Hi!
I got some great advice here last year when we discovered a large lump
in our 9 year old female cat. The lump turned out to be a
fibrosarcoma, but we found a great vet who did an awesome surgery.
She's now 1 year post op with no recurrence! That's the good news.
The bad news is that this former indoor/outdoor cat has been forced to
stay indoors. Her vet gave her a distemper etc. booster intranasally,
but she can't get any more injections, so she didn't get her rabies
booster this year. He says she has to be an indoor cat, but she is
driving us crazy and we all feel so bad for her - she longs to go
outside to use the big 'litterbox' and to see what's happening in the
neighborhood.
I've done a bit of reading on this group, and it seems that there is
some support for long-term effect of rabies vaccine. (i.e. she'd still
have immunity). Can anyone provide any more information that would
reassure us and let our baby play outside again?
Thanks,
Annabanana
MacCandace - 09 Oct 2004 20:37 GMT
<< Can anyone provide any more information that would
reassure us and let our baby play outside again? >>
I hope some of the people who have made really nice outdoor enclosures for
their cats will respond to you. Some have screened porches but there are a few
who have actual enclosures so the cats get to be in the grass, etc., like
Sherry and equalizer and others. That seems like the ideal solution, the great
outdoors but total safety. I hope to do something like that myself someday.
Candace
(take the litter out before replying by e-mail)
See my cats:
http://photos.yahoo.com/maccandace
"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
than human." (Loren Eisely)
Mimi Forsyth - 09 Oct 2004 20:47 GMT
<< the ideal solution, the great
outdoors but total safety. >>
Yes, outdoor enclosures are nice- but totally safe, no.
You must provide a shaded area and plenty of water, a litter box and a hiding
place. What if a boisterous dog sits at the enclosure terrorizing the cat with
loud barking? Where's the poor cat to go?
There are insects to consider, too, depending on where you live...are there
mosquitos carrying heartworm?
www.mimiforsyth.com
equalizer - 10 Oct 2004 12:18 GMT
><< Can anyone provide any more information that would
>reassure us and let our baby play outside again? >>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>"One does not meet oneself until one catches the reflection from an eye other
>than human." (Loren Eisely)
My pictures are still up:
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure%201.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure%202.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure%203.jpg
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/enclosure%204.jpg
***WARNING*** These next are full-size:
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/IMG_2236.JPG
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/IMG_2242.JPG
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/IMG_2244.JPG
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/IMG_2245.JPG
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/IMG_2249.JPG
http://web.newsguy.com/equalizer/IMG_2259.JPG
info @ www.friendlyfence.com -- looks like they just started a new site
dedicated only to cat fencing.
HTH, EQ
teri - 10 Oct 2004 04:17 GMT
>The bad news is that this former indoor/outdoor cat has been forced to
>stay indoors. Her vet gave her a distemper etc. booster intranasally,
>but she can't get any more injections, so she didn't get her rabies
>booster this year. He says she has to be an indoor cat,
Just be careful about bats. Our cats don't go outside, but when we
got a couple of bats inside the house this summer I was grateful the
cats are up to date with their rabies shots.
Keep that in mind just in case.
teri