do you give your indoor cats yearly shots

chausiefan

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along w ur outdoor cats? For those of you with both cats some that stay mostly outdoors while some then are almost always indoors do u give both cats the same yearly shots? or are they only really needed for the ones that go outside?
 

snosrap5

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I have two indoor/outdoor kitties and the rest are all indoor and everyone gets the same vaccinations. Simon always gets an extra vaccine of bordetella because he is groomed at a kennel twice a year.
 

fostermomm

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My cats are fully vaccinated every year because I foster. Otherwise since they are indoor I would only get rabies.
 

talon

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Yep sure do get them vaccinated - never can tell what will happen, someone get out, another cat unexpectedly coming in, etc. Better to be safe then sorry.
 

littleraven7726

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Mine get rabies vax annually (Purevax Rabies Vaccine) and distemper vax every 3 years.

Raven doesn't get anything anymore since he has cancer. The vet is giving him a waiver for it, she agrees he shouldn't be vaccinated anymore.
 

footersownsme

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if i didnt work as a vet tech and could possibly bring home who knows what on my clothing and everything else then my indoor only kitties would just get rabies. But they get their distemper and rabies shot as scheduled. Poor Worm hasnt gotten anything yet because of his horrendous case of Roundworms that I just cant seem to get rid of.......grrr.
 

lmunsie

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I seem to be the minority here, and I"m not FULLY decided as I just got mine, but they are indoor only, I don't foster and I have very little contact with other animals so I am not going to get them vaccinated, I don't believe in un-necessary vaccinations, in cats or otherwise. (people etc.) And it has nothing to do with not going to the vet as anyone who knows my history can attest.
 

mschauer

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Originally Posted by snosrap5

I have two indoor/outdoor kitties and the rest are all indoor and everyone gets the same vaccinations. Simon always gets an extra vaccine of bordetella because he is groomed at a kennel twice a year.
How do you manage getting 11 cats vaccinated???
 

laureen227

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Originally Posted by Talon

Yep sure do get them vaccinated - never can tell what will happen, someone get out, another cat unexpectedly coming in, etc. Better to be safe then sorry.
so far, i've brought home/in 3 strays/ferals, one of which i know for certain had never been vaxed. this way, i can rest assured that my current ones are protected. also, i feed ferals that i am unable to vax, so i don't want to bring in anything on my clothes/shoes/etc. that the inside cats aren't protected against.
 

missymotus

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Mine are all under 1 yr old but I plan on getting them vaxed every 2 years. I would go 3 years but rules for showing are 2 years.
 

goldenkitty45

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The cats all used to get yearly shots, but now with the new thinking, the cats will only get their vaccinations every 3 yrs.

You have a point - if the cats will be out in the show ring every 2 yrs makes more sense. Charlie will only be shown till he grands in CFA and ACFA.
 

momofmany

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Originally Posted by mschauer

How do you manage getting 11 cats vaccinated???
I'll jump in here. 13 cats and 2 dogs here and we get all of them vaccinated yearly. I do it because I don't always know when I will find another stray or feral that needs to be rescued and I don't want any of mine pick up anything by accident. I did have a FeLV kitten get into my house that was supposed to have been tested and wasn't (mix up at the vets). After 6 months, 1 of my adults contracted the disease from him and he was vaccinated. Had none of mine been vaccinated, it would have been far worse.

How do I do it? I do a group of cats a couple times a year. Over the course of a week, I'll make a series of appointments for 2 cats at a time. I'll start with the cats hardest to catch (some of mine are still somewhat feral) and if I don't catch them the first round, I try to get them the next round. December is my worst month with about 10 cats due at that time. The vet bills me at the end of the month.
 

blast-off-girl

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I get both of my cats vaccinated because it's the law in the city of Oakland, CA. However, they must also be vaccinated in order to stay at the kennel while I travel. They both receive the rabies and 4-in-1 shots but don't need the leukemia shots since they are strictly indoor.
 

lunasmom

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Even though all 4 are indoor only, I still get them their annual vaccines and rabies every 3 years.

The annuals really are just a trigger memory for me, otherwise I will forget to take them in and only take them in when something really bad has happened (which winds up costing me $$$$$$$$). So to help curb this, I do the annual shots so they can get their annual exam.
 

urbantigers

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Mine get vaccinated every year as they go into a boarding cattery regularly so need to have annual boosters for that. Even if they didn't, I think I'd still get them done every year as the flu virus is airborne and the enteritis virus can be carried in on clothing etc so indoor cats can still get these. Those are the only vaccinations they get though - no leukaemia because I don't think that's necessary and we don't have rabies over here. I think there is one manufacturer over here who says boosters are only needed every 3 years, but the one that my cats usually get say every year. Maybe in future I'll switch to the one that only needs to be given every 3 years, but I don't think I'd be able to board them in the cattery then.
 

werebear

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Who would come to the house and vaccinate/examine everybody in big bunches, it was great! That's when I was fostering/rescuing quite a bit and we had a lot of people in & out of the house. So I went to a three year schedule for everyone, since my vet agreed they didn't need it every year.

Now I have three, strictly indoors, and I let it go even longer, since they go in for checkups or teeth cleaning every year or so and the vet can check them over, but since they get so little contact with other cats I don't bring them up to date more often than that, except for Rabies, which is required.

Circumstances vary, of course, depending on how much exposure they get and also their state of health. I don't have vets who make housecalls in my new area, so the stress on the cats is also something I think about, now that they are getting older they seem to hate it even more.

One time Mr. Bond was so determined not to go to the vet he broke out of his plastic carrier three times. He didn't lay a paw on us, just waited until our backs were turned and used his fifteen pounds on the plastic door. I wound up wrapping the carrier in duct tape to keep him in there. That's a way to get noticed in the waiting room!

We have a new carrier now.
 
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