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is an individual decision that warrants serious discussion with your vet. An indoor cat that has finished its initial series of vaccines and will never come into contact with another cat is in a far different situation than a cat who roams the street at will and is out of its owner's sight for days at a time. I practice in an area where parvovirus is quite common, to use another example, and it would be malpractice for me to stop vaccinating dogs who go to the dog runs, groomers, doggy day care, etc., especially since there is a fairly large population of free-running dogs in some parts of town.
Having said that, I agree that not every pet needs annual vaccines, and I spend a good portion of the annual exam time discussing this with my clients. We consider the circumstances and come to a mutual decision based on what is best for the pet. Oh and by the way, veterinarians are not really getting wealthy on vaccines - the vaccine fee is usually a loss leader. I'd be perfectly happy not to do any vaccines at all and spend the time and effort on wellness care (dental hygiene, senior care, behavior issues, etc.) But keep in mind that vaccines do have their place. I remember the late 70s when parvo first came on the scene. Dogs were dying all over the place. We rarely see it any more in the vaccinated population, and believe me that is a blessing. (Same with distemper - very rare these days due to vaccination.) And since rabies is 100% fatal and affects humans, we need to follow the recommendations of the board of health - this is a legal issue as well as a public health and veterinary one.
What happened to your cat is horrifying, true, but I'm sure your veterinarian was nearly as horrified as you were. When a reaction occurs like that, it should be reported to the manufacturer (most of the time they will pay the bills for treatment) and obviously vaccinations should be avoided in the future (but also remember that a reaction such as that can occur after other things too - anaphylaxis after penicillins and other antibiotics is not unheard of, for example). Biological systems like humans and pets can sometimes be unpredictable, and that is why we need to use the best judgment we can based on the information we have.
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