Vaccination and Re-Vaccination - your thoughts?

Recently I have come across a number of articles suggesting that some vaccinations can be harmful (e.g. our breeder does not routinely vaccinate her kittens against Feline Leukaemia Virus as she is unhappy about loading their systems with it at a vulnerable age), and that booster vaccinations are unnecessary.

Now, we have always ensured that the booster vaccinations are kept up to date and indeed, had we not done so, then when Gabby, Spike and Whisper went down with Cat Flu, Petplan would not have paid out! The fact that the Cat Flu vaccine doesn't protect against all strains of the virus is immaterial - so long as you have vaccinated against whatever they have developed, in theory the Insurance should cover the illness.

There is a lot of conflicting information out there - for instance, one site states that FIE, FCV and FVR are "compulsory", with Chlamydia and FeLV recommended and boosters every year. Our vet gives boosters to our "oldsters" of FIE, FCV and FVR but not FeLV and has recommended vaccinating Hobbes against FeLV as he wasn't vaccinated as a kitten and the others in the household are no longer given the booster.

I am obviously concerned at this point, because Hobbes may be at risk from developing FIP and the older ones don't need any stress either. Our cats do not go outside and they stay home with a sitter if we ever go away.

I will be checking with our veterinary practice but would like to get your "take" on this subject.

A difficult one. I dont think vaccinating against FeLV would stop a cat developing FIP. We are on the fence about that vaccination I know Louie's ins wont cover him for anything related to that but have read & herd alot of bad reports about the vaccination.

Have you looked at this site it may help Feline Infectious Peritonitis and Coronavirus Web Site there is alot of info on more than FIP which may help you, our vet recommended the site to us as he has worked with Di Addie.

The following page contains fairly detailed vaccination info from a vet association in USA that specializes in cats:
Feline Practitioner Guidelines Publications

This has always been a big worry of mine. My dogs have always had their boosters because of insurance and if we ever needed to put them in kennels or take them abroad and just because they are out a lot running around in stagnant water etc they are more likely to pick things up but it does worry me. A friend of mines dog was just diagnosed with auto immune disease and this came on shortly after having a booster which she is convinced started it. But often it's a catch 22 situation you don't feel safe if you don't have them and you don't feel safe if you do. Vets will always be pro them as it is a large part of their income so don't feel you could get an honest reply.

Not sure what I will do yet about Simba - if I want to keep him insured I will have too but because he is unlikely to go further than our back garden or meet any other cats not sure if it is worth the risk. At least I have a year to think about it.

I don't do vaccines for myself, my daughter or my pets. I do plan on getting my MC the rabies shot IF she becomes and outdoor cat but that's it. I don't want harmful chemicals injected in mine or my daughters body and same goes for furbabies.

You've got me thinking now - Freyja's fully vaccinated for everything until April next year and it hadn't occurred to me not to sort her boosters out when the time comes; I assumed that they would give her some protection against the most common things that she could pick up. I hadn't considered that there could be pitfalls in giving her the boosters.

I think this could be another subject with varying replies like the one on "how do you feed your cat".I also think it will depend on wether you have been unlucky enough to have had an animal that has reacted badly.I work at a vets,our dogs are not overboosted as for a lot of years now certain elements of that booster are only done every third year,research has now shown that it also can apply to cats & panleucopenia is now given every third year after initial course & 1st booster.I saw parvovirus when it first came into this country & no way would I ever want any of my dogs to suffer like that,we hadn't seen it for several years until the "don't over vaccinate your dog ,only makes the vets money campaign started" & now in the last three years it is back & at a surgery twenty miles from us last year there were several deaths from it because of people letting their boosters lapse or not bothering with vaccinations full stop,the same applies with cats,we used to have a big number of cats die from FELV but through vaccinating them against it a big drop was noticed,my cats are "indoors"but again I wouldn't risk them in case they escaped & the big local tom cat bit them,would never forgive myself if they caught something I could protect them against but like everything it is something the individual has to decide for themselves,it helps me a bit seeing the otherside & perhaps I have been lucky to see more benefits for it than against......

