I have read that it is not good to give yearly vaccinations on cats that don't
go outside. I have two one year old kittens who have had all of their kitten
shots and don't go outside. I have an elderly indoor cat and a senior
indoor/outdoor cat that rarely leaves the yard. I just received a notice from
my vet that all three of them are due for their vaccinations. Just wondered how
often you would vaccinate them?
PawsForThought - 02 Aug 2003 14:41 GMT
>From: scuba4dk@aol.com (Scuba4dk)
>I have read that it is not good to give yearly vaccinations on cats that
>don't
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
>how
>often you would vaccinate them?
That's really a decision you need to make yourself, but there is lots of
information out there to read. Here are a couple of interesting articles:
http://www.blakkatz.com/vaccination.html
http://www.anc.org/editorials/editorials_article.cfm?identifier=2003_0801_va
ccines
Lauren
________
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Declawing Info: http://www.wholecat.com/articles/claws.htm
Cathy Friedmann - 02 Aug 2003 15:34 GMT
> I have read that it is not good to give yearly vaccinations on cats that don't
> go outside. I have two one year old kittens who have had all of their kitten
> shots and don't go outside. I have an elderly indoor cat and a senior
> indoor/outdoor cat that rarely leaves the yard. I just received a notice from
> my vet that all three of them are due for their vaccinations. Just wondered how
> often you would vaccinate them?
When you go to the appt., ask the vet about the pros & cons of the various
vaccines, & the different forms of some of them, too - there are a bunch of
choices involved.
Make sure the vet knows the habits of all of the cats, besides just the new
inside-only kittens; it'll help for him/her to give you insight as to what
your best choices may be for the various cats involved, & if the other cats
might impact what vaccinations you decide on for the kittens. A few years
ago I dropped all but really important - to my cats - vaccines. They no
longer get the FeLV one, for example, because years & years ago the older
one stopped trying to escape out the doors whenever I open them, the
younger one turned out to easily adapt to being inside-only, & they have
access to the outside only on a screened-in porch. So the vets & I decided
that the FeLV vaccine was more risky than it was beneficial to them. My
late eldest cat - at my vets' suggestions, I'd dropped all vaccines in her
last few years except rabies because she'd become chronically ill & we
didn't want to overload her system anymore than it already was.
AFAIK, the rabies vaccine needs a booster one year after the initial one,
even if you then choose to use the 3 year rabies vaccination schedule
instead of one of the annual rabies vax. It's been a long time since I had
young cats, but it's possible that other vaccines (the ones you decide to
keep in the regimen) also need a 1 yr. booster even if you vaccinate only
every 3 years after that.
Cathy
--
"Staccato signals of constant information..."
("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon
-L. - 04 Aug 2003 08:08 GMT
> I have read that it is not good to give yearly vaccinations on cats that don't
> go outside. I have two one year old kittens who have had all of their kitten
> shots and don't go outside. I have an elderly indoor cat and a senior
> indoor/outdoor cat that rarely leaves the yard. I just received a notice from
> my vet that all three of them are due for their vaccinations. Just wondered >how
> often you would vaccinate them?
Since you are asking for personal opinions, I would do the following:
Since one cat does go out and then back inside, I'd vax all with
FVRCP, since those diseases are the most common and easily spread from
cat to cat.
Aditionally, I would vax the cat that goes out for rabies as well, and
if any other cats come in your yard, FeLV, minimally.
-L.