Pookie had his annual check-up today. I told the vet about Pookie catching/eating a mouse a couple of months ago, and that I'd been concerned at the time because I don't know if my neighbors put out poison. He told me it takes days for rodents to die from poison and that if the mouse had ingested the poison within 24 hours that Pookie would be fine. ?!?!?! (I may be remembering that wrong, but I think that's what he said). I told him I'd read that eating a poisoned (live or dead) mouse could kill the cat, and the vet said I'd been reading the wrong literature.
I told him Pookie had been having a lot of hairballs this year, and said since giving him a teaspoon of canned pumpkin it had really helped. He told me, (get this), that I should be careful about giving too much pumpkin BECAUSE HIGH CARB LOADS CAN LEAD TO DIABETES IN CATS. I wish I had thought to say to him, "I'd be more concerned about carbs if I was feeding him dry food, like the stuff you're selling out there."
Since Pookie is 8 years old, we thought it would be a good idea to have a CBC done as a baseline for when he becomes a "senior" kitty in 1-2 years. The vet told me they take the sample from the neck. He said they mind it less. I was not comfortable with this so they took the sample from Pookie's back leg. Does your vet typically take blood samples from the neck? I've never heard of this before.
I'd gotten a waiver for the vaccines last year, and asked for one this year, based on Pookie's history of medical problems (GI issues). Even though switching to grain-free wet has done wonders, I'm at the point where I feel "it ain't broke, don't fix it." Esp. since I strongly feel over-vaccination is what led to the issues that his sister suffered. The vet gave me the waiver for this year, but did advise that either next year or the year after that I should vaccinate for rabies. (My town [knocks wood] does not require cats to be licensed, or to show proof of vaccination). We went back and forth, and I have a list of vaccines he uses (he doesn't use the Purevax anymore because everyone wanted the "cheap" vaccines) that supposedly don't have adjuvants.
I asked the vet about rabies titering. He told me there's only 1 place in the US that does this (in Kansas) and it's over $200. To those of you who get the rabies titer, how much do you typically pay? Do you know where the facility is that does it? I find it hard to believe there's only 1 place in the entire country that does this. But he also said that the titer doesn’t really show immunity . . . (stuff I’ve read before). He also said he thinks it’s foolish not to get Pookie vaccinated: what if he gets out (he hides when people come here, including my family, and he never tries to get outside) and someone tries to catch him (good luck with that) and he bites them? He’d have to be quarantined for 6 months or his head comes off.
Like I said, he gave me the waiver, but I’m very upset. I want to know which takes precedence: the law or the labeling on a vaccine that says it’s ONLY TO BE USED IN HEALTHY ANIMALS. I had sworn, after everything I went through with his sister, that I would never let him be vaccinated again (both had the FVRCPC every year until they were 6), and driving home I was actually considering it. WHY?
I’m so upset right now. The main reason I go to this guy is because he’s never pushed the vaccines, and now I’m wondering if he’ll refuse to give me the waiver. I don’t know what to do next year. How many vets do I have to go to? The nearest holistic vet is an hour away, and I’m not even sure if they would give me a waiver even though they supposedly don’t believe in over-vaccinating. But I have other issues with that place since that’s where I lost his sister.