Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: Babz on January 30, 2010, 16:45:38 PM
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I hope this is the right place to ask for opinions of vaccinating cats. There has been a lot of disturbing evidence lately about routine vaccinations for cats, admittedly most of it comes from the USA but it's enough to make me really concerned, apparently there is now doubt that yearly boosters are really necessary or safe for older cats, some vets think three yearly is enough as long as a cat started out with the full course of vaccinations as a kitten and has had regular boosters throughout it's adult life.
And worse there seems to be some thoughts that repeated vaccinations in the same area e.g the scruff may lead to carcinomas in or around the injection site. This is being taken seriously by some vets who now give vaccinations in the hind leg rather than the scruff, the logic behind this being worst case scenario in the event of a tumour the leg can be amputated and the cat survive! I have read that some US vets are vaccinating IN THE TAIL for the same reason.
My two boys are both 9 this year and have had all their vaccinations and boosters so far but I'm really concerned that in the effort to keep them healthy I might in fact be asking for an unnecessary dose of a possibly harmful substance for them!
It's hard to get an unbiased opinion on this because vets do make a good profit from this and of course the leading vaccine companies sponsor student training etc etc so no vet in practice is likely to want to advise their own clients against vaccination, but a lady vet I know slightly did tell me that she doesn't vaccinate her own dog and cat yearly.
When you think about it, we humans don't keep on getting stuff pumped into us yearly do we? So why do cats and dogs?
Has anyone any information on this or any opinions?
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I did research this topic some time ago and the reason so many cases of sarcoma have been reported in the US was, I think, largely put down to a particular type of rabies vaccine (vaccination against rabies is mandatory in the US unlike the UK). Unfortunately I can't remember what it was about this vaccine that was thought to be the causative agent. However, injection site cancers although rare, are not completely unknown in the UK, so it would make sense to inject in the leg for the reasons you mention.
As to whether its safe to give boosters annually, so long as your cats are healthy and have never had a bad reaction to vaccination then I wouldn't worry. At 9 years your cats are not really old anyway. If they had a compromised immune system or severe kidney failure then the risks would probably outweigh the benefits.
The other question of course is whether they NEED annual boosters. If you might have to put them into a cattery at any time then the answer is yes because they will insist on it since the product information sheets for the common vaccines say annual boosters must be given. In fact there is a lot of evidence now to suggest that every 2 or even 3 years may be sufficient for boosters but in order to change the product information sheets the manufacturers would have to submit supporting evidence to the licensing authorities. That process would be time consuming and expensive and, lets face it, they are unlikely to want to spend time and money requesting a change that, if approved, would actually lose them sales.
Edited because I got my risks and benefits the wrong way round.
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I had a long discussion with my vet about this and we both came to the same conclusion ... to booster every 3 years. I'm not happy with every year and my vet agrees with the literature about them not being needed every year. That's just me though and I wouldn't advise doing the same without doing a lot of reading and speak to your vets. Mine will do the boosters every 3 years without starting the kitten course from scratch. I wouldn't be happy redoing the kitten course each time.
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I am still wondering if Willow's last boosters were what finished her off :'( - It never occurred to me until afterwards how her decline was so sudden in December. It was only afterwards when I looked that I found out that Tanya's CRF site advise against it for cats with CRF
http://www.felinecrf.org/causes_of_crf.htm#vaccinations
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Didn't have Byron's done this time but she is ever so old
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We have a multi household so ours are done every year except Ace and Blue - 2 of our very feral boys as we can't get near them although Blue had a full set last year when his bits were chopped off!
If there is a hiogh density of cats in the neigbour hood then our vets recommend that they are done annually - I do all the ferals I trap even if it gives them a little protection its better for the outside ones
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At the age of 9 I would not bother with yearly jabs - I do have my younger ones vaccinated.
Have you seen my thread about Homer? We nearly lost him after a routine dose of Fevaxyn Pentofel. This thread is one of the most visited by guests and so I would suspect there are a lot of cat owners out there having problems with Fevaxyn Pentofel which is the injection of choice.
http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,6283.0.html
Good luck with whatever you decide.
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I have been wondering about this too !- The only one of mine to maybe come into contact with other cats is Winston who will be 12 years in May.
The other 3 only go in the back garden and never mix with anyone else''s cats at all .
I stopped Sophies when she was 12 and she is almost 16 now.
Smartie has asthma and a enlarged heart - he is the one i am most concerned about whether he needs to carry on with them -he is almost 13 years and hates the basket and the car !
FiFi will be 12 this year too .
Anyone have an opinion? and sorry for hijacking this thread :shy:
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Thank you everyone for your replies, it seems certain that there is a lot to think about here. Bunglycat I'm glad you did "hijack" the thread because it is all more information and that is what I desperately want.
What I didn't include in my first post is that Walter & Jozef (& Popsy who we sadly lost at a young age) are the first cats we have ever had that have even HAD vaccinations, our previous six cats were never innoculated because I don't think as much emphasis was put on it when we had them as it is now, they were neutered and went to the vet as and when needed but that was it. They were all cats who had access to outdoors and they all lived long lives and died of age related illnesses, Ebony who was the last non vaccinated one died in 2006 at the age of 17.
