Rabid Foxes

[tnr1]

$50 you can vaccinate 10 animals for rabies, or sterilize one animal (and maybe vaccinate that one too.)

Actually at our clinic you can vaccinate AND sterilize 3 cats for $50. And since in most cases you get 1 shot at trapping a cat....doing both at the same time has both the benefits of taking that cat out of the breeding program via spaying/neutering and vaccinating it for a year.

Cats certainly ARE considered rabies risks. In the recent report I saw for our area (central North Carolina) two counties reported cats as the third highest number of cases, and one as the second highest (two animals in each of these three instances.)

Show me an instance of an increase in rabies in cats at a location where a successful TNR program has been implemented.

Estimates by USDA suggest the numbers of stray and feral cats are continuing to rise and are only slightly less than the 73 million estimated to be in households.

"Estimates"..that's the key word isn't it. No one officially knows how many ferals/strays are out there...it's all a guesimate. Like the 2 cats equals 420,000 after X number of years. Both are misleading.



Katie

 

[catsknowme]

Originally Posted by Ellie

There's also 4 racoons that come up at night and eat the cat food. I don't like it but they don't bother my cats and I'm afraid if I stop feeding them they might starve. I would love to get some of that oral vaccine in them.
Ellie

Good job on looking out for your feral kitties, Ellie!

But as for the raccoons, they do pose a disease/parasite threat to your kitties, and both my vet & our local animal control recommend not allowing racs to dine at your pet dishes. Also, it is not good for them to become dependent on people for food;additionally, raccoons can be very agressive.