Cat Vaccinations

golgotha

TCS Member
Young Cat
Joined
Apr 3, 2017
Messages
20
Purraise
6
Personally, I only advocate for vaccinating kittens as soon as possible (which is about three weeks of age). Especially to avoid the dread that is panleukopenia, which can decimate an entire litter in a matter of hours.

Unless your adult cat is living alone (as in without other cats or animals) in a very sterile, clean, human only environment, and/or is in direct risk of some specific diseases (an outdoor cat in a rural area can very easily catch rabies for example) I generally advice against yearly boosters because of the risk of cancer.

Some vets are really biased when it comes to vaccines because is a good source of income for them, so I personally do not trust their input on vaccinations. Though to be honest, I don't trust the local vets in general.

Anecdotally speaking, being a cat owner for over 20 years I never had an adult cat come up with an issue that could be countered with a vaccine, but my cats spend at least some part of their lives, living in a not very hygienic environment, either because there was always more than one of them (you can keep a place only so clean with five+ cats roaming about) or were street rescue dumpster divers.

I have a 12 year old cat that has never seen a vet in her life so far (I just knocked every wood surface in the house) and is obviously not vaccinated, she spend the first 6 months of her life in the streets which probably did wonders for her immune system.

But again, anecdotal, at the end of the day is up to your discretion, but keep in mind the environment the cat is in, and remember just because a place looks clean and smells clean, it doesn't mean is 'clean' bacteria wise.
 

kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Messages
6,198
Purraise
3,964
Location
Moriarty, New Mexico
kittens mom kittens mom That's awful to hear. I, too, have had very bad experiences with vets- two separate vets have almost killed my cat. I now steer clear of them unless absolutely necessary.
I hope you filed a complaint with the SVB and your state AG. My bad vet has shut her doors. ;)
 

kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Messages
6,198
Purraise
3,964
Location
Moriarty, New Mexico
Personally, I only advocate for vaccinating kittens as soon as possible (which is about three weeks of age). Especially to avoid the dread that is panleukopenia, which can decimate an entire litter in a matter of hours.

Unless your adult cat is living alone (as in without other cats or animals) in a very sterile, clean, human only environment, and/or is in direct risk of some specific diseases (an outdoor cat in a rural area can very easily catch rabies for example) I generally advice against yearly boosters because of the risk of cancer.

Some vets are really biased when it comes to vaccines because is a good source of income for them, so I personally do not trust their input on vaccinations. Though to be honest, I don't trust the local vets in general.

Anecdotally speaking, being a cat owner for over 20 years I never had an adult cat come up with an issue that could be countered with a vaccine, but my cats spend at least some part of their lives, living in a not very hygienic environment, either because there was always more than one of them (you can keep a place only so clean with five+ cats roaming about) or were street rescue dumpster divers.

I have a 12 year old cat that has never seen a vet in her life so far (I just knocked every wood surface in the house) and is obviously not vaccinated, she spend the first 6 months of her life in the streets which probably did wonders for her immune system.

But again, anecdotal, at the end of the day is up to your discretion, but keep in mind the environment the cat is in, and remember just because a place looks clean and smells clean, it doesn't mean is 'clean' bacteria wise.
I'm not anti vaccination I'm anti over vaccination and standard doses that doesn't take into account the actual size of the pet.
 

mokapi

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
586
Purraise
614
I hope you filed a complaint with the SVB and your state AG. My bad vet has shut her doors. ;)
I did not. I was much younger at the time and was too fixated on just getting my cat back to me to even think about anything else. Karma has a way of dealing with things on its own, though. The vet who was purposefully going to let him die was killed in a single-vehicle accident.
 

MissMolly08

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jul 3, 2017
Messages
421
Purraise
472
There are two issues at play here. To get a license for your cat they must be current per your state regulations. Your vet be part of the growing number who think the dose should reflect the size of your pet and the use of titers. Some US states recognize titers. A kitten must receive the one year and from then on can get the three year to be compliant in my state.
The science, the protocol and the laws are not even close to being on the same page.
I believe and the timeline suggests that Kittens immune system was damaged by the BAD VET injecting her 11 year old body with the old style rabies even though she told me it was Purevax. We had been using the yearly Purevax waiting or the 3 year. I believe that's what lowered her immunity and she got her first cat cold ever and that is when BAD VET overdosed her causing blindness and liver failure. Not only are repeat vaccinations hard on older cats I believe there is a cumulative effect. As our pets live longer and longer natural lifespans these side effects of over vaccination are going to become more evident.
That's my opinion and I'm not going to be budged from it.
I'm so sorry about what happened to your fur baby. I do understand why people choose to not vaccinate beyond 1 year (hence why my cat hasn't been vaccinated in 9 years)... what I was a bit confused about though is why many seem to consider the booster that is given at 1 year to be "necessary" but boosters beyond that aren't. My cat got the kitten series but NOT the 1 year booster and now I just wonder if that's ok... should she have had at least that 1st booster?
 

mokapi

TCS Member
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jun 22, 2017
Messages
586
Purraise
614
The boosters are just re-exposing the cat's system to the various antigens.