We're leaning towards not getting them done and I know we should discuss it with the vet but we're with a large multivet practice and rarely see the same one twice as normally we only go once a year! I suppose if we decide not to we will have to let them know for their records, anyway the boys are due to go by the end of Feb so a decision must be made by then.
Thanks very much again.
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Interesting one - I wont vaccinate mine against FeLV due to their age (and the girls dont leave the house). The girls have only ever had boosters, rather than a full course due to me fostering, but Sam hasn't had anything yet, despite being here a year and the only one who goes outside - he has probable calici, heart murmur and hyper-t (and currently high liver values), plus his weight issues because of those, so I didn't feel he was well enough at any point last year to get them done - he was there every month as well!! We only have locums at the moment, but when we get his bloods done next month and decide on the long term options for his hyper-t, I must discuss it with the vet.
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We vaccinate all of our young cats yearly but I didn't do Monty this last year as she's had 18 odd years of immunity built up and he has CRF and he is very vet-phobic so I felt no need to put him through it.
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I don't bother with mine anymore as they are 15 and 16 and only potter about in the garden occasionally. It's also not possible for other cats to get into our garden. Plus we have strict rules about hygiene and segregation when we have foster kittens here.
I do have to say, Babz, I do remember vaccinations were not so bothered about years ago. When I had my first cat only ultra rich and paranoid people seemed to get them done religiously.... then again, vaccinations were not nearly as good as they are now and many people viewed them as a waste of money. FeLV and FIP would sweep through a neighbourhood so suddenly and dramatically that many people thought there was a poisoner about. :( So we mustn't be complacent about these things. Modern vaccinations are a great thing and have saved many lives and in recent years. ;)
I do ask myself whether the rare cases of injection site carcinoma might also be affected by timings of spot on treatment? People tend to do the whole shooting match in one go. I worry that spot on chemicals can attack the bruised and damaged injection site. I always leave it a week or so before before administering spot on after a vac.
CP's policy is always to vaccinate every cat which comes into our care. The only concerns since I've been with the group have been based on the combined FeLV vac verses staggered courses. We have had cats with can't tolerate the combined one so FeLV is done a couple of weeks later.
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I don't think they need them every year, but it's worth bearing in mind that you still need annual vacs if you are going to put your cat in a cattery. If you think there is any chance you might have to use a cattery at short notice (think about what you would do with the cats if your house was flooded or some such emergency), they will need to be up to date with vacs which at the moment means annual boosters.
Jaffa has not had any vacs for a couple of years but that is cos I'm skint! He has had annyual boosters every year up until about age 11 so I'm happy he is covered. I do intend to get him done again soon though. Mosi hasn't hasn't had his latest annual booster for the same reason. Although he's younger, he has still had his initial vacs plus 2 annual boosters so I'm satisfied he is ok in terms of being vaccinated. He will also be having a course of vacs soon though.
My vets do still recommend annual boosters. I dont' think they make any money from vacs tbh - the cost of annual booster is about the same as a consultation at my vets and as the visit includes a health check which I'd want to have anyway, I'm paying about the same.
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I don't think they need them every year, but it's worth bearing in mind that you still need annual vacs if you are going to put your cat in a cattery. If you think there is any chance you might have to use a cattery at short notice (think about what you would do with the cats if your house was flooded or some such emergency), they will need to be up to date with vacs which at the moment means annual boosters.
Tbh, that's the only reason we've had our oldies done every year (up to missing Byron's this year) although we never go on holiday just have days out but you never know.
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I'm in that position too - if I had to go into hospital I would need to use the cattery
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I don't think they need them every year, but it's worth bearing in mind that you still need annual vacs if you are going to put your cat in a cattery. If you think there is any chance you might have to use a cattery at short notice (think about what you would do with the cats if your house was flooded or some such emergency), they will need to be up to date with vacs which at the moment means annual boosters.
They've never been in a cattery, and I can't see any scenario where they ever will be, if the house got flooded they'd go where we went or we'd stay with them because we're a family.
I'm really grateful for all the comments this thread has, still confused but through the fog we're beginning to come down on the side of missing this years boosters out!
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I've just realised that in my earlier post I got my risks and benefits the wrong way round. What I meant to say was 'If they had a compromised immune system or severe kidney failure then the risks would probably outweigh the benefits.'
I have now amended the original post :-[
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I dont buy the annual vaccination story but i still think cats should have a yearly check up regardless of if they have a jab at the same time, its really important to have them looked over especially as they get older
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That's what we did this time for Byron still had the check up minus the boosters.
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i think that my insurance is only valid if theyre up to date on their jabs. not got them in front of me but i think i remember that.
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i think that my insurance is only valid if theyre up to date on their jabs. not got them in front of me but i think i remember that.
Most iv looked at wont pay if your cat catches something you could vaccinate against but havnt, i dont use the felv vaccine so if one of mine was diaganosed with it then the insurance wont pay out iyswim