Immunization poses problems for older cat

It is a sad morning here. I awoke to Molly barking. I came out in the living room and found Miss Kitty had passed away in my recliner. She had been failing ever since she had her booster shots for distemper and her three year shot for rabies. The one year shot is more gentle. It cost more, but I doubt I'll have my other cats get that 3 year shot.
Missy Kitty was a stray who adopted us last year. She was starving and a real mess. She came back to good health and was very friendly. She never wanted to go back outside. Rest in peace Miss Kitty.

 

Sorry to hear Save$.

As Scotty mentioned, they definitely are family members. It goes without saying that she will be missed............

 

Scotty,,, very sorry to hear you had to put Mindy down.... JR's as owning two a very affectionate dogs! They certainly bond to you...

 

Sorry for your loss.

 

• Well you can thank your vet for giving two shots at one time... Worst thing you can do... They will never admit that shots are the hardest things on your animal.. If your cat doesn't go out why did it need shots? We had a friend who had two cats that never go out... She told us her cats had a check up the other day from her traveling vet... I said what did she do for them? THEY BOTH HAD RABIE SHOTS!!!!!!!!!!! For what? That's BS! Look up rabie shots , how they are killing your pets over the long term! You'll be amazed! You can do blood titer work and have it sent ton DR Jean Dodds in California... Titer is good no shot is needed... My dogs will get one rabies and titer work after that. I left a vet that insisted my 14 year old Jack Russell who has diabetes, a heart murmur and had a small breast cancer removed in the last year, get a rabies shot,,, if not, she was not going to give us anymore scripts so we could get needles to give our dog insulin twice a day! Can you imagine! Well I was so pizzed I found a holistic vet by us, brought Lily my dog to her. Just the fact the Lily had diabetes alone she gave Lily a rabies waiver that she didn't have to have a rabies shot due to health reasons... she also told me that if Lily had been given a rabies shot, without a doubt her cancer would have returned... My new guy Benny had to have his one rabies shot , my holistic vet also gave me a herbal remedy to give to Benny twice a day for 3 days to counter act the rabies side effects.... Shots are a big money maker, read and you will learn... skin problems come from over vaccinating, and then you bring your pet in for that issue and they are making more money off of you ! Shame on my other vet for not giving Lily a rabies waiver! I let them know too by sending a nice email when they were looking for more business from us..
• Want to hear something scarey about a rabies vaccine! The same amount of Rabie vaccine is given to all dogs whether it's a 10 pound dog like my Benny JR, or a 150 pound great Dane! Think that's healthy? I found vets that are not shot happy thank God! You love your animals and then they turn around and over vaccinate your best friends! Now they are on a long slow down hill road to poor health... Kidney failure, cancer... just destroys their immune system... We have a cat who has never seen a vet and is 7 years old and never ever been sick,,, zero shots! He's in great health! Only time he was to the vet was to be neutered. Read and you will find out and keep your pets around for a long time.. it's all out there... Look up Dr Dobias! Just makes me mad to hear you were good enough to take in a pet, bring it back to health and then needless shots took your cat! Sorry for your loss and shame on the Vet !

 

Here's his website... peterdobias.com

 

Thanks for your kind words. We have two himalayan kittens. You can be sure they won't be getting those toxins after the basic series. They don't go out, and the are not exposed to other cats. Just our two labs who are up to date. We lost a three year old lab last April. She had her shots updated in January. Her death was sudden. I think she had bloat.
We get so attached to these fury friends. Our kids are all grown. Very busy with their own lives. We don't care to travel far from home, so having these critters around sort of fills a void.
Scotty, sorry your Missy is gone. My daughter had a jack Russell. Unique breed. Her dog is an escape artist and very hyperactive. She loves him a whole lot. I can't keep up with one that runs around. That is why we have the labs. Very calm and slow. Same for the himalayan kittens. Slow and calm.

 

This whole rabies shot thing is out of hand... How many people do you hear of nationwide dieing of rabies? A strong immune system in dogs and cats is what is needed.. Over vaccinating destroys this... Then everything else falls apart in an animal.. I worked for the Health Department early on in the Highly Infectious Unit... They trapped and tested mosquito's for encephalitis... also in that same department was the Rabies unit for NYS... The one guy who worked with bats said he rarely ever saw a bat with rabies.. So all these rabies shots year after year are just money makers and a death wish on your animal... Your animal should have at least one Rabies shot.... He or she then comes under a Vaccinated animal ruling... He your animal bites someone, he is observed for 10 days then returned to you... No shot at all,,, he or she is considered not vaccinated and will be put down so the brain tissue can be tested... So you want your animal to have at least one rabies shot..

