Vaccinations - do you bother

mooficat

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so I suppose that title drew a few 'OMG of course I do' comments.. but.....

I was just a little worried about a comment someone made about feline leukemia vaccination NOT being available and it certainly got me thinking


What vaccinations do you get for your kitties and do you have to ask for them or does your vet TELL you what you need ? does your vet have any worries about certain vaccinations and wont administer them ?

I have rabies, feline leukemia, FIP & feline flu
 

luxum

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My vet would give any vaccination i wanted, but i don't want any of them. I had both my cats vaccinated for the whole shebang as kittens and gave them boosters, but after that i have not vaccinated them unless a vet was very insistent about the required rabies shot. My cats are both indoor only and i feel that the risks of them somehow being exposed to something are much lower than the risk of cancer posed by the vaccine itself. The cat i had when i was growing up died of an injection site cancer and my mother lamented for years that she might have lived a little longer if she hadn't been given so many vaccinations that she didn't need. One of the things that i like about my current vet clinic is that both vets accepted my feelings on the matter and have not pushed me to vaccinate, even though rabies is technically required.
 
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mooficat

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thats interesting luxum - and I am very sorry about the loss of your kitty to cancer caused by injections - I'd never actually heard of that before


As of my kits all go out, so I do feel it necessary - I also have to have & show proof of the vaccinations when I take my cats to the kennels.
 

renovia

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my 'cat doctor' vet seriously tries to insist on me getting the rabies shot for stoli....but his specialist is ok with him NOT having one because he had a 3 year shot before he came to me from kansas. i told the cat doctor flat out that i was NOT vaccinating him for rabies because he'll be over vaccinated. i'll wait the three years...oh yea and by the way - the SPECIALIST said it was ok..and she gave me a signed form...any more comments?


i don't think so
 

littleraven7726

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i vaccinate the guys for distemper and rabies.

i was talking to my vet last week, about raven's cancer diagnosis (he has a fibrosarcoma and every time i googled it i got results with VAS). she said that vaccination site sarcomas were more of a problem 10 yrs ago. she said the vaccines have been changed to not cause that anymore. and i know the clinic i go to only uses non-adjuvent containing vaccines. the only rabies shot option we have is Purevax, which i think is a good thing.
 

followedbydolls

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they have all had their baby boosters and rabies shots.

They do not have leukemia by recommendation from my ragdoll breeder apparently their have been issues with dolls with this shot.

I do think vaccines are overdone and have read many articles on the health concerns especially with doing yearly rabies.

anyhow, it's a personal choice one probably best spoken with your vet and/or breeder[if their purebreds]
 

urbantigers

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Mine are vaccinated annually against flu and enteritis. I don't have the leukaemia vaccination as they are indoor kitties so unlikely to encounter the virus and that's the one that carries the greatest risk of side effects, I believe. No rabies over here so that's not an issue. I'm not totally convinced that they need to be done annually but that is still the manufacturers recommendation and as I put my cats into a boarding cattery from time to time they need to be up to date with vaccinations. They've never had any problems so I'm happy to keep up with annual vaccinations.
 

luxum

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i was talking to my vet last week, about raven's cancer diagnosis (he has a fibrosarcoma and every time i googled it i got results with VAS). she said that vaccination site sarcomas were more of a problem 10 yrs ago. she said the vaccines have been changed to not cause that anymore. and i know the clinic i go to only uses non-adjuvent containing vaccines.
I am so glad to hear that they have addressed the issue. And it was about 10 years ago at that. Do some clinics still use the adjuvant containing vaccines? Is there some way to confirm that the ones that a clinic uses don't contain adjuvants or do i have to just take their word for it? (I trust this vet, but i have certainly dealt with some shady ones in the past.)
 

roxie225

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When we adopted Roxie she had already had all her baby shots and we went back for a booster... The woman we adopted her from told us we didn't need to vaccinate her against rabies since she is indoors or feline lukemia because she was tested and was negative. We only go to the vet once a year for her checkup so we have only been there once so far but we only had them give her the distemper vaccine. I'm not too worried since Rox is our only pet and strictly indoors. If we decide on getting a dog in the future we will vaccinate her for rabies but we are staying away from feline lukemia on the suggestion of the woman who had fostered her!

