Saturday, April 01, 2006

PSM-Ani

Consider this post a public service message...
aimed at animal owners.
...
Another trip toting a cat out to Doctor Harry's for the rabies shot to benefit "A Helping Paw" Org. It's a state law in MA each cat and dog must have their rabies shot each year to be legal. There's inexpensive clinics held each spring. If you wait past April you pretty much missed all the clinics and would have to pay for an office visit.
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I once gave a beautiful kitten to a nice family I knew. I lectured them on what the kit needed, and told them to make certain the kitten had a rabies and distemper shot before being let outdoors. They loved the kitten, and raved about her each time I ran into them around town.
Then about two months later I got a sniffling phone call describing a horror story of what happened to the poor kitty. It was outside, (unsupervised) and had not gotten the shots needed yet. The kitten went into the road, and was hit by a pick-up truck. It was injured, still alive laying in the road. A good Samaritan picked up the kitten and brought it to the vet's. But the kitten was in pain, and bit the Samaritan, drawing blood in the process. The kitten, who could've survived the hit, had to be put down because it hadn't had the rabies shot.
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Not to get the shot is risking losing your pet if they claw or bite anyone and need to be tested, which is only done by testing brain tissue (the animal's head must be cut off to test).
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I looked up tons of info on rabies one year at a friend's request after their shot-expired dog came in contact with a racoon which had been dragging it's hind-legs. That could be a partial paralysis associated with a rabies progression symptom, as there are two types of presentation (symtoms, how you would tell). One is the viscious behavior and salivation, the other the progressive paralysis.
The racoon had run-off and could not be tested. Gladly it was deemed after a long, lonely, indoor quaranteen that Elmo, the doggie, was alright after all. Those folks will never miss the shot-time again!
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Rabies has been going through the wildlife population here for the second year. The local vets put together baits containing vaccines and toss them along wooded areas to hopefully protect some of the racoons, fishers, skunks, oppossums and other critters.
For the longest time they didn't think it would cross the canal, but either they swam or stowed away aboard trucks or boats and spread all through the Cape anyways.

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It's possible for a cat to catch an infected, disease carrying mouse, or for a rabid and demented animal to uncharacteristically attack a pet they'd normally run from. We also have some deer and coyotes randomly roaming about.
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What scares me is if the cat catches a bird these days, we 'll have to worry about the "Bird Flu" spreading to them. There's no pet vacine for that illness yet. And People could possibly get a new strain of it from their pets.
So for the most part, my kitties have to stay in, unless I'm out in the yard with them on a day off. Getting them to go in when I need to go somewhere is quite a challenge, too. It can take hours to get them in.
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They do make effective in-home bug detectors. Found a wasp crawling in the kitchen for me this week. They like eating beetles. You can always tell when their eyes are attentively fixed on a wall or the ceiling where the insect is. They've also rid the house of many mice- Good job! They definately earn their keep, and I need the company...
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Today's pic is of Turtle, the tortoise-shell colored cat (today's needle victim). She hates the vets. When she was an itty-bitty kitty, she got ill and had to go in for a few days of kitty IV and drugs, which cost a pretty penny. She was spayed at about six months of age. Then she got an abcess from fighting with sis' Mischief, and needed to go back again the following year.
Of course, Turtle didn't know today was just for a quicky shot.
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First I had to brush her, then pick her up and quickly go shove her into the already open carrier, hidden in the bathroom. If She'd seen it first, there'd be no catching her at all....
Everytime I put her in the kitty-carrier she flips out in a tizzy fit, as though she can break out of there! It takes her awhile to calm down. She meows very loudly the whole way. That's kitty-speak for "Stop this confinement, Now!" As previously stated, I'm so glad my truck has a truck-bed cap, so the noise is muffled to low volume.

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At the Doc's she turned into "Ferocious-Kitty" open mouth Hissing, glazed eyes and looking like she's ready to take off your arm! She suddenly cannot be separated from that same carrier she was so desparate to escape earlier! So We had to take the carrier apart! She clung to her same spot, petrified, and sat still for the shot, finally all done. We put the top back on the carrier, screwed it back together as she sat there wondering what just happened.
We drove back home and what do you know? What a sweet, friendly kitty walked back out of the carry-case!
I guess she felt pretty relieved it was over. I hope she forgets again until next spring, at least! She's all purrs n rubs again, happy there was no stay-over for her this time.
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So now if she has a run-in with a brave squirrel out on the deck, I won't be worried. She's into the birds, though, n if she catches another one of those...
I hope there's not another trip to the vets!

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SO Get 'em those rabies shots. It's important!

14 Comments:

At 10:11 AM, Blogger Ellen said...

Many good points you have brought up with this post. I doubt many people have thought about cats catching birds (which is a favorite pastime) and the effects of the bird flu that's spreading. It is indeed scary to think about.

Turtle is beautiful in color.... what rich tones to her fur. It reminds me of turtle cheesecake, so I can see how you named her.
So funny that she would give you so much trouble with getting to the vets, then come out of the carrier at home like nothing happened. I seem to remember being like that when my Mom used to bring us for our annual shots when we were kids. I was the biggest complainer and pain in the butt. I'm sure if they had carriers then, she would have used one with me.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend... is the weather nice up there today?

 
At 4:48 PM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Ellen, I actually had another that looked like her before (the 20 yr old one) named Teri, who was good at the vet. BTW, I call Turtle "Fuzzy" to tease her...

The weather is great, almost 60, sunny, but very windy. The plants n trees are just beginning to bud, it's still too dry. Hope we get more rain soon. We're about 4 inches off the norm amount here, slowing down all the plants.