 

Sorry to hear about your cat. My cat is 26 pounds so he tolerates shots rather well. I get him rabies shots every 3 years. He also has a microchip implanted. Rabies is a growing issue in this state as well as most of the US west. Several human cases of it have been reported in recent years in Oregon by people bitten by wild animals, particularly bats and foxes. Feline rabies is on the increase in this state as well. Also to transport dogs and cats between western states you need a rabies certificate by law, and they have to be at least within 3 years. Most towns and cities here in the west also require valid rabies vaccination certificates (1-3 years) for any animal licenses, and most towns require pets to be licensed. So the rabies vaccination laws vary by state, region and city that you live in.

The Plague is also an issue here. Yes, there was a fellow here not too long ago not far east of me in Oregon that lost all his toes and fingers because he was bitten by a stray cat that he was trying to tame, and it had bubonic plague. His hands turned black (why they called it the black death) and he nearly died. It was ugly and he was in the hospital for months. You would think this stuff is not a problem, but it is, at least in this area.

 

26 pound cat, are you sure it is a domestic cat? There are some big ones here also, Maine Coon Cats. Those big cats make litter box duty a lot of work. Can't let the cat out. Too many hungry critters in the area, including bobcats.
I agree you have to be rational about the immunizations. That is why I think having a tider drawn first is a good option.
My cats don 't go out, ever.

 

Scarey stuff the plague is.. Non of my animals ever had a license. For what, do the get to use something special? Always thought that was just a money maker... We have 96 acres here so they have plenty of room to run... Not like they go use a doggie park... speaking of, I see some nut is putting carpet tacks in what looks to be pork fat and throwing the pieces into some dog park... idiot! Well my vet is allowing tiders to be done for any vaccinations ... As long as they come back in an protective range, no further vaccines are needed.. Great topic!

 

Sorry to hear about your Kitty. Amazing how we become attached to our pets. Console yourself knowing you gave her a good year.

 

Yah, he is 1/4 Siamese, and 3/4 American Shorthair. AS's are known to get fairly large. They were bred to hunt rats and mice on ships coming to the Americas. He is 2x the size of my ex's yappity lap dog. Siamese are natural hunters and he lives to hunt outside (and inside, and under the house). I cannot stop him from going outside, hunting and eating his kill. He hates having an indoor litter box, and uses the great outdoors. He has an evil fondness to poop where he knows the rodents are burrowing. He hunts and eats mice, rats, voles, moles, shrews, small squirrels and rabbits, and sometimes birds and bats. Bats are a big issue, as when an animal eats a rabid bat (or any infected animal), they will get rabies. So I keep him vaccinated. Bats are the main vector for rabies in Oregon, and other animals wind up with it after eating or being bitten by bats. We also have bobcats, owls, golden eagles, and coyotes here, as well as the occasional mountain lions and bears. They all are known to kill cats, but coyotes are the main issue here. He has managed to avoid being eaten for over 6 years now, but I had to take him to the vet for an abscess from a bite earlier this year.

Here he is in a pine tree supervising my working:

 

This is the non-photo story of the guy on the other side of the cascades from me that got the plague from a cat bite. You can Google for the photos, but they are not pleasant. There have been 5 confirmed cases of plague here in the last 18 years or so.

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/47832395/...plague-confirmed-oregon-man-bitten-stray-cat/

 

Beautiful cat! My cat only uses his litter box in the winter, otherwise it's out the doggie door... He's also a good hunter, brings in some stuff unharmed as well, rabbits, flying squirrels, chipmunks... He usually comes in a night for the most part. He's about 7 years old... We also have coyotes here as well.... He even comes with walks with my dogs and I when we walk our woods...he's a real affectionate cat.. His mother was Siamese and don't know what the father was. We got him from a neighbor who had kittens from one of her barn cats..

 

Great photos. Looks like an American shorthair-Siamese cross, like mine. That is a very common cross of farm cats in the US now. Mine came from a sheep ranch. I like silver tabbies as much as red tabbies. AS's have long arms and are very social (the crook their tail when they get close to you, and they hang their arms off ledges and branches like in these photos). If you look at your tabby cat under really low light at night, their stripe patterns become much more pronounced, which gives them a huge advantage in night hunting.

Sorry to hijack this thread. I hate to think about my cat passing at some point.

 

Yes he does love to hang his arms over chairs, etc... He's very vocal when ever he comes into our house through our doggie door..Likes he's calling for you.... Loves to be pet... Also loves to do that kneading thing with his paws to you like he's nursing... Best cat we ever owned...

 

Sorry about your cat, save$. It takes time to get over the loss of a pet, but they are never forgotten.