I used to and then I had a cat who was shall we say extremely difficult at the vet? My vet nicely suggested that I only bring him in when I noticed that something was wrong. He was an indoor cat so didn't need any vaccinations. And her approach was that he was so difficult to examine and so loud that she would never really be able to find anything. She said I would know best if something was up. He lived to the ripe old age of 19. And mellowed out enough that he could go to the vet when he got older. I now only take my cats when something is up!

We have two rescue cats. We take the sweet, mellow cat to get his teeth cleaned once in a while. As I understand it, getting your cat's teeth cleaned is important for a lot of other health reasons, just like human teeth.

The other cat, however, is almost feral. I'm not kidding, this is what the vet wrote the one time we took her and she raced around his cabinets knocking all the bottles over. After 2 years with us she'll let us pet her and will sleep on her bed. But try to get her in that carrier and she'll bite and scratch us, and then she'll do the same to the vet. He gave us some cat valium, but we tested it out and it didn't seem to slow her down. So for now, she doesn't go. I know we need to take her, but we're in limbo.

Anonymous wrote:I stopped taking my indoor cat in for shots after she developed a cancerous tumor at the vaccine injection site and I spent a ridiculous amount of money on cat surgery. This only happens to about 1 in 10k cats supposedly, and i was told never to vaccinate her again, but, side note, vet said they are supposed to give shots in the leg or tail now since you can lop those off if cancer develops. Anyway, my vet best friend says that exclusively indoor cats technically don't need most of the shots they get, but it's a way to get them to the vet for check-ups, which are important (blood work ups, etc).

Interesting. My cat developed a vaccine-associated sarcoma, which unfortunately was inoperable. I'd never heard of this before. I'm glad it sounds like your cat fared better!

Nope. 100% indoor (live in an apartment). One cat lived to be 19. Current cat is about to turn 17. Doesn't look a day over 12!

I stopped taking my indoor cat in for shots after she developed a cancerous tumor at the vaccine injection site and I spent a ridiculous amount of money on cat surgery. This only happens to about 1 in 10k cats supposedly, and i was told never to vaccinate her again, but, side note, vet said they are supposed to give shots in the leg or tail now since you can lop those off if cancer develops. Anyway, my vet best friend says that exclusively indoor cats technically don't need most of the shots they get, but it's a way to get them to the vet for check-ups, which are important (blood work ups, etc).

The last time I had my cat to the vet, I was told that all shots are now good for 3 years. So I don't plan on taking him back for a while.

Nope. We used to before we had kids. Now we treat them like the pets they are. If they get sick we take them in, but that's it.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. We can afford Banfield insurance from Petsmart, and we like the peace of mind.

We don't let the cat out of the house either.

We don't give heartworm medication, nor did the vet recommend it. Is it preventive?

Yeah, preventative. They told me to give it to her when I first had her saying that I could bring it in on my coat or something. It was like 30 dollars a month! Crazy. I'm taking my chances.

Indoor only cats don't need heartworm preventative. If your indoor only cat is exposed to a dog it might need flea preventative. Rabies shots go in one and three year versions so I take my healthy indoor cats only every three years unless there's a problem.

OP here. No, we don't do them annually. Haven't been in 4 years! But, vet aunt said they're good for 5.

Do you do annual rabies shots? We're a year behind but my poor cat hates the vet so much and gets very stressed, plus the vet pushes other things in the annual check-up that are expensive.

Yes. We can afford Banfield insurance from Petsmart, and we like the peace of mind.

We don't let the cat out of the house either.

We don't give heartworm medication, nor did the vet recommend it. Is it preventive?

I have 4 indoor cats who haven't been in years. It is just so expensive. We try to take them in when they are due for their shots, but otherwise they would only go if ill.

They do go outside with supervision when the weather is nice so I try to keep up with the flea/tick prevention meds, as we have pulled ticks off before.

We didn't, for a long time. But she recently snuck out a few times and was hanging out with our friendly-but-feral alley cats, so we figured it was time to get all her shots updated. Our vet actually doesn't push it; they know she's inside all the time and exposed to practically nothing.

I don't.

I don't really feel bad about it either. I have taken her in for various things, like when she ate some houseplants I was unsure of. But that was probably a waste of 600 bucks. I've had her for 9 years, since I adopted her from a shelter when that was going to re-release her after spaying (she was feral). She's alert, playful, shiny, not overweight, and has an up to date rabies vaccine (which is good for about 5 years apparently). I just don't see the need to take her in for anything else. I don't give her heartworm medication anymore either.

Convince me that taking her in every year is important. My vet aunt seems to think it's not really, but she'd never tell her clients that...$$$

How about you?