Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: JackSpratt on August 21, 2007, 11:03:35 AM
-
Is it true that there have been strains of cat flu discovered that a cat isn't protected against by the innoculation? I was speaking to a vet and he said this was the case.
-
By reading on here I was aware that the jabs do not cover cat flu.
-
I thought one of them was supposed to? So what exactly do they cover?
-
Yes, I read about a new, more severe strain, that wasnt covered by the normal cat flu vacs. Mind you even the usual cat flu jabs can't cover all strains - because, I think I'm right in saying, that there are many different strains of calicivirus, but only one of the herpesvirus - or it might be the other way round LOL!
-
Hold on just get my vacs card.....
Right here we go, your cat has been vaccinated against-
Feline Panleucopaenia
Feline Viral Rhinotrachetis
Feline Calicivirus
Feline Leukaemia
Thats all it says on my card so unless one of these means cat flu I dont know.
-
Hold on just get my vacs card.....
Feline Viral Rhinotrachetis
Feline Calicivirus
Thats all it says on my card so unless one of these means cat flu I dont know.
Yep, those two!
-
So them two mean cat flu?
There was a topic on a while ago about Panluk and I remember someone saying that the jabs dont cover cat flu?
-
Yep, those two are cat flu. You can choose to have cat flu jab separately from Panleu (enteritis) and leukemia - so perhaps thats what someone did? Cat flu jabs arent 100% protective against flu - guess because there ARE so many different strains - bit like us with the common cold.
-
I dont believe that any vaccine is 100% effective and in the case of felv jab it offers the same protection as natural immunity - 85%.
-
They are covered for Cat Flu but there are so many strains of it.
3 of mine have had Calici but are all covered for it !
No Vaccine is 100% safe but it should help to stop anything becoming serious.
When i worked in the cattery all cats had to be vacinnated and we saw the cards but it didnt stop cats from getting ill (mainly calici)
-
I dont believe that any vaccine is 100% effective and in the case of felv jab it offers the same protection as natural immunity - 85%.
Does that mean that even without the jab they'd have an immunity of 85%? (I'm sorry, I'm easily confused! :shy:)
Thanks for the info, guys. This is interesting stuff!
-
I think that cat flu, like human flu tends to mutate. The vaccine covers for the known strains, but there are always new little greeblies popping up which will cause problems. So, just as people will tell you 'I had the flu vaccination but I still got sick' the same applies for cats. Not only is each vaccine not quite 100% reliable, but there are new variables out there that might also infect your cat. My theory is the same as for all other aspects of life. Plan for the worst and expect the best. Vaccination, if it is available, is always the preferred route.
-
I'm not sure but I think that MM may have meant the immunity they get if they throw off felv, which many cats do.
-
So if they've had it and beat it they have a better immunity to it? (You can tell biology wasn't my strong point, can't you?! :evillaugh:)
-
Yes the immune system builds up a defence from the cells that were from the virus.
-
Sasa card just says flu.
The human flu jab also only covers one strain, a different one each year I suspect but its the one they guess will be the one hovering around that year.
-
JS - the cats natural immunity to FeLV is 85%, as is the vaccine, so in effect, they have the same immunity whether they have had the jab or not. And if they come into contact with it, and shake it off, they are immune for life, there is a special test that can be done for this, and if they are, they dont need yearly vaccs.
-
Thanks Desley. I've never been told any of this by ANY vet, so it's all interesting new information to me!
-
Me too!
So a cat that has tested poss for FeLV does not need any yearly jabs or just the one for FeLV?
-
So a cat that has tested poss for FeLV does not need any yearly jabs or just the one for FeLV?
They would need boosters for enteritis and cat flu
-
So a cat that has tested poss for FeLV does not need any yearly jabs or just the one for FeLV?
It wouldnt need one for FeLV, and especially if it is an indoor cat. As Ela mentioned cat flu and enteritis could still be given, but there is a move away from annual boosters anyway, depends on individual cat's circumstances.
-
This is why the Felv VIRUS test is always preferrable to the in-house test. The in-house test confirms whether antibodies to the virus are present in the cat. These antibodies can be a result of recovery from Felv, not a sign of current infection. The VIRUS test, which has to be sent to Glasgow and takes longer, shows whether the virus itself is still present in the cat.
