Vaccination pro and con

sandie

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What a controversy...do we vaccinate every year..dont we...but my vet sais.....

I guess I will give my take on this whole thing. I vaccinate my cats every year. This is because I have a VERY multi cat household. I am always bringing someone new home. This is only the feline four though. Rabies I go by the state law.
The reason the AVMA can not say that the feline four should be given say every 3 years is because there are 4 different vaccines in one. Some are tested and good for 1 year, 2 years ir 3 years. It is either vaccinate every year or give them 4 seperate vaccines at different intervouls. My take is that if you have one or 2 cats INDOOR only and will never bring someone new home, vaccinate every 2 to 3 years.
Feline Leukemia is never given in my house. I do not and will not let anyone outdoors. Everyone in the house that comes in is tested first. The only way it is transmitted is through blood,feces,urine or saliva. I tell people who come into my clinic to only vaccinate if at risk.
FIP should NEVER be given. It has not been proven to be effective and usually causes the virus.
I am not a vet and this is what I have learned and heard. I hope everyone contributes to this.
 

my3boys

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I don't feel they need to be vaccinated every year, regardless of the fact that you bring in new cats quite frequently. The immunization normally lasts longer than a year, they have titers (tests to determine your pets level of immunity.) Rabies should be followed according to your states laws. The vaccinations should never be given when an animal is in a unhealthy state, & actually several shots should not be administered one on top of another. I have read that very frequently pet will become quite sick shortly after having vaccines administered to them. I think holistic veterinary is very good, I wish I had access to one, but I live in a very isolated area. A person should do what you feel comfortable with, I cannot in good conscience vaccinate my animals year after year. We as humans do not need vaccinations every year, why is this? I may be wrong, BUT, I have always felt that the drug companys push their shots & make us think that our animals may die if they don't have shots every year. Animals are mostly much healthier without the shots every year, their are always exceptions to everything. The shots are a very lucrative way for the drug companys & vets to make money. (personal opinion only).
 
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sandie

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Hehe, I think most of us have our personal oppinions. Yes, the titers for the cats should come back with a resistance, but only after several vaccines. I just went through this with myself. I had to be vaccinated for rabies just to get my titer up. I work with animals, so it was a good idea. The only thing I don't really agree with is the statment on bringing new cats home. The only reason I say this is because I had 3 cats at the time, they were all vaccinated with only their kitten boosters, 2 years had past and I brought home 2 kittens. They both had the calici virus, which is in the feline four and I did not know. All 3 of my cats got very ill with the virus and I almost lost one. So my thing is that they should at least have the vaccine until you know for sure they are resistant to the viruses. This can only be done if owners are willing to pay for the bloodwork.
 

my3boys

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Originally posted by Sandie
. The only thing I don't really agree with is the statment on bringing new cats home. The only reason I say this is because I had 3 cats at the time, they were all vaccinated with only their kitten boosters, 2 years had past and I brought home 2 kittens. They both had the calici virus, which is in the feline four and I did not know. All 3 of my cats got very ill with the virus and I almost lost one. So my thing is that they should at least have the vaccine until you know for sure they are resistant to the viruses. This can only be done if owners are willing to pay for the bloodwork.
Actually just having the kitten shots is probably not enough to keep them immune for any length of time, This is where the titers comes in, so they can be checked, however I hear the test is quite expensive, so for many people this probably is not what they would do.
 

Anne

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Well, I only have 2 cats and they're both very young (not 2 years old yet). They were both given the full course of shots as kittens.

We lived in the big city at the time and they were both indoors-only so I figured they wouldn't need the boosters every year. In fact my vet adviced us that once every 3 years is more than enough for indoors-only cats.

A week ago we moved to the country and as they will probably be allowed outside (it's a very safe and peaceful place), we decided to do the boosters and give them rabies shots as well.

By the way, apparently, we can't get the FeLV vaccine here in Israel! The vet sais it's not imported as this is not much of a problem over here. FIV is much more common (but there's not vaccine for that yet).
 
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