I've often wondered if it would be more useful to give kitten shots, and then booster once more at, say, age 10, but older cats are more likely to have reactions to vaccines than younger cats.

Ultimately, the one-year boosters may not be necessary at all. Reactions can occur if a vaccine is given and the cat already has enough antibodies against that particular antigen.

If I vaccinate my newest cat again, it won't be until the 5-year mark. He's about 10-11 months old now. He was about 8 months old when I found him, and I have no history on him. He was completed vaccinated when he was neutered. After those 5-year shots, it's unlikely I'll ever vaccinate him again unless our situation changes.
 

kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Messages
6,198
Purraise
3,964
Location
Moriarty, New Mexico
I'm so sorry about what happened to your fur baby. I do understand why people choose to not vaccinate beyond 1 year (hence why my cat hasn't been vaccinated in 9 years)... what I was a bit confused about though is why many seem to consider the booster that is given at 1 year to be "necessary" but boosters beyond that aren't. My cat got the kitten series but NOT the 1 year booster and now I just wonder if that's ok... should she have had at least that 1st booster?
Only to get my cats their county license. Hopefully the next 3 years will see titers at reasonable costs in all 50 states and be accepted in lieu of vaccinations. If you are going to forgo vaccinations you should titer. It's an assumed risk for your cat and in some cases yourself if you don't do either.
The argument is that indoor cats don't need vaccinations and that's probably true a great deal of the time. The way we look at animal vaccines is changing.
 

danteshuman

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2017
Messages
5,030
Purraise
6,077
Location
California
In my area they do the rabies shot every three years. I vaccinate my cats for everything when they get their yearly checkup's. If my cats were indoor only I would still vaccinate them just in case they got out. Also we have a few possums that visits our backyard; so that rabies vaccine just in case gives me peace of mind.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #29

ignited-red

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 18, 2017
Messages
36
Purraise
20
Only to get my cats their county license. Hopefully the next 3 years will see titers at reasonable costs in all 50 states and be accepted in lieu of vaccinations. If you are going to forgo vaccinations you should titer. It's an assumed risk for your cat and in some cases yourself if you don't do either.
The argument is that indoor cats don't need vaccinations and that's probably true a great deal of the time. The way we look at animal vaccines is changing.
So sorry to hear about your cat. I also do not believe my vets because sometimes what they are saying like "give your pet dry food, etc etc" that is completely nonsense. In Jakarta, almost all vets in here are thinking like that. I wouldn't want to go to vet unless it is for spay/neuter. Sometimes I lost hope because my country has not support animal welfare. As in the state, I read a lot of technology in medical that are useful for animals. Sometimes my vet also saying that we don;t have that kind of technology to cure your cats. That is sad.

I got 4mo kitten, he's been shot once for FeLV
My vet told me to get him the last shot for FeLV by next month. Do you think it would be good to shot a kitten booster every month? This confused me also .
 

kittens mom

Kittens life was lost to a negligent veterinarian.
Top Cat
Joined
Aug 27, 2015
Messages
6,198
Purraise
3,964
Location
Moriarty, New Mexico
So sorry to hear about your cat. I also do not believe my vets because sometimes what they are saying like "give your pet dry food, etc etc" that is completely nonsense. In Jakarta, almost all vets in here are thinking like that. I wouldn't want to go to vet unless it is for spay/neuter. Sometimes I lost hope because my country has not support animal welfare. As in the state, I read a lot of technology in medical that are useful for animals. Sometimes my vet also saying that we don;t have that kind of technology to cure your cats. That is sad.

I got 4mo kitten, he's been shot once for FeLV
My vet told me to get him the last shot for FeLV by next month. Do you think it would be good to shot a kitten booster every month? This confused me also .
I'm not a veterinarian but I've never heard of a monthly booster. Hopefully someone will chime in here. Some shots require a booster a few weeks later.
 

danteshuman

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 27, 2017
Messages
5,030
Purraise
6,077
Location
California
I do not recall giving my kittens a booster on anything except it took 2 treatments to de-worm one set of kittens.
 