Never have a cat declared Felv positive on the in-house test.
Sorry, this is a soap box of mine!! :notlisten:
-
Me too!
So a cat that has tested poss for FeLV does not need any yearly jabs or just the one for FeLV?
If its tested positive for felv then it has the disease and will die from it. Glasgow can run a special test as Delsey mentions that measures their immunity to felv, if it has a certain titre then they are completely immune.
Most adult cats achieve natural immunity by throwing off the virus, so wont need the felv jab each year. Of course your vet wont tell you this as it will hit their profits, think how many jabs at £25 would stop!
-
MM, once the cat has thrown off the virus, it is left with the antibodies which enabled it to do this and which confer immunity. The vet in-house Felv test only tells you whether these antibodies are present, so can give false positives. The test will not tell you if the virus is present.
A cat can be antibody positive because:
it has had and thrown off Felv
or
it has acquired them from it's mother
or
it is viraemic
Only in the latter case does the cat have Felv still present.
Only Glasgow's virus test will determine whether the virus is still present in the cat.
-
I wish more vets would do the titre test, I bet quite a few cats are being vacc'd yearly and it is unnecessary. Although as you say, it will lose them money in the long run.
incidentally JS, I haven't learnt this from a vet, this was picked up from the Glasgow website, never heard a vet mention it, although mine aren't done for FeLV, so it has probably never come up in conversation.
-
Of course your vet wont tell you this as it will hit their profits, think how many jabs at £25 would stop!
Says it all, really. Got to say one of my vets was honest enough to say that in general, he thinks cat flu jabs are unnecessary.
-
Most vets fall into the catergory of vaccinate for everything because its the done thing. I saw a different vet for 2 boosters and i didnt want the chlamydia part redone as they are not at high risk of getting it. She didnt listen and jabbed him for it anyway so i said again not ch for tabitha and was given a shirty response of she does see cases of it. I was also questioned further as i dont vax for felv either.
HK, CC was asking if a felv positive cat needs vaccinating which it doesnt as it already has the disease. Positive for the virus not the antibodies.
The immunity titre is a different test to the virus culture.
I dont know why snap testing for felv is still being used, 40% false positives is a stupid figure.
-
MM, I agree fully - it is actually 42% and scary that some rescues use that initial positive and dont keep them to recheck. While I appreciate that keeping cats for 12 weeks isn't always possible, they should use an accurate test to start with, that is potentially a lot of lives lost.
The rescues vet did say that only one part of the combined jab needed doing yearly, so I dont know why they dont split that jab so the other part only needs doing the every other year he thinks it needs.
-
The rescues vet did say that only one part of the combined jab needed doing yearly, so I dont know why they dont split that jab so the other part only needs doing the every other year he thinks it needs.
Thats what I said before - you can ask your vet to vaccinate/booster for any of the common jabs separately, you don't have to have a combined jab.
-
42%! It gets worse!
Purevax say 3 yearly for enteritits so just the 2 flu componants each year.
-
It was the enteritis part the rescues vet said wasnt necessary yearly - and they vaccinate against everything. So I just need to ask for the flu components?
-
Yep, although other manufacturers still say yearly, money grabbers. I wont use a cattery as Taz would have a blue fit so will be doing enteritis every 3 years from the next booster.
-
Nobivac Tricat is the preparation our vets uses and that is suggested each year by the manufacturer. Having seen whole households wiped out with enteritis (and that was indoor cats) there is no way I would leave it longer.
Also although some posters on here take their cats for an annul MOT and many of us almost live at the vets, many people don't and the 'injections time' is a good way to have the cat MOT'd. once every 3 years is long to wait between vet visits in my opinion.
-
Also although some posters on here take their cats for an annul MOT and many of us almost live at the vets, many people don't and the 'injections time' is a good way to have the cat MOT'd. once every 3 years is long to wait between vet visits in my opinion
I know what you mean but flu is still a yearly vax.
Theres a dog vax- parvo i think, thats offically 3 years and it wont be long before cat vaccine manufacturers have to admit its the same.
Theres also studies being done into the enteritis vax being linked to CRF so another reason not to over do things.
-
Theres also studies being done into the enteritis vax being linked to CRF so another reason not to over do things
It is such a worry, bit of a catch 22 really.