I have thought a lot about this since my first post - we will be getting the oldsters their booster shots next week and also Hobbes is due his boosters and will have the FeLV vaccine as well. I think it is pretty clear that Alice was the carrier for the coronavirus as all the cats' titres are now normal. The reason the vet wouldn't vaccinate before the titres came back lowered was because vaccination stresses the immune system and could push a susceptible cat's system into reacting as Alice's did (FIP being an inappropriate immune system response to coronavirus). His feeling was that the operation to spay her was probably the trigger but he obviously couldn't know whether the stress of vaccination would cause Spike's, Hobbes' or Whisper's systems to do the same.

I know it is a difficult call with the leukaemia vaccine but to be fair, none of the cats that I have been owned by have ever had a problem with the vaccine and they have always had their primaries and booster jabs. My ex-partner took our two Burmese when he left me and they both lived into their very late teens without any problems. Also, GabbyCat's cancer was in no way linked to the vaccination site.

I know what you mean about feeling awful if any of ours got out, got bitten and then caught something that vaccination could have prevented. On a monetary side, we could never afford the vet bills without the pet insurance and if they got something that we could have vaccinated against and didn't, we wouldn't be covered! So next week, they all get jabbed!

And of course, there is that vexed question about diseases coming back as a result of people NOT vaccinating. I remember the first big outbreak of canine parvovirus clearly, as my kid brother and I had saved and saved to buy a puppy and we were terrified that our lovely new little buddy might get something so awful!

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Originally Posted by jckkerrison

I think this could be another subject with varying replies like the one on "how do you feed your cat".I also think it will depend on wether you have been unlucky enough to have had an animal that has reacted badly.

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I think that's a very fair and valid point; so far, with Freyja being the first cat I've had to take responsibility for, I've had no problems or bad reactions. As a consequence, I feel pretty committed to keeping her boosters up-to-date. However, had she had a different reaction, or develop one in the future, I know I'll re-evaluate the booster situation.

On the flip side, the last time I was owned by a puss, it was my parents moggie - I don't recall her ever going to the vets for boosters and she lived to be 19 years old. She was most definately an outdoor cat that got into all sorts of scraps, so maybe luck plays a bit of a part, too.

I do not vaccinate my adult cats unless I intend to show them.

My vet also agrees that they really do not need it if they are now allowed to wander and mix with other cats.

We vaccinate against cat flu but there are so many strains if your cat is going to get it he will get a strain that he is not protected against.

I use Echinacea drops for all my cats which is a natural antibiotic that I have used on my self and my family for over 20 years, We are very rarely ill and neither are the cats..

My Farm cats only ever visited the vet to be neutered never for anything else.. and they lived most of them until they where well in to their teens..

I think its personal choice..

Having been the victim of 2 catastrophic vaccine reactions, in perfectly healthy kittens 24 hours before the vaccine I have always had reservations..


Debbie
Badsworthcats

Mine are always kept vaccinated, just in case....I worry about what other people may bring into the house but I also like to make sure that everything is up to date as some of them do occasionally go into my friends cattery when we go away so I have to protect her cats too.

Whether or not they actually need it - who knows! When I was little, we always had moggies that were outdoor cats and I guarantee they never had a vaccination in their lives and most of them lived to 15-16 years old with no problems at all.

We always used to let our cats' boosters lapse. They were healthy moggies, uninsured, and never went into a cattery. They had free access to the outdoors so perhaps we were taking a risk there. But our vet at the time said don't bother with the boosters, they're healthy, they don't roam, there's no need. Even so, I always felt I was 'getting away with it' rather, and really if I was being properly responsible I ought to keep the boosters up to date.

Now, when I got my rescue cat Humph a few months back, I had to prove to the cat shelter that my existing moggy Barney was fully vaccinated. So I got him re-vacced after a 6-year lapse. Then the kittens came and they were fully vacced, of course. I've insured them all now so I will have to keep them boosted.

Funny though, that Barney had his first bout of illness recently - after being re-vaccinated! It was quite serious too - a severe throat infection so that he couldnt eat and kept trying to be sick. He lost weight and he's old, at least 16, so we thought it might be a tumour, we thought oh no, here we go again, it's a credit card and shovel day. But he amazed us all by making a complete recovery in about 4 days. The vet even said he has perfectly normal kidney function, which is surprising for an elderly moggy.

I do wonder though why he got this illness - perhaps the 3 new cats in the house brought it in? But none of them were ill. Maybe it would have been a whole lot worse had they not been vaccinated.