_spadekitty

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 22, 2017
Messages
103
Purraise
23
I think for a purely indoor cat, yearly vac really aren't needed, but thats just my opinion. We have evidence that the vaccines can remain effective for much more than a year, so maybe vaccinate every other year or every three years.

Rabies is every year though, here in the US its illegal to not have your pets up to date on rabies.
 

Willowy

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
31,886
Purraise
28,287
Location
South Dakota
For rabies vaccine to be legal in the US, you need to have a booster done within 1 year after the initial vaccine, then it can legally (in most states) be given every 3 years. If you skip that 1-year booster, the vaccine will never be legal. . .even if your vet didn't notice and signed off on the 3-year certificate :/. If there's a bite incident you'd better believe the health department will be looking a little closer than that.

So for the FVCRP vaccine, a 1-year booster is generally considered a good idea too, just to make sure the cat has developed full immunity. It's probably not necessary most of the time though.

If you choose to give the FeLV vaccine, yes, it requires a booster after 1 month to provide proper immunity.

There is absolutely no reason to think a cat's immunity would "expire" after a year or even 3 years. The vaccine companies just pulled those numbers out of the air. The rabies vaccine used to be considered a once-in-a-lifetime vaccine, also canine distemper. But then they discovered that they could make more money giving vaccines more often ;).

As I said, the current AVMA/AAHA recommendation for FVCRP vaccine is, after the kitten series and 1-year booster, "no more often than once every 3 years"---even for outdoor cats. So any vet who's giving the FVCRP vaccine more often than that is going against their own vet association, which isn't a very good sign :/. There's no benefit in giving it more often than necessary.

Rabies vaccine ought to be given according to local law, for legal reasons.

If you choose to give the FeLV vaccine, they recommend giving it yearly. But some studies show that adult cats have a high natural immunity to FeLV. So most cats probably don't need it repeated too many times.

Cornell University has some good articles on the subject: Feline Vaccines
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #34

ignited-red

TCS Member
Thread starter
Young Cat
Joined
May 18, 2017
Messages
36
Purraise
20
For rabies vaccine to be legal in the US, you need to have a booster done within 1 year after the initial vaccine, then it can legally (in most states) be given every 3 years. If you skip that 1-year booster, the vaccine will never be legal. . .even if your vet didn't notice and signed off on the 3-year certificate :/. If there's a bite incident you'd better believe the health department will be looking a little closer than that.

So for the FVCRP vaccine, a 1-year booster is generally considered a good idea too, just to make sure the cat has developed full immunity. It's probably not necessary most of the time though.

If you choose to give the FeLV vaccine, yes, it requires a booster after 1 month to provide proper immunity.

There is absolutely no reason to think a cat's immunity would "expire" after a year or even 3 years. The vaccine companies just pulled those numbers out of the air. The rabies vaccine used to be considered a once-in-a-lifetime vaccine, also canine distemper. But then they discovered that they could make more money giving vaccines more often ;).

As I said, the current AVMA/AAHA recommendation for FVCRP vaccine is, after the kitten series and 1-year booster, "no more often than once every 3 years"---even for outdoor cats. So any vet who's giving the FVCRP vaccine more often than that is going against their own vet association, which isn't a very good sign :/. There's no benefit in giving it more often than necessary.

Rabies vaccine ought to be given according to local law, for legal reasons.

If you choose to give the FeLV vaccine, they recommend giving it yearly. But some studies show that adult cats have a high natural immunity to FeLV. So most cats probably don't need it repeated too many times.

Cornell University has some good articles on the subject: Feline Vaccines
Hi W Willowy
This is a great enlighten, thank you for sharing with us. My country are still not Rabies free, therefore I need to vaccinate my kids with Rabies probably every 3 years. Vets in here says routine to do Rabies and FeLV vaccines yearly. Even there's a government program that require every pets specially dogs and cats to be shot Rabies yearly. People from government also come to houses that has pets (this one, I don't know where they got the data from) and shot that Rabies vaccines blindly.

I disagree with this kind of act because before vaccinate you need to medical check your pet whether s/he is healthy and appropriate to take the vaccine or not. This is so risky, luckily my house don't get that kind of "raid" from the government people.

In Bali, the government shoot dead every stray dogs they found on street. To prevent rabies infections go further or caught by human. Rather then examined the stray, they choose to shot them down. That is cruelty and savage.
 
Top