Tuesday, January 29, 2008

my poor baboos.

We brought the kittens to the vet to be neutered today. (I think I'm going to miss their cute little boy puffballs - but probably not as much as they will.)

While making the appointment last week, I had a heated discussion with the receptionist about the kittens needing their rabies vaccine. I've read that the rabies vaccine has been closely linked to fibrosarcomas in cats and I'm not entirely comfortable with it. My cats have never been outside, do not come in contact with other animals, do not bite people, their chance of getting rabies is minuscule...so why do I have to inject my healthy animals with a substance that could potentially cause very aggressive tumors?

Because it's the law.

So this morning when we brought the kittens in for their surgery, the receptionist (a frightening combination of The Soup Nazi and Nurse Ratched, who hums to herself and thinks she's something of a veterinary expert) told me that the kittens needed their rabies shot. I explained that I wanted to speak to the doctor and she showed us into an examination room.

As soon as the vet walked in, I beat him to the punch. I immediately informed him that I was not going to give the kittens the vaccine, and why.

"But it's the law!" he said.

"And?" I replied. "Are they going to come to my house and arrest me?"

I took a lot of convincing, but it turns out that he could lose his license. Neither of us had any choice. He had to vaccinate and I had to let him...because it's the law.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The thing that scares me the most about my profession? Watching everything that is not forbidden slowly being made mandatory, and everything that is not mandatory slowly becoming forbidden.

Anonymous said...

I have to admit, even though I worked for a vet way back in high school, and so know how important vaccinations are and all...my cats stay inside always. They do not come in contact with other cats. I do take stool samples to the vet occasionally to test for worms, 'cause at least one of them catches a mouse once in a while. Otherwise? I am a baaaad girl and do not take my cats to the vet.

breda said...

fearsclave, just reading that scares the bejeebus out of me. It's a frightening truth about the world today.

And raven? yeah - we'll probably be going that route too.

Anonymous said...

Why should cats have more liberty than humans? After all, it's the law that you get YOUR shots. Eventually, a person who wants to stay healthy and free will have to avoid licensed doctors entirely.

I suppose you could DIY, though you don't seem like the kind of girl who would be comfortable using a Burdizzo. My Scorpio wife could, but we want our barn boys all big, fierce and stinky

Anonymous said...

The rabies vaccine darn near killed my mother's ragdoll cat.

Regards,
NMM1AFan

Anonymous said...

Maybe there's a state in which cat vaccination isn't mandatory.

Christina RN LMT said...

I don't know. This is a pretty complex subject, since you can't be absolutely certain your cats will never manage to sneak out of the house and come in contact with a racoon, or whatever critters live in your neck of the woods.
And what if you ever have to board them at the vet's or a kennel? Any stay at a kennel requires proof of vaccination.

phlegmfatale said...

the law needs its ass kicked.

Anonymous said...

When the time comes to renew them, find out if your vet can do a "titer test" to check for antibodies instead. If any are present At All, the vaccine is still good and doesn't need to be renewed. My vet said the price on that test has come way down, so they'll do it routinely now (usually if you need the vaccine after testing, it's free or really cheap. Kinda like taking the cost of the estimate off your car repair *wry*). Of course, that assumes the town/state doesn't override. Stupid that, but at the same time, rabies IS fatal and transmitable. I'm of mixed opinion about it.