[Scoundreller]

And which virus would that be that lives in cats and bugs? And the cat’s too slow to catch a mouse nowadays. But it’s the same situation: most of what you’re vaccinating against is feline specific.

The cat’s free to go outside at any time, but nowadays prefers the comforts of being indoors.

The only solid argument against my strategy is nosocomial infections from the vet themselves.

[acituan]

Mosquitos, snails, slugs and fleas can absolutely carry worms to your cat. You can carry fleas on your clothing for example if you pet an infected animal on the street.

[liability]

What do worms or fleas have to do with vaccines?

[acituan]

Periodic deworming, if you are to use prescription dewormer or get it in the form of a shot, will require vet visits.

[liability]

Yeah but that's not vaccination. His cat's vet is upset he doesn't vaccinate the cat, so I think it's safe to say he's not avoiding the vet in general.

[acituan]

OP said

> A cat that no longer goes outside and occupants that don’t interact with other cats basically means the cat is under total isolation.

Which is not entirely true. Even indoor cats can get worms, and periodic deworming is part of preventative care as vaccinations. The fact that deworming vs vaccinations interact with the cat’s immune system differently is an implementation detail that is inconsequential to this discussion.

> so I think it's safe to say he's not avoiding the vet in general.

That’s not how I understand it.

[Scoundreller]

> can get

And I “can get” yellow fever if someone with it comes back to my neighbourhood, a mosquito bites them and then bites me. But it’s largely a waste of money for me to get vaccinated anyway.

Considering risk vs. cost of prevention seems to be lost when dealing with vets (whom also often lack strong evidence for their interventions).

If anything, it’s the humans in the household that could benefit from preventative de-worming, not the cat exclusively eating canned cat food.