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But so far, this looks like the best, most useful info. Not what they don't want you to know, but an extensive, detailed writeup on how to go about choosing and interacting with a vet, what to expect, etc.
Some reassuring things in there given that we visited our current vet again over the weekend. He's a single practitioner with a small office. I like him, we spent plenty of time talking and he makes sure Amber is comfy as possible when we do things like drawing blood. For example he has us hold her as opposed to getting the tech, although he offers to get the tech if we thought that would be safer or more comfortable for us.
I am so relieved to see your post, because it shows an attitude of appreciating the truly altruistic, even suffering-for- the animals vets who live and work amongst us. I know of some and love them as human beings! It's just like anything else: you get great teachers, doctors, lawyers, baby sitters!, etc. I know a vet tech who pet sits now and then and you wouldn't believe what she has done for certain neglected "charges". She is an angel and the stupid pet parent doesn't even appreciate her.
Actually it is untrue that the 1 yr rabies vaccine is the same as the 3 yr rabies vaccine. I do the ordering at a non profit practice for spay and neuter and they are two seperate vaccines labeled 1 yr and 3 yr. A 3 yr can not be given without a previous 1 yr vaccine.
The overpopulation of pets causes a horrific death toll on the innocent and helpless. It's a slaughter that never ends for those who cannot speak for or defend themselves. I have always blamed it on those who refuse to spay their female cats and dogs. At least sterilize the females. But people refuse to do it. They have all kinds of excuses. They want their children to experience the miracle of birth. But they don't take them to the shelter to experience the horror of euthanasia. They claim they have no money, yet have a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other hand...as they sit at their computers. The excuses are endless. The slaughter continues. Mandatory spay/neuter is part of the answer, along with forcing shelters to become no-kill facilities in all municipalities. Forcing them to aggressivly seek people to adopt by taking the animals where the people are. It's very difficult to force change because you can't get enough people to take a stand.
You're 100% correct. What could any of us have done that day to save those cats? Every one of us already had pets at home. Some of us were already fostering pups or kitties someone left on the doorstep or never came to pick up. No one we knew wanted to hear what goes on behind the closed doors of an animal hospital. What they don't know didn't bother them. They didn't have to feel guilty for doing nothing.........
I have this fantasy, and if I didn't feel so overwhelmed, truly overwhelmed, periodically, with my own situation here, I would have acted on it yesterday.
I think that those of us who have the time and knowledge should offer to speak to community groups about the entire subject of not just spay and neuter, but what happens to kittens born outside, the suffering and the often horrific deaths, what happens to the average cat or dog in the average municipal shelter, and what can be done about these things.
I read somewhere that non-profit marketing experts have found that people do not respond as well to the horror stories, however, as to the success stories. And that it is far more effective to put a face onto a story, etc.
But I feel that we should be volunteering our time going to church, boy and girl scout, fraternal, college, high school, etc. groups to speak up about what is necessary if we are to prevent more suffering.
And to come armed with a WAY for the listeners to participate. All over the nation, now, there is Alley Cat Allies and Neighborhood Cats which advise in a hands on way how to TNR, how to set up and encourage spay neuter clinics. There is the Humane Society of the United States. Once I spoke with them and they offered to send someone up to NY to speak at my house!! I just couldn't manage it, however, but this is the truth: They offered! Etc. etc.
Actually it is untrue that the 1 yr rabies vaccine is the same as the 3 yr rabies vaccine. I do the ordering at a non profit practice for spay and neuter and they are two seperate vaccines labeled 1 yr and 3 yr. A 3 yr can not be given without a previous 1 yr vaccine.
There's two different factors here.
A vaccine labeled one year is Purevax. It's a vaccine intended for cats that has no adjuvant. The adjuvant is the part of the vaccine that most believe causes vaccine related sarcoma in cats. It is not the same as the 3 yr rabies vaccine...it is made in a different way. It must be given yearly (or titered depending on what your state allows).
With the adjuvanted vaccine, the first shot is only good for one year, even if the vaccine itself is labeled 3 yrs.
So a 1 yr and 3 yr vaccine are the same injection when you're speaking of the adjuvanted vaccine. A 1 yr Purevax is a different product (Which may actually last longer than 1 yr, but the law requires it yearly in most states because of the product label and lack of research. Adjuvants increases the immune response, which is why the adjuvanted vaccines are labeled to last longer.)
Veterinary Economics (from the above link) is a great magazine. Very interesting peek into the business side of running a practice. I can't get the subscribe link to work right now to see if things have changed, but previously VE was offered free to veterinary professionals. It used to be easy to get a subscription even if you weren't a vet or tech...they didn't do much checking.
Since most vet offices receive multiple copies of VE and the others, you can ask your vet's office if they would be willing to lend out a copy once they're done with it.
One of many Veterinarians who have been speaking up, did a 3 part series back in 2007, explaining the whys & hows:
Quote:
Here’s a little history lesson:
...But vet schools were forced to re-shape their research and curricula to support pet medicine’s emerging potential. In the process, many schools effectively outsourced nutrition, preferring to concentrate on the sexier, more service-oriented sciences.
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... Our dwindling funds were better spent in other areas, were they not? Especially now that states didn’t want to fund us because we’d moved away from agribusiness support. If we wanted to survive (and survival was indeed in question for a lot of schools, including mine for a time) we had to accept some help from industry, didn’t we?
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So our researchers were hired away to more affluent industry jobs with gleaming labs and cozier retirement packages. In turn, the pet food companies promised to work closely with us in the development of their foods while sponsoring our research and funding scholarships to our students.
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Never mind that a veterinary school should be an independent research institution free from industry influence. Never mind that the pet food companies…
Healthy pets would put a hurting on MAAAANY profit-makers. Why do we think a Merck (DRUG Co.) veterinary manual has been cited (in another thread) as an authorty of feline crystals and UT health? THAT'S all which the mainstram veterinary association has to go by -- those who fund everything can only profit off of SICK pets. Yet the conflicts of interest continue to go on unquestioned and unchallenged. And if pets eat healthy food, they don't get so sick.
Last edited by Pamina333; 01-02-2013 at 10:19 AM..
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