My comments on Reader's Digest article "50 Secrets Your Vet Won't Tell You"
"After the kitten vaccinations, indoor cats don't really need to be vaccinated. They're not going to get rabies sitting inside the house. Vaccines have the potential to create a lot of harm for cats, including possible tumors at the vaccination site."
My first year after vet school, I worked in a great small animal practice east of Cincinnati. One morning the tech and I came into the building to discover a dead bat on the floor of the treatment area (sometimes referred to as "the back"). We picked up the bat, handled it a bit- bats are cool! On a whim, we decided to submit the body for rabies testing. I'll give you once guess as to the results.
Yep, rabies positive. The tech underwent post-exposure vaccines. We monitored the clinic cat for months.
The point? The animals most likely to carry and spread rabies vary from area to area. In my part of Ohio, we have bat carriers. Eastern states have problems with racoon varients, and in the western states coyotes might be the biggest risk.
Yes, indoor cats might be a relatively low risk for rabies. But that rabid bat made its way into a vet hospital. I have had bats in my house. Tell me I am not risking my cats (or myself, or my kids) by not vaccinating. Rabies is fatal. Period.
Many areas have laws that require rabies vaccines for cats as well as dogs, inside or out. The state does not care about the cat's health, this is a human health issue. A rabid kitten biting neighborhood kids could be devastating. Imagine the lawsuits.
Yes, vaccines can have side effects. So do antibiotics. And pain medications. Heck, water can be a toxin (it is not well absorbed by the lungs). So we weigh risk and benefits with everything we do. There are very good vaccines out there for cats that minimize the chances of harmful effects- ask your vet about the pros and cons.
Enjoy your pets!
PS- I heard this really great interview soon after writing this rebuttal- it's very interesting!
http://www.npr.org/2012/07/19/157049292/terrible-virus-fascinating-history-in-rabid
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