Get Vaccines for Your Pets

 PEOPLE-I was trying to find Facebook groups to follow for ideas and advice for IBD, CKD, lymphoma, etc.-issues my cats might have (issues we dealt with in the past with Baby, Katharine, Roxanne, issues that possibly killed them even though necropsies weren't clear.) But the people are antivax and I support ALL vaccines for cats. Many seem a tad histrionic and some dogmatic and absolute in their responses to "Can my cat get a vaccine?" There's no room for discussion. They are inflexible when trying to discuss WHEN one could normally get a vaccine and when one MIGHT want to not.

Granted, most vax are given in the first year of life or if a cat is new to you and you do not know the history. Testing for antibodies/antigens might be possible so that a vax isn't repeated.

BUT annual (or for some biannual) distemper and rabies shots ARE A MUST in general. Distemper can be brought in on shoes, drift through windows, picked up from wild animals you or your cat might encounter in or out of the house. Rabies might be encountered from any animal getting inside the house or if you encountered them, etc.

YES-if the cat is too ill you should avoid vax because a body is not strong enough to handle the immune response. Myrna Loy in the last year of her life (not that I knew that when at her annual exam) did not receive her vaccines because her cardiologist said that she was not strong enough; and that last summer (which again I did not know would be her last) I was so cautious about not tracking through the house with our shoes, about scrubbing hands after petting the outdoor neighborhood cats, etc. And luckily no bats came in and she did not slip out.

We have NOT received vaccines at the annual exams for any of the cats if the vet found something like a fever or dehydration or another issue. We waited until the time passed and they were healthy and then got the vaccine. Typically the following week.

The annual checkups for Elizabeth and Jimmy will be this fall. They are due for their annual rabies only. I will ask if they are strong enough-I will ask his oncologist and their cardiologist and their regular vet. But unless they are ill, they will receive the rabies. Will that change in the future? Likely.

We only had one cat that ever had an issue. Bette had an allergic reaction and was treated for it, and annually given a shot by the vet an hour before the vaccine for the rest of her life.

So, yes-there are various situations, solutions, and reasons to get and not get vaccines for our pets. But please do not be absolute antivax for your pets. There are too many diseases they can get that are preventable with a vax. Get the vaccines and then concentrate on those health issues we cannot prevent that need our attention.