OK, I'm back. I went in and it was a different vet (husband/wife team) and then I was told rabies is required! So I had to have both vaccinated against rabies. However, I skipped the rest of the shots. I also finally got them microchipped, and blood drawn from Bo for some tests (b/c of his age).

They told me complications could arise from any vacc. not just rabies.

This is such a confusing issue. On one hand, I would feel terrible if any of my cats got a disease I could have prevented with a vacc. On the other hand, the lump Bo got scared me to death. On the other hand (I have 3 hands ), my cats never go outside, never bit anyone, but I would die if they ever did bite someone and had to be killed to be tested for rabies.

I don't know what to think.