When Good Turns Bad

[lady_birchwood]

I just got the awful news yesterday that a coworker’s 11-year-old cat, a lovely and well-loved cat, has been diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on his back at the site where vaccines have been given.  The vet told my friend that surgery and radiation therapy would probably give the cat a 50-50 chance of survival.  Of course, the vet bills associated

Comments

[ar_wahan]

I had not heard about this potential danger from vaccines.

My vet believes in limiting the frequency of vaccines. He does research in addition to his practice, and he's said that some remain effective longer than the pharmaceutical companies maintain. I wonder if this is part of his reason to spread them out more -- not just time and cost.

I am so sorry to read about Otis. :(

(Edited for correct icon.)

[lady_birchwood]

I'm sure that this is THE rationale for not "over-vaccinating." I've read this as well that vaccines are effective for longer than the popular dosing schedule would indicate. These vaccinations are not without risk, although relatively few cats are affected. However, if it is YOUR cat, it doesn't matter that the risk is fairly low.

[mactavish]

Inside cats I'd take more risks with, as well. Outside cats are more likely to piss off a raccoon.

Our dogs get rabies vaccines every 4 years now, in middle-age, I'm not sure whether cat shots can get that infrequent.

[lady_birchwood]

A little story about one of my beloved "housecats:"

We have a sliding screen door that goes out onto our back porch. One evening, one of us forgot to close the screen door when we came back into the house, probably with our hands full of something and assuming the other had done it. An hour later, I walk into the kitchen and discover this screen door slid back, allowing the whole night to loom in front of a wandering tomcat. Yes, he was out there in the yard -- along with a family of raccoons. Luckily, they hadn't squabbled. But this is why I will keep the rabies vaccines up-to-date. It's the "just in case" factor that's involved.

And then there is the story of the little calico exploror who found a loose screen after the windows had been washed and a screen had not been firmly re-attached. She exited a second-floor window and went wandering around on the roof at two in the morning! Anything could have happened!

[imgomez]

My cats have always been indoor only cats. The only vet care they got was when I first got them, and when they were in decline in their old age. It's not because I'm cheap or don't value them - it just never made sense to me to protect them from things they were highly unlikely to be exposed to. I only feed them measured amounts of high quality dry food, and the only time they'd ever be around other animals was at the vet. I've had several cats in my life, and all but one stray -- who had diabetes when I got him -- have been healthy, long-lived cats.

[lady_birchwood]

I'm glad for you and your cats. Mine are strictly housecats, too, and their exposure to diseases is very minimal. However, I will continue to get them vaccinated against rabies due to the wild animal population in our wooded area, just in case an "escape" and confrontation should occur. There is also the very minimal chance of them biting a sitter or other visitor, even though this has never happened. Then we'd be up against the legal issues involved with a non-vaccinated animal and potenially having to have them euthanized to have their brain tissue tested. The risk of them biting someone is about the same as the risk involved with the rabies vaccine, so I'll pick the rabies vaccine in this case.

[imgomez]

On an unrelated topic: Have you read "Justinian's Flea: The First Great Plague and the End of the Roman Empire"? It made me think of you and the work you do.

http://www.amazon.com/Justinians-Flea-Plague-Empire-Europe/dp/1400103851

[lady_birchwood]

I haven't read it, but my husband read it upon my recommendation. He enjoyed it and read parts of it to me. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. Too busy working in Microbiology!