 
At 10:38 AM, Blogger Jinsane said...

What a beautiful little baby you have there! The part about having to take the carrier apart had me in stitches. I could just her clinging for dear life! LOL

I am adamant about my dog's shots. People, as pet owners, should be alot more diligent about these things. It would be better for everyone. But don't even get me started on these issues. I get really fired up....really fast.

To get to the point....some people shouldn't even be allowed to have pets. They don't give them the time or love that they should and that's a real shame.

 
At 10:37 PM, Blogger Neo said...

Snag - Man that is a fattie kitty! :)

I have to get Cody down for her shots soon. Actually I need a carrier to get her there. Not looking forward to the bus trip. She'll be meowing her little face off.

We had a cat out in our building that came in from somewhere. The poor thing was obviously someone's pet. It wouldn't even run from me. I leaned over and reached for it and it came right to me. It even let me pick it up.

One of the people at my work took it home and is going to give it to his mother-in-law.

Glad your kitty didn't freak too much over the shots.

Peace & Hugs,

- Neo

 
At 1:22 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Jen, Thanks, glad ya got some amusement from my epic adventure this week!
I agree that not all people make good pet-owners, I've met many bad ones. Humans can be so cruel- I don't wanna get started either!
Some are golden, too tho-

Neo, Turtle has lost wieght recently! I had a much taller n way- fatter one named Midnight who Piggy-Poo there knew in her first few months here, n unfortunately she learned the scarfing food bad habits from Mid...
The shot wasn't even realized by her at the time...

Don't worry, Cody won't hold it against you, n will be glad to get back home after! Kits have 8 week n 12 week-old shots - one prevents feline leukemia, contagious in cats (which killed my first cat at the age of 1)
It's good to keep both the kitty n the people safe, Good Luck-

 
At 2:12 AM, Blogger Michael K. Althouse said...

Yes, I agree all the way. Owning a pet is not much different from being a parent. There are responsibilities that one assumes when one becomes a pet owner. Period.

On a side note, a very famous pet owner has a charity called ARF which is, of course an acronym for animal rescue foundation. Every year there is a fundraiser called ARF Rocks! featuring Tesla and (this past year) the return of Y&T. This famous pet owner..? None other than Tony LaRusa, former Oakland A's and now St Louis Cardinals manager.

Pretty cool, huh?

~Mike

 
At 8:51 AM, Blogger Milk Brain said...

we're gonna bring our kitty in a couple of weeks to the rabies clinic. thanks for the heads up about that... after the day after we talked jay noticed the ad in teh paper! score!

neo- for some reason growing up i only remember 1 cat that wasn't fat, and growing up we had 3 cats that all lived over 20 years... and then snags got 2 more cats and the sis to turtle my sister nicknamed "sausage"...lol.. but they are cute and very loveable.. when they're not hiding. all of the cats were lovable and sweet. and the cat i have now is so different from those... she can be so prissy! lol

 
At 6:56 PM, Blogger Using up the words.... said...

wow. we really are so blessed here to not have to worry about all these things. Of course, makes bringing an animal into new zealand a very time consuming exercise. they have to stay locked up for months before they are let in.

glad to hear turtle survived the vet trip, and is all purrs again now. :)

 
At 2:57 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Hi Mike, yeah it's like the kids alright! N great when celebs volunteer to help bring attention to issues. Yay! Baseball season again!
Sometimes first-timers are just clue-less n uninformed.
The Vet here really went out of his way to help this ORG, n get the spay/neuter discount certificates out as well.

MB, yeah, last year I missed the clinics thinking there would be some around past April 15, n I was wrong! Why I thought my timing on the post may help some folks.

Hey CJ, You're back from the week's travels already-
Ya mean there's no rabies in NZ? WOW! Very lucky indeed, if the animals ever get out of quaranteen, that is! Guess the Morgan horses took a good long time to get in, eh?
I dreamt I was in NZ last night, too!

 
At 6:27 PM, Blogger Neo said...

Snag - Ha, Cody's got a little belly. Maybe I'll have to make her a kitty wheel to run off all that energy.

Peace & Hugs,

- Neo

 
At 2:30 AM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Neo, Mm I dunno if they make kitty-wheels.... Like if ya spend an entire day making one (lined with carpet of course) she may never use it, just cause she knows ya want her too...
I yell "Boogie, boogie, boogie!" stomp my feet n chase them around in circles to make them play-run... but not being home all day lets them eat n nap far too much!

 
At 5:02 AM, Blogger Ellen said...

Oh that's so funny that you would run them around the house to get their daily exercise. I was laughing at the visual I got in my head over that one.... also the kitty wheel Neo thought of. I would have never thought of that one myself. And you're right, kittys are so independant about what they'll use and what you want them to use most of the time.

I ran across an old poster at the Goodwill that listed the *things my cat taught me*...not sure if you'd ever seen it. Too funny how much of it was true.

 
At 4:33 PM, Blogger Using up the words.... said...

You dreamed you were in NZ??? But didn't visit. hehehe.

Hope it was a blissful dream for you.

I'm off again on Monday, but it's a short week - and then? I think hiking?! :)

 
At 6:34 PM, Blogger Snaggle Tooth said...

Ellen, yep, ya know cats don't like being told what they can do. You must convince them it's what they wanna do with rewards, n keep them from clawing the walls by threatening with a squirt-gun...
I had an email similar to the poster theme ya mentioned once, don't know if I saw that one though.

CJ, I didn't see you in that dream. But it was strange n about going up n down streets in a well-populated, residential area. lots of hills! Lots of flats.
Ya know If I were really there I'd look ya up pretty quick!

 

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