My first Soul Mate Cat, Pandora lived to be 18 years old. She was an indoor cat.
Every year I would receive the card in the mail from the vet that it was time for her routine vaccinations. I always tossed them in the garbage. It never felt right to me. Especially as Pandora grew older and was in her senior years I was adamantly against it.
I had vets give me their pitch on all the horrors that could occur if I didn't vaccinate. I would gracefully thank them and decline. I honored my gut instincts.
In 2011 I rescued a senior cat from the City Shelter in West Los Angeles. I picked the one who looked the most frightened. They said he had been there a long time but was very healthy aside from his bad teeth. He was given a rabies vaccine prior to leaving with me and the shelter had already given the other routine vaccine concoctions on his arrival. I panicked when they did the rabies vaccine. I told the clerk he was a senior. Her response was, "It's not a big deal, they could get vaccinated weekly and it wouldn't bother them". I was aghast! This remark reminded me of the vet I once went to who said "Advantage Flea Medication was harmless and so pure that a human could drink it". Sometimes I am absolutely stunned by the lack of awareness; that's why self education is imperative in assisting you in tapping into and following your own internal guidance system.
The shelter cat who we named Mr. Spock became severely ill after the rabies vaccine. For months he had severe diarrhea. Following that came the skin lesions. His ears were crusted over and his eyes were sunken in and goopy. His nose would not stop running. His immune system was completely rummaged. It literally broke my heart to see this poor boy so ill. The animals are never given the voice to say NO and because of the city shelter system neither are the humans. To vaccinate senior cats and dogs is a disservice to their delicate systems. If there are underlying issues it can wreck total havoc on their immune systems. Mr. Spock showed me what the rabies vaccine can do to a senior cat. It took about 8 months for the poison to process out of his system; if it ever really left.
I have also heard horrible stories of puppies and kittens receiving their vaccinations and passing on thereafter. Where some animals can handle the toxins others cannot. I no longer vaccinate my fur children. I have 2 senior pups who are doing amazing! I have an FIV cat who already has a compromised immune system and I would never compromise her life by vaccinating her. She is doing so well and thriving.
I strongly believe we are over vaccinating our animals. It is a yearly routine pushed by the drug companies for profit. I always encourage the Guardian of an animal to do their own research. Pay attention to the health of your fur child especially if there are current underlying medical issues. Remember, our animals have small organs, they have small delicate systems. They can only process so much.
This blog is dedicated to Mr. Spock aka "The Great Traveler" We love and miss you boy.
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