Thanks for the warm welcome!

Thanks! Any insight from anyone in the field is always appreciated!!! And if you can glean any information from any veterinarian friends of yours, even better!

Joy
P.S. Great question about the pet food industry. I look forward to hearing about that one too. I've heard pet food companies used euthanized animals in their products and it horrified me. I hope you are able to dispel this if it's a myth or elaborate on it if it is true (or even partially true)!

It would be of interest (and disgust) if the pet food industry uses euthanized animals.  I doubt any pet owner would give permission for their animals to be used as food.  Certainly, feeding old and diseased animals to our pets can't be healthy.  

Wasn't mad cow disease caused by feeding cows, cow products?  

Welcome to MedHelp Tom.  I look forward to following your blogs.  

You can be quite certain that euthanized pets are not used as pet food feedstock.

However, some of the petfood is allowed to use 4D, diseased, dead, downed and drugged animals.  Roadkill is also included

This can be included in _____ by products or by product meal.   And yes, this does happen.  

I cook roadkill for my dog, if it is fresh. By that I mean rabbits, gamebirds, or deer. I don't see the harm in that. And that kind of meat has almost NO fat on it, and is incredibly healthy meat for her.

But I always wondered what happened to those poor stray animals that are put to sleep on a daily basis. Where do they go? I used to think they were cremated.....

Yes, they are cremated.

Welcome to MedHelp! Always great to have more experts on the site.

As a pet lover and owner I look forward to hearing what you have to say. Welcome! :)

We look forward to reading your blogs!    Welcome !

Happy to discover you on MedHelp--I'm new to MedHelp, and was on here hunting for clues as to a 90-year old human's sudden itchy burning rash (underarms, breasts, vagina)....and found your blog site!

Last night we adopted to cats from the SPCA---

the first is about 7 months old--- a very healthy-seeming, friendly, neutered-male, no tail at all (rumpie, I think they call it)--
brown tabby with dark brown/black stipes and spots.
He is FIV negative.  My question: must he have a rabies shot, if I never let him outside?

2nd cat--also indoor cat--same question re. rabies shot.  He is still hiding under the bed, but at SPCA was gentle and friendly.  An adult--looks like a young one  Came as "stray" to SPCA BUT also had shoulder chip (they could not locate owner).  
   I am to take him back to SPCA Friday to be neutered.  So far, please please please, no spraying.

How do you feel about declawing these two fine cats--they will never go outside.
We also have a Congo African Gray parrot (age 17) and a German Shepherd Seeing Eye dog.--both very gentle.
Of course we will not allow the cats around when parrot is out of his cage. Still, I worry about prey instinct (both cats seem fine with dogs, but I don't know re. birds).  Declaw or not de-claw?

Thanks for any opinions or advice.

Hi Life is an Eyeblink...glad you found us!

I see that you are in Pennsylvania.   To my knowledge, Pennsylvania does require rabies vaccines for cats.  Even though  your cats don't go outside, most veterinarians still strongly encourage rabies vaccines as a matter of protecting the pet and you.  

It is not uncommon for bats to find their way into our households and these flying mammals are one of the top rabies reservoirs.  You might not notice if a bat bit your cat and then you have a potential for exposure for the whole family, two and four legged.

Your veterinarian should be able to get you set up on a protocol where your cats are vaccinated for rabies just once every 3 years.   Another option is to consider rabies titer testing.   This is a blood test where the lab looks for rabies antibodies in your cats' blood.   There are two potential issues with titer testing...one, veterinarians are still working to understand the meaning of the titer levels.   In other words, how much antibody does a cat need to be protected?  And then, the second issue is that titer testing is almost always more expensive than vaccinating.

Your best course of action is to sit down with your veterinarian and find out what protocols he or she recommends for rabies protection in your family.

As far as declaws...watch for a blog posting later this week!

As usual, I am late to the party.

So I offer a belated welcome to you. Some professional, friendly help is always welcome around here. :-)

Savas -CL Cat & Small Animals Forum