Feline vaccinations, yearly, opinions... (1 Viewer)

[Jay H]

Just curious, there seems to be some various opinions whether 2 year vacinations are safe for cats, my vet mentioned that something in them is or may be harmful and my two cats are on the yearly plan. However, I have moved away and now my cats are due for vacinations for distemper, Feline Leukemia, and Rabies.

I'm actually more wondering about the usefulness of having shots at all given that my 2 cats are indoor cats... What is the consensus about indoor cats and shots, are they really necessary? And have you heard about the 2 year vaccine issues and danger?


Jay

 

[Patrick Sun]

I think with my cats being so old last year, and the year before, the vaccinations were being spread out out from yearly to 2-3 years in between. And mine were in-door cats as well, so I just followed the vet's recommendations.


I think maybe we were spacing out the distemper shots (I'd have to look up the paperwork, if I could even find it now).

 

[Robert_J]

I was on the yearly plan but pretty much let all of the vaccinations lapse in the last few years. They are indoor cats. We aren't bringing in any new cats due to my youngest being FHV positive. My vet well aware of my lapse but doesn't care. In fact, he has mentioned that my FHV cat really shouldn't get any more vaccinations because his system is already stressed.


By the way, my vet is the vet on Animal Planet's "Last Chance Highway". But I've been using him since he moved his practice around the corner from my house.

 

[Jay H]

I think Rabies and stuff is saliva and I don't see that happening any time soon. First, I don't have screen doors so it's not like I even leave the inner door open and have a screen there. My windows are about 4 ft off the ground so they really can't come in saliva contact with any stray... At least I'm OK with the low probability of any contact. I could possibly drag in a tick or flea I guess but no vaccination for that I know of anyway. Not knowledgable about distemper or FLEV but I think my cats are fairly safe, no intention of adopting any more furry creatures...


Jay

 

[Marianne]

Anyone thinking of vaccinating their pets should read this first.


http://www.earthclinic.com/Pets/vaccination_side_effects2.html#RF


Don't just listen to your veterinarian's advice without doing some research yourself. Vets make a lot of their income from annual vacciations that might not be necessary.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Since I usually need to board my cat at least once or twice for a long week/weekend during the year, they require up-to-date vaccinations for cats that are boarded with them, so I do the annual check-up/shots routine, and like I said, they are good at stretching out the schedule when the shots aren't needed for a particular yearly visit/check-up.