Rainy Tuesday

[missdiane]

 I'm taking this afternoon off to take JonJon to the vet for his shots. I anticipate kitty draahmaaah. I have the carrier out in the open and both kitties last night were jumping in and out of the open top. Yeah, won't be so much fun when I have to shut the lid. I have to make sure to catch JonJon and cram him in there in one go because if he gets away, he'll be ZOOM under the bed or couch. I'm going to ask if they have the multi-year rabies vaccine though I don't think they do. My kitties are strictly indoor so it seems overkill to get the shot every year and also, I'd like to take them to the vet every other year instead of every year if it's doable. The drama doesn't stop when I get home since then he smells like vet and JuneBug is nasty to him and it takes a minimum of a good day before they're ok with each other again.

Speaking of the kittylumps, I was getting nostalgic and looked up this video that someone took when they were both stray kitties at the shelter together. 

"Karma cats" (Watch on YouTube)

I didn't adopt them at the same time. I got JuneBug first and then decided she needed a friend. The two were NOT getting along and I was just about to return JonJon until I was sent this video. Ms. Sassypants JuneBug was BUSTED in that she did get along with him before...lol sort of...The two still get into their scrapes now and then - interestingly moreso when I'm hormonal. But for the most part they tolerate each other well enough.

Comments

[threecee.livejournal.com]

They are adorable. Are they siblings?

Vets around here seem to think the multiple year rabies vaccine may be more likely to cause cancer than the one-year. There is a known link between rabies vaccine and cancer in cats, but the risk is considered "acceptable". (Still killed my poor Toby.) A lot of vets are also advocating giving the rabies vaccine in a leg or the tail so if a tumor occurs they can amputate and reduce the risk of it spreading. I wish I could just skip it altogether, but PA law requires indoor cats to be vaccinated. (Ones allowed to run outside in contact with wildlife are exempt form the requirement. The logic of our legislature is unfathomable.)

[missdiane.livejournal.com]

Not as far as we know. They were both found as strays in a nearby county but not found at the same time. They estimate them being a month apart in birthdays but that also could be off on the guess.

I'm sorry for your Toby! For indoor cats, though, do they really need to be vaccinated every year? I mean sure there's the risk of something happening if they escape but heck, their risk of that is tons lower than them getting squished by a car or something.

That's mind boggling that they DON'T insist on getting regular shots for the ones that are more likely to get the disease. It almost rings of pointless regulation.

[threecee.livejournal.com]

I think the idea is that the multi-year dose is more concentrated, so they get a much bigger dose of what they may have problems with. I don't think they really know what the best thing method is.

The legislature was primarily concerned with protecting people from rabies, not the welfare of the cats, and we have a lot of farmers in the legislature who just didn't want the expense of vaccinating their farm cats. The local animal welfare groups do recommend vaccination for outdoor or in-and-out cats because of rabies among local skunks and squirrels.