I want your opinions, should I have Peanut vaccinated?

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Sieden

Sieden

Member Since 2016
I'm taking Peanut to get his teeth cleaned on the 13th and since he is behind on his rabies vaccine he'll have to have that done before they will do the cleaning. I'm okay with the rabies but the girl at the front desk was trying to talk to me about how important it is to get the vaccine for distemper. Peanut is an inside only cat but she said that he will run the risk of getting it by being there and getting the cleaning. She did stress that it is totally optional though. What do you guys think is best? Peanut's numbers are in the yellow right now, he's on 1.75u of Lantus, he's overweight by at least 1 to 2 lbs. and also 11 years old.
 
My inside only girls haven't had vaccines since they were little. Some think these vaccines last much longer, even perhaps a lifetime. My girls always felt lousy/sickly after vaccines too, so that's another reason I dont do it.
If you choose to do the vaccines, I personally would not do them the same day as the dental. I think that's too much at once (dental, anesthesia, medications, plus vaccines), especially for a sugar kitty.
 
I'd go rabies for sure. When you say inside do you mean NEVER outside for even a minute? Our six boys are all indoors but Marco, who was an outdoor cat before adoption, goes out on the front stoop with me once a week because he's street smart and won't wander off. So he could take two steps in the grass and pick up all kinds of nasty things from skunk, coyote or raccoon poop like distemper or Hantavirus. And whatever you step in outside you bring inside. We have a wise vet who doesn't need our Visa to line her pockets so the rest just get what is needed. Be safe and thoughtful but don't get oversold or shamed into something you don't need.
 
katiesmom said:
My inside only girls haven't had vaccines since they were little. Some think these vaccines last much longer, even perhaps a lifetime. My girls always felt lousy/sickly after vaccines too, so that's another reason I dont do it.
If you choose to do the vaccines, I personally would not do them the same day as the dental. I think that's too much at once (dental, anesthesia, medications, plus vaccines), especially for a sugar kitty.
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I also have not vaccinated my indoor cats in years. I also agree the vaccines should not be given the same day as the dental. I suggest that you get the rabies and any other vaccines at least 3-4 days before the dental.
 
My cats are all indoor-only cats and they never get any vaccines except rabies. My vet is totally okay with this.

I also agree with the recommendation to not get the vacs on the same day as the dental.
 
Noah & me said:
I'd go rabies for sure. When you say inside do you mean NEVER outside for even a minute? Our six boys are all indoors but Marco, who was an outdoor cat before adoption, goes out on the front stoop with me once a week because he's street smart and won't wander off. So he could take two steps in the grass and pick up all kinds of nasty things from skunk, coyote or raccoon poop like distemper or Hantavirus. And whatever you step in outside you bring inside. We have a wise vet who doesn't need our Visa to line her pockets so the rest just get what is needed. Be safe and thoughtful but don't get oversold or shamed into something you don't need.
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Yes I mean they are inside 100% of the time. I also don't wear shoes inside of the house because of cross contamination. I have OCD already but it's also a cultural thing that I picked up from Asia. I leave my shoes at the front door and then switch to house shoes.
 
I've never been one to give any other vaccines except for rabies that's why I asked.
I didn't even think about the vaccine making him sick and not doing it on the same day as the cleaning but it makes sense. I want to get the cleaning done before I move because my ex boyfriend is paying for it and if I wait until after we split and move apart then I won't be able to afford it plus I'll be moving into a house with another cat which will be stressful on Peanut so I don't want to get his teeth cleaned then because that's just adding stress on top of stress. If I take him to the vet to get his rabies then come back home it will take 3 days before his brother will stop fighting with him and hissing at him which is stressful and then to take him back to get his teeth cleaned, I think that's too much to be honest and with everything that I have to do right now, I'm already running all over the place going here and there handling business for this move. With ALL things considered if I want to get his teeth cleaned at all I'm just going to have to chance it and get the rabies on the same day even though it's not optimal it's still better than the other choices.
 
Sieden said:
I've never been one to give any other vaccines except for rabies that's why I asked.
I didn't even think about the vaccine making him sick and not doing it on the same day as the cleaning but it makes sense. I want to get the cleaning done before I move because my ex boyfriend is paying for it and if I wait until after we split and move apart then I won't be able to afford it plus I'll be moving into a house with another cat which will be stressful on Peanut so I don't want to get his teeth cleaned then because that's just adding stress on top of stress. If I take him to the vet to get his rabies then come back home it will take 3 days before his brother will stop fighting with him and hissing at him which is stressful and then to take him back to get his teeth cleaned, I think that's too much to be honest and with everything that I have to do right now, I'm already running all over the place going here and there handling business for this move. With ALL things considered if I want to get his teeth cleaned at all I'm just going to have to chance it and get the rabies on the same day even though it's not optimal it's still better than the other choices.
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Does he have to get the rabies done? Is the vet insistent on it? If he is indoor only (and I am like you, no shoes come into the house, we take off our shoes, coats, in garage), it's unlikely he really needs it. I live in an area where it's the law, but I still dont do it. Vet is fine with it, especially because of the diabetes, she kind of gets a "medical deferment". I just sign a release when the get dentals saying I am refusing the vaccines. Just a thought.
 
