Vaccinations

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FlVEbyFiVE - 06 Nov 2003 20:51 GMT

The vet clinic I take my cats to has a medical plan in which a low monthly
payment pays for all office visits, exams, and most vaccinations. My cat's
yearly contract is running out so he will be receiving his shots soon. The list
of shots included in the plan are distemper, rabies, leukemia, giardia,
rhino-calci virus, and infectious peritonitis. That sounds like too many shots.
Which of these shots are really necessary and which aren't? My cats are indoor
cats, btw. Never in their lives have they stepped foot outside.

The clinic I used to take them to only demanded they get 2 vaccinations:
distemper and rabies. All others were optional.

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kaeli - 06 Nov 2003 21:19 GMT

> The vet clinic I take my cats to has a medical plan in which a low monthly
> payment pays for all office visits, exams, and most vaccinations. My cat's
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> The clinic I used to take them to only demanded they get 2 vaccinations:
> distemper and rabies. All others were optional.

I'm no expert, but after doing a little reseach lately on the subject, I
have decided my cats will only get rabies/distemper from now on.
Why I think that way:

1. Few vaccines are 100% effective.
2. Most vaccines are good for 3 years, if not more. Some may be good for
life.
3. Leukemia is only 85% effective, but the cat will forever test
positive for antibodies, thus making it impossible to know if your cat
actually gets the disease. Same for FIV.
4. FIP vaccine has not been proven effective at all.
5. The vaccines do not always prevent disease, but can lessen its
symptoms. If the cat is never exposed, there is no benefit, and possibly
a detriment if the cat develops vaccine associated sarcoma.

IANAV.

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~kaeli~
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Yngver - 06 Nov 2003 23:34 GMT

>3. Leukemia is only 85% effective, but the cat will forever test
>positive for antibodies, thus making it impossible to know if your cat
>actually gets the disease. Same for FIV.

It is my understanding (from what I've read) that with feline leukemia,
vaccination status will not affect the accuracy of the test. With FIV, however,
since the current test only tests for antibodies, any cat receiving the vaccine
will test positive. The goal is to develop an FIV test that will look for
antigens rather than antibodies. The FeLV test detects antigens, so the test is
still accurate even if the cat has been vaccinated against FeLV.

>4. FIP vaccine has not been proven effective at all.

The only vaccine that would be likely to help prevent FIP would be one that
prevents feline coronavirus, and that doesn't yet exist. Some researchers
believe the FIP vaccine can actually predispose a cat to develop FIP.

>5. The vaccines do not always prevent disease, but can lessen its
>symptoms. If the cat is never exposed, there is no benefit, and possibly
>a detriment if the cat develops vaccine associated sarcoma.

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kaeli - 07 Nov 2003 00:32 GMT

And on the day 06 Nov 2003 23:34:50 GMT, yngver@aol.comnospam
enlightened us with <20031106183450.12125.00000247@mb-m18.aol.com>...

> >3. Leukemia is only 85% effective, but the cat will forever test
> >positive for antibodies, thus making it impossible to know if your cat
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> antigens rather than antibodies. The FeLV test detects antigens, so the test is
> still accurate even if the cat has been vaccinated against FeLV.

I stand corrected. Thanks for that. FIV vacination will result in a
positive test, but that is not the case for FeLV.

However, the vaccine is only about 85-90% effective for FeLV and 82% for
FIV. The vaccines are adjuvanted (I didn't see a reference to non-
adjuvanted, but there may be one available), which puts the cat at risk
for sarcoma.

--------------------------------------------------
~kaeli~
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Laura R. - 07 Nov 2003 02:29 GMT

circa Thu, 6 Nov 2003 18:32:35 -0600, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav,
kaeli (tiny_one@nospam.comcast.net) said,

> The vaccines are adjuvanted (I didn't see a reference to non-
> adjuvanted, but there may be one available),

Merial Purevax.

Laura

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I am Dyslexia of Borg,
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Cheryl - 07 Nov 2003 00:36 GMT

>> 3. Leukemia is only 85% effective, but the cat will forever test
>> positive for antibodies, thus making it impossible to know if your
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> leukemia, vaccination status will not affect the accuracy of the
> test.

This is apparently true. 2 of my cats get FeLV vaccines due to one
being positive and for the first year I had Shamrock tested and he was
negative 2x. The new vet doesn't see any reason to do tests unless
there is a reason to other than just living with a positive cat.

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Yngver - 06 Nov 2003 21:40 GMT

>The vet clinic I take my cats to has a medical plan in which a low monthly
>payment pays for all office visits, exams, and most vaccinations. My cat's
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>The clinic I used to take them to only demanded they get 2 vaccinations:
>distemper and rabies. All others were optional.

That's right. You should get what's called the FVRCP (feline viral
rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, panleukopenia) every three years once the kitten
shots are complete. The frequency of rabies vaccinations is governed by your
local community. It can be every year or every three years, depending on local
law. Indoor only cats generally do not need the other vaccinations. I'm not
sure any cat really needs or should have the FIP (feline infectious
peritonitis) or the FIV vaccine, both of which are controversial.

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Liz - 08 Nov 2003 00:53 GMT

flvebyfive@aol.com (FlVEbyFiVE) wrote in message

From what I´ve been reading, all viral vaccinations are good for life.
Vaccinations against non-viral diseases are not recommended because
they last too little and the diseases caused by these non-viral
pathogens are usually not hard to treat and are usually associated
with a weak immune system. If I were you, I´d allow the cat to receive
only the rabies vaccine every 3 years.

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Cheryl - 08 Nov 2003 01:00 GMT

> From what I?ve been reading, all viral vaccinations are good for
> life. Vaccinations against non-viral diseases are not recommended
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> receive
> only the rabies vaccine every 3 years.

This is something that has been bugging me for a while. Does anyone
know if animal vaccinations are modified to allow for viral mutation?
The reason I wonder is because every year at this time, we humans are
urged to get flu shots because the virus that causes the flu every
year mutates and the one from last year isn't any good anymore
(supposedly).

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Liz - 09 Nov 2003 00:27 GMT

"Cheryl" <jlhshadow@devnull.hotmail.com> wrote in message news:

> This is something that has been bugging me for a while. Does anyone
> know if animal vaccinations are modified to allow for viral mutation?
> The reason I wonder is because every year at this time, we humans are
> urged to get flu shots because the virus that causes the flu every
> year mutates and the one from last year isn't any good anymore
> (supposedly).

Some viruses (mainly RNA viruses) mutate very quickly so a vaccine
against one strain might not protect against a new strain. What I keep
wondering is how they keep up with the new strains. I don´t buy it.

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