Aylen’s Story of Rabies Vaccine Avoidance
My husband and I currently share our home with five cats. The baby, Aylen, is now sixteen months old. When she reached nine months we finally decided it was past time to get her spayed. I always dread these things, and knowing she’d only had one round of vaccinations when she was eleven weeks of age, I was dreading more the inevitable discussion of requiring vaccines from the vet who would do her surgery.
I had started to follow Dr. Falconer a few months prior and emailed him for advice. We had tried numerous vets over the years and even had one experience where I, too, was bullied by one. I remember exactly what Dr. Falconer had told me: Look for a vet who is sympathetic to your beliefs, and if they’re not, take your business elsewhere.
Sympathy for a Price?
Despite the fact we thought we had found a nearby clinic that appeared sympathetic, their fee was almost twice as much as a vet I’d gone to many times before but was thirteen miles away. In Houston traffic this means up to a forty five minute drive one way! Price won out, and I made her an appointment. The night before the big day she cuddled with me in my arms and next to my face all night long, and I cherished those special moments. It was almost as if she knew I needed comforting somehow.
Get Your Kit Together
In case you have to plan for such a surgery in the future, here’s a quick list of things I’d recommend for the morning of:
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A bottle of Relief Tone by Energetix (a homeopathic1 that helps speed recovery from surgery and detoxing the anesthesia out of your kitty)
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A cat carrier
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A bottle of Bach’s Flower Rescue Remedy
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A strong cup of coffee (you can choose to spike it if you’d like ???? )
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A cold washcloth
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A good eye cream that fights puffiness
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Someone else (besides you) to drive your precious cat to the vet’s office
Confession: Items 1-3 are for the cat; items 3-7 are for you. Yes, I had to use the Rescue Remedy on me–I was a mess.
Thank God I talked my husband into dropping her off because I know now after being in charge of this task for all our previous kitties it is NOT something I can go through anymore. It’s quite embarrassing to be the cat mom in the lobby who has a tear-stained face and is sobbing uncontrollably.
The Confrontation
The morning started off pretty well all things considered, until the staff at the clinic asked my husband if Aylen had been vaccinated for rabies yet. After arguing with them that she was not going to be vaccinated for this and them replying that “it’s the law,” it was agreed that the doctor would give me a call later.
Plus, they didn’t know how to answer him when his final rebuttal was “our other cat died from getting vaccines.” Yes, poor Snowbear, we are still reliving his nightmare.
My phone call with the doctor about an hour and a half later didn’t go much better, but I stuck to my guns. And I cried. Through tears I explained my stance on why we just couldn’t risk her life.
Aylen lives indoors and doesn’t come in contact with other animals and is not at risk of contracting rabies to begin with. Then I explained that Snowbear, (a former patient at this clinic) had died from vaccinosis. The doctor did agree that the risk to Aylen was very low indeed but insisted they are bound to fulfill a requirement by law.
This is where things became very interesting.
Here’s The Rub
Did you know that the law doesn’t care if your pet is old, frail, sickly or have a compromised immune system?
They expect you to keep giving a rabies vaccine at best every three years…even though most pets acquire lifetime immunity after the first vaccine.
Think about it: do you get re-vaccinated every year? Of course not! And your life span is decades longer than an animal’s.
Just keep this in mind: the traditional veterinary medical model is based upon generating revenues, and many veterinary practices rely on annual re-vaccinations for a large part of its revenues. In some cases titer tests may be used, but even they are not completely reliable.
I quit drinking the Kool-Aid years ago when I got smart and started questioning the whole agenda behind the vaccines. Thankfully I have had a good relationship over the years with this particular doctor, and she has respected my beliefs and not pushed vaccinations. When the doctor finally realized I was not going to back down she informed me that I could opt out if I signed a document acknowledging that if Aylen were to bite someone she would have to be quarantined at a clinic. I simply told her I wasn’t worried about that happening, and I’d be more than happy to sign the form. This fight was over, and I won.
And, better yet, Aylen won.
The Homecoming
I picked her up later in the afternoon, and she was quite perky and anxious to get out of there. When we finally got home she was hungry and very happy to be back with her family. The instructions on her discharge papers clearly stated “no running or jumping.” Yeah, right. She clearly didn’t plan on following any of those, and despite our efforts to keep her off tables and counter tops, we found her snuggled up with our cat, Gunner, in the laundry basket on the counter in the laundry room later that evening.
For three days following surgery I used the homeopathic Relief Tone1 to help clear her body of the anesthesia. Seven days out her incision started to look a bit unusual in color so I put her on colloidal silver product called Silver Shield by Nature’s Sunshine. A few days later her incision was completely healed!
I am grateful for Dr. Falconer’s advice to find a veterinarian who was sympathetic to my beliefs and to give me the courage to stand my ground. We must not be afraid to take control of our cats’ health because they are counting on us!
Note from Dr. Falconer: This is perhaps your most vexing problem: how to legally avoid rabies vaccine! I get asked about this repeatedly. Hopefully Pam’s story will help you in your quest. A key understanding: you can fulfill the intent of the law with two rabies vaccinations given over the age of 4 months. Odds are high that’ll give lifetime immunity, say veterinary immunologists.
Fulfill the letter of the law at your own risk.
For more from guest author Pam Roussell, please visit Purrrfectly Holistic
1A combination remedy, Dr. Falconer does not recommend this.