katiesmom said:
Does he have to get the rabies done? Is the vet insistent on it? If he is indoor only (and I am like you, no shoes come into the house, we take off our shoes, coats, in garage), it's unlikely he really needs it. I live in an area where it's the law, but I still dont do it. Vet is fine with it, especially because of the diabetes, she kind of gets a "medical deferment". I just sign a release when the get dentals saying I am refusing the vaccines. Just a thought.
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I never thought about it actually but I'll certainly ask, there's no harm in it. Now Peanut will come in contact with another kitty when we move but this is a cat that he used to live with about 5 years ago and my friend has assured me that she hasn't been outside or in contact with any other animals so I feel confident in skipping the rabies vaccine. I'll send her an email a little later this morning and I'll let you know what she says.
 
Re rabies: I live in a 5th floor condo apartment and had bats get in here twice many years ago, likely through some ventilation opening. They can be rabies carriers.
 
I never wanted to sound like either the vaccination-Nazi or the anti-vaccination nutbar. Truth is all our always-indoor cats are all overdue. Why do we buy lottery tickets if the odds are one in a million? Because someone has to win. I won the medical lottery but in reverse, three nasty things that have odds of 1/200, 1/1000 and 1/2000. That's one in 400,000,000. Is it likely you'll have a rabid bat fly up to the 30th floor? Probably never. But right across the street from us is dog-poop land, coyotes and we've had outbreaks of raccoon distemper around here. Don't get conned into vaccinating for everything, be wise and for the love of all things Holy pick up your doggy doo!
 
I decided to go ahead and get the rabies vaccine and do it on the same day as the cleaning. I wouldn't normally allow him to go without his rabies vaccine anyway and if I don't do them both on the same day then he won't get to get his teeth cleaned so I have to pick my battles here and I made my choice. There's a chance that I will bring him back for his distemper vaccine and that's because I plan to go hunting this year and I'm pretty sure that I could end up bringing something back into the house with me and I'm not sure if I want to take that chance. He might have gotten that vaccine LONG ago but I certainly haven't had the vet give it to him since I got him when he was 1 year old. I'm going to take awhile to think that one over but at least I came to a decision on the rabies / dental cleaning issue.
 
My vet has not done Jones yet and he is over due. She said he was too sick and not to worry about for now. He did get the 3 yr rabies shot the year before so that is due next year.
 
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I think if I have a choice I'll choose the 3 year vaccine and as far as being able to go completely vaccine free goes, she was quick to remind me that Harris County is strict about the rabies vaccine and I know that she's right about that.
 
Peanut's dental cleaning went great. No extractions and only 1 tooth was showing a little bit of bone loss. He's running around the house now and I'm having trouble keeping him settled down lol. She also gave me some Gabapentin to give to him and his brother for during the move which will help a ton. While Peanut was there today she tested his BG with his monitor and with her Alphatrack and took photos of the monitors side by side. The Alphatrack was showing him to be about 100 more than the Relion is. I have an Alphatrack and I started out by using it but it was always pretty close (within 10 to 20 points) of the Relion but 100 or more is crazy. I have to get the strips and see what is going on. More on that in another post but the cleaning went well.
 
Sieden said:
Peanut's dental cleaning went great. No extractions and only 1 tooth was showing a little bit of bone loss. He's running around the house now and I'm having trouble keeping him settled down lol. She also gave me some Gabapentin to give to him and his brother for during the move which will help a ton. While Peanut was there today she tested his BG with his monitor and with her Alphatrack and took photos of the monitors side by side. The Alphatrack was showing him to be about 100 more than the Relion is. I have an Alphatrack and I started out by using it but it was always pretty close (within 10 to 20 points) of the Relion but 100 or more is crazy. I have to get the strips and see what is going on. More on that in another post but the cleaning went well.
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That is quite a bit of difference. What were his numbers?
And glad his cleaning went well. Sounds like he's really excited about being home:)
 
katiesmom said:
That is quite a bit of difference. What were his numbers?
And glad his cleaning went well. Sounds like he's really excited about being home:)
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They said that he just laid his head down and sulked all day long, he was like that when they brought him into the room, he didn't see me. I said "hey Peanut, it's mommy are you ready to go home?" He popped his head up and looked at me like he was so happy to see me. He talked all the way home, probably telling me all about his day. I'm going to ask the Dr. to send me copies of the photos tomorrow, they were on her phone. They were drastically different though like 367 and 212 just as an example. They did come within about a 50 point range when he came down to around 165 or something like that but that's still a huge swing in numbers. I've already ordered the Alphratrak test strips. I have some OLD ones here from about 2 years ago and just for the lolz I'm gonna test him with one of those when I do his normal test here in a few minutes, I want to compare them and see what happens.
 
I'm going to start a new thread for this because I just tested him with my old strips and got really high numbers just like the Dr. did
 
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