Reader's Digest Anger

So the other day, I got Reader's Digest in the mail. I still haven't figured out how we started getting it but I haven't paid for it (as far as I can tell) and its much better than the never ending subscription to Spin. Which, I finally just called and told to stop sending it. I don't think it was ever going to run out.

Anyway, when I got Reader's Digest, it had an article in it called '50 Things Your Vet Won't Tell You'. I read it with amusement wondering how many of those I don't tell my clients. I can't really answer that.

BECAUSE...
I was so infuriated at #27 which essentially gave illegal and dangerous (potentially deadly) advice.
This is it:
27. “After their 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 vaccine site.”—Jill Elliot, DVM, owner of Holistic Vet in New York and New Jersey.

Thank you, Dr. Elliot for trying to kill people.

While I'll agree that after kitten vaccinations (and those of their 1 year old visit) there are some vaccines that can be stopped. Research has shown that it is very difficult to infect adult cats with FeLV (feline leukemia virus). Also the distemper vaccine is very good so it can actually go every three years (again after the kitten series and one vaccine at 1 year old). This is our vaccine policy in our clinic.

HOWEVER, rabies is not a vaccine to be taken lightly! Rabies is always (with like two human exceptions) a fatal disease. Testing for rabies in animals is always fatal. (You have to examine the brain.)

Rabies can be acquired by indoor cats. If by chance, they come across a bat which is always considered rabies positive until determined otherwise. I've actually had clients call about their cat which was playing with a bat...IN THE HOUSE!

I would hate to be the vet that told an owner that they didn't have to vaccinate their indoor only cat only to have to euthanize it, expose my staff to rabies, and have the family go through rabies prophylaxis. I'm pretty sure that's malpractice. And again, illegal. Most states require domestic cats (read, any cats you feed) to be vaccinated against rabies.

Vaccines have come a long way. While I have seen tumors that I believe to be associated with vaccines, the risk of rabies outweighs the risk to the cat. (We vaccinate for rabies because of the public health concern. Every vet knows that! In third world countries, the number 1 carrier for rabies is not wild animals (raccoons, foxes, skunks and bats are the number 1 culprit in the US.) but dogs!) There are now what are called nonadjuvanted vaccines. An adjuvant (normally a form of aluminum) is what helps motivate an immune response causing inflammation. Nonadjuvanted vaccines are safer for cats. Also making sure that the vaccines are given as low in the leg as possible will help because if there is a vaccine induced tumor, it can be removed by amputation.

Anyway, I wrote a letter to the editor expressing my concerns and gave my suggestions.

I looked up the article online and everyone is freaking out about #20 which is about Caribbean schools. Ugh. Seriously? I know that they recently received AVMA accreditation but having worked with multiple students from the Caribbean schools...I found them lacking-mostly lacking in skills, motivation, politeness. Not all of them...about 50% of them. The other 50% were stellar. There was no inbetween. And that's my opinion. Its not a fact. Its what I experienced.