rabies shot time.

Hello all! Hoping someone can provide some insight to this. I have 2 cats that are a little over 1 yr. old. I adopted them from the SPCA when they were kittens. When they were kittens they received their rabies and routine vaccanation shots. Turns out the one male cat is allergic to shots. In other words, every time he got a vaccanation shot or his rabies shot, within a week he would get very ill.....throwing up, fever, wouldn't eat or drink. It is now time for him to get his rabies shot again and I am afraid her is going to get sick. Does he HAVE to have that shot? He is a completley indoor cat and is not around other animals. Thanks!

 

CLWA, when my baby had her shots (rabies and other shots), she became very tired and no appetite for about a day. I told my Vet and he said to let him know if she reacted the same the next time she went for a booster (trying to nail it down to what vaccine). YOu need to talk to you vet about it.

He said that he could give her an alternate vaccine that would work and not make her sick. But I had to let him know how she reacted to the last one.

 

in my opinion, no...not if he is indoor and no other animals...there is no need.

my kitty otis did not have his shots for at least the last five years of his life, as he had a bad reaction. he was just fine. no contact with other animals...and strictly indoors.

even if he were to have his shots...my vet recommends every two to three years...not every year. they dont need it. it is a money maker for vets...thats why they give every year....

 

The rabies vaccine is required by law here so even though my cats are indoors only I always get it anyway. I also feel that there is always that slim chance of another animal getting into the house or the cat getting outside.
My toy poodle had a reaction to the rabies vaccine and because of that he now gets (I'm sorry I can't remember exactly what it is) another shot prior to getting his vaccine that stops him from having any ill reactions.

 

is it a steroid nern?? or something like cortisone??? is cortisone a steroid?? :roll: :0011:

 

No, I don't think its a steroid. I'm pretty sure its an antihistime (sp?). He only gets vaccines every 3yrs so thats why I can't remember. :?

 

if you have a pet that has a bad reaction to rabies vaccine (I talking life threatening reaction) you can get the vet to make note of this and the cat or dog can go without the vaccine as long as you can guarantee no contact with carrier of rabies (bats are the biggest concern so be sure you don't have a problem with them...they don't even test bats in NH they just assume they are all carriers and if an unvaccinated pet has contact with a bat right into quarantine and shots for all - had this happen to a friend). I'd at least find out what the laws are in your state regarding possible exposure for unvaccinated cats.

And with you cat being older now there might not be a bad reaction - ask about Benedryl prior to the vaccine. I know some people with Siamese cats that have reactions will treat with Benadryl prior to the shot to keep the reaction down. I'm just not sure if it's with the rabies vaccine or not - I'll see if I can find out

 

I found this - sounds, though, like your kitten had a mild reaction. Interesting stuff about vaccines
http://www.avma.org/vafstf/rbbroch.asp

 

*snort* i dont think your cat should need it if they are indoors only..but if u live in the country and theres a chance of them getting out i'd think about it.

But if u are in the city blah.

i dont think i'm gonna bother with Raz's rabies shot. it's just extra money i could be using on something else for him - and i live on a second floor in an apartment building (in the city) so theres no way he'd ever come into contact with rabies. :mrgreen:

 

i have to agree with eternal flame...in some cases...its not relevant.

otis who never even wanted to go outside didnt have his. there was no reason. he wouldnt have gotten out. he wasnt a kitty that ever tried to get out of the house.

max and mikey...max sits by the back door when i come through the garage at the end of the day....i dont have traffic in my house...no kids comin or goin....he never tries to get out into the garage. neither is interested. mikey is always scratching at the scratching post when i walk in...he is never even by the door.

i may get their shots every three years...

i dont ever board them....sometimes if you board animals they ask for a shot certificate. then...you have to be updated. i wonder what the rabies laws are here???? im gonna check...

 

i just checked...arizona does not have rabies vaccination requirements for cats.....

but if my cat was an outdoor, or indoor/outdoor kitty, i would definitely get him vaccinated. out here in phoenix, there are wild animals that come into residential neighborhoods...bobcats, coyotes. and its not uncommon for that to happen. in fact...its a common occurance.

well...good...i dont have to worry about breaking any laws, then :shock:

 

I have 4 cats. They are all indoors. Except Milo likes to escape the house when someone rings the door bell. It happened yesterday. :m36: I'm not giving 3/4 kitties any Rabies shots because I know they won't escape. Milo, on the other hand, need the vaccines. So as long as you know your cat won't go out under any circusmtance, there's no need for the Rabies shots.

 

my friend I mentioned in my post lives in the middle of Boston!!!! She had a bat get into her apt. and she didn't know it was there. She woke up in the middle of the night and her cats were playing with the creature. She was able to shoo it out with a broom but the next remembered her youngest cat never had its booster so she called the vet. Cat into quarantine and she went through the shots. I wouldn't consider city living any safer than country.

 

lol safer? safer?? i'm in 'DA HOOD' here theres nothing safe about it :shock:

*giggles*

but personally i'm a country chick (grew up there wanna go back there miss there ect) so i know what it was like growing up there. theres any number of squirrels, chipmunks, poqupines (sp?), raccoons, u name it there...

as opposed to here in the city where unless u live next to a small park or something- u aint gonna see none of those things. which i miss. Far as a bat goes... i dont think she had screens on her windows- else that was one bat that really wanted in! :mrgreen:

did she live near a lake or anything similar?

 

HEY!!!! eternal flame snorted again!!!! :shock:

 

bats can get in just about anywhere. My sister woke up on night and saw a bat hanging over the bassinet of her daughter - no idea how it got in though. Window screens, no water....bats are able to even squeeze in between a chimeny and a wall. My husband has torn down many chimney and found bats - he should actually have rabies shots as should I with fostering. But I don't often volunteer to get poked

 

That's also true with mice. They can get in any crevice and scale the walls of the house. Can mice get rabies too? We have mice infestation in our attic. It's too bad Vene is gone. She kept those mice at bay. If mice can get Rabies then I'll want to get my furbabies their shots. They are all going to the vet for a check-up tomorrow except for Milo and I was wondering if they should get their rabies shots?

 

mice.....here's my tale :?

when Geoff was about 3 he was playing outside with my cat, Tami. I happened to glance out the window and could see Geoff bring his foot up and then stomp it down - HARD.

I had a brain flash (don't have many) and I thought oh &*$# he stomped a mouse...I went running outside and yup that's what he had done.

My cat Tami had gotten a mouse, and Geoff was able to get mouse away from Tami but in doing so the mouse bit Geoff....so he stomped on it. Not one of his proudest moments to have mouse all over the bottom of his shoe and to this day he feels badly he did that.

Anyway I called the emergency room and asked them about the chances of a mouse being rabid - mice, being on the bottom of the food chain, normally don't live long enough to get rabies.

 

LOL's Mary. Geoff is a good kid. I really don't want to give my kitties uncessary shots like Rabies even though it's the state law in NY.

 

I don't know how various vets do things but here if you can't produce proof of rabies and your cat needs surgery or whatnot rabies will have to be updated before they'll do anything.

My cat Sessy once cut her belly open when she fell out of a tree (see why I won't let my cats out anymore). My vet was gone for a holiday weekend so I took her to a different vet - but since I didn't have her rabies info and my vet was closed and couldn't verify the other vet had to give her a rabies shot before he could stitch her up!!! I wasn't happy