything to cause him harm in any way - he's my baby after all - this is why I"m asking for your opinions on this! Thanks!

[marie73]

I wouldn't skip the rabies vaccination.

Here's a recent thread with this subject which might answer some of your questions.

Do you vaccinate your indoor cats?

[JillianS]

equally important is probably de-worming. I would understand a month or two late (last time I was at the vet, for Libby's routine shots, she had been feeling slightly under the weather lately, so just in case, the vet wanted to wait a bit. He said that as long as I was in within the next 6 months, it should be fine (although it had only been 6ish months since our last visit, so maybe that's why..)

[Greenport ferals]

Originally Posted by Jan Rebecca

Tuffy is due for his yearly rabies shot and the other yearly booster thingee... would it hurt to skip a year if he comes in no contact with the outside world or other cats?

No, as an inside cat it wouldn't do him any harm at all, in my opinion. Those shots are effective far longer than advertised. The risk of rabies to an indoor cat is almost non-existant.

[akane]

Actually rabies is effective for many years and many cities no longer require it more often than sometimes 3 years. The problem is a legal standpoint. Your animal is required to carry a rabies tag for as often as the city or county deems the vaccine needs done, not you or your vet or that study you read, otherwise you can get big fines, possibly taken animal for quarantine, and if your animal bites someone or gets bit by an animal that rabies vaccine cannot be proven definite quarantine or immediate pts because you can't test for rabies on a live animal and there is no treatment so they don't mess around when humans are bitten by animals with no proof of rabies vaccination. So by health it's not important and possibly harmful to do rabies yearly but legally it's not good to fail to have a recent enough rabies tag for your animal.

Personally I think after reading studies if a cat has been vaccinate several years in a row they are probably covered for near life with a few exceptions that they are unlikely to catch without coming in to contact with other cats. We currently only do rabies on our 4-6year old indoor cats but did full vaccinations when they were younger and more often when one went outdoors sometimes.

I do not deworm without cause. If your cat is not eating wild prey and going outside it has little source for worms. Most internal parasites cannot multiply in the host. The eggs or larvae pass out of the body with the stool and then contaminated food or maybe diarrhea being cleaned off the paws would have to be reingested to pick up more parasites to grow in to adults or some parasites have to leave on an intermediate host like a fly, flea, or mosquito and get injected back in at a later lifestage. Clean litter box on an indoor cat shouldn't pose a parasite problem anymore than a human has. All humans have parasites but hygiene and not eating uncooked wild animals keeps us from getting enough parasites to have any symptoms. Treating without knowing there is a need causes resistant strains to appear so deworming of any animal should be accompanied by a fecal egg count and check under microscope for adult parasites to determine the correct dewormer and how often it's needed for your situation rather than the shot in the dark approach. Even the outdoor cats eating mice we needed to deworm maybe once every 3 years. Although we do deworm without fecal any strays we find with certain unhealthy looks to them and then fecal if they don't improve.
Deworming your Cat

[westfayetteville]

Jan
Here is a link you might like http://www.thestar.com/living/pets/arti ... on-changes

[October]

I had the same question recently, Jan. We took Murphy for his rabies shot 2 weeks ago, and of course, you wonder why you're doing it. They have to include an exam, so of course the cost was higher than you think it was going to be (in my case, $75).

They gave him the 1-year rabies shot this time, whereas the previous one from a different vet was the 3-year shot. Does anyone know why they'd give either the 1-year or 3-year shot?

[westfayetteville]

Hi October
the 1 year shot is safer than the 3 year shot from causeing cancer.

[October]

Originally Posted by westfayetteville

Hi October
the 1 year shot is safer than the 3 year shot from causeing cancer.

Good to know. I was kind of disappointed because it'll mean having to go in every year for the shot (and those visits are really stressful....for ME), but it makes sense if it's safer.

[Mom of 4]

Another resource is the local SPCA or Humane Society. Ours often have low cost rabies clinics. Some of our local vets offer a low cost rabies/vaccination clinic once a month. Minimal exam to make they are healthy enough for the vaccinations.

Or talk to the vet. A few years ago, my husband lost his job suddenly (his boss was a former superstar NFL QB and I still hate him). and the vet worked with us on the price of meds for the dogs and payments for the annual exam. I had a long history with them, they knew I would pay and it was better than losing a customer.