Exactly what vaccinations are available? I didn't know there was one for cat flu and I'm wondering what others there are that I don't know about.
 

littleraven7726

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Originally Posted by luxum

I am so glad to hear that they have addressed the issue. And it was about 10 years ago at that. Do some clinics still use the adjuvant containing vaccines? Is there some way to confirm that the ones that a clinic uses don't contain adjuvants or do i have to just take their word for it? (I trust this vet, but i have certainly dealt with some shady ones in the past.)
my vet said they have changed all of the vaccines, but you could ask yours to make sure.
at raven's last appointment i had a list of questions. i was pretty worried since every fibrosarcoma article only seemed to talk about VAS. it was nice to hear the vet saying it was an issue 10 yrs ago, but not common now.

edit: the clinic i go to does not offer the 3 yr rabies vaccine, i was told they "saw too many problems" with it. i didn't ask beyond that. we get the 1-yr Purevax rabies vaccine.
 

yosemite

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I get the vaccinations every year. Bijou and Mika are mainly indoors although hubby allows them out so I'm not about to take any chances on their health. Even indoor kitties can sometimes get out so I'd rather be safe than sorry. I live by the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
 

sofiecusion

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Rabies and FVRCP.

Rabies every 3 except the initial one. My kitties are indoor only, and the vet says they don't need anything else. I think it pays to have it done, just for the yearly exam alone, and plus then I don't have to worry.
 

sharky

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From here out

kitten / puppy series and then one booster... then If need teeters to check ...

I recently found out that my dogs liver issues are likely from the heartworm preventative I gave her yrs ago ...
... that made me totally agree with my vet less may be more
 

white cat lover

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Because I foster....I have been vaccinating for the distemper combo & rabies yearly. Now...my cats are old enough(remember, I've only had 5 of them for a year)....I will likely vaccinate every 3 years. Because I foster. I mean, Figaro could well have distemper & I'd never know it!
 

sarahp

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My girls will be getting yearly check ups, yearly rabies vaccinations (just to be sure we have regular rabies vax records for when we move back to Australia, since that's what they're most strict about), and they'll all get another FVRCP this year, then since they're indoor, will only get that every 3 years from then on.
 

kittymonsters

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I follow the American Association of Feline Practioners vaccination guidelines. These have been out for about 8 years now. They, along with Fort Dodge and Merial did that actual studies to determine how long immunity status lasts for all the vaccines.

FVRCP generally last 5-7 years post first year booster,
Feline leukemia booster in general not recommened for indoor cats. However since FeLV is very much a kitten disease the initial kitten series is recommened.

Rabies is governed by law, but they last longer than the three years. The "problems" with the 3 year vaccine are no different that the old 1 year vaccine, it was actually the same vaccine. The company just did three year studies on some species and not on others.

The new 1 year vaccine is adjutant free, so is better than the three year in terms of reducing the risk of VAS. Now, if the companies really wanted too, they could do the studies and make this a 3 year vaccine very easily. It has been on the market long enough for this already. I highly doubt they will though any time soon.

The new AAFP vaccination guidelines can be found here
http://www.aafponline.org/resources/...ines_JAVMA.pdf

They have some other great guidelines here
http://www.aafponline.org/resources/...guidelines.htm
 

alice_curiouser

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No, because I believe the risks from going to vet, as well as the vaccines themselves, are higher than the diseases. I would never get the F-leuk vax - nthat thing scares the heck outta me.
I'm pretty anti-vaccine on whole; my kids only get the vaccinations that are legally required to attend school.
 

zissou'smom

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I get the vaccines that I believe have benefits outweighing the risks.

If a vet ever came near Zissou with a FeLeuk Vaccine, I'd be out the door before they could say "but..."

Not getting rabies vaccines is against the law, here at least, and I'm not about to risk having Zissou taken from me for that.
 
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