can someone give me a reason why I should vaccinate my kitten?

ut0pia

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Hi everyone,
So we all know times are tough right now and I got a kitten who is eight weeks old. I set up an appointment for tomorrow to get him to get his first shots. I am having thoughts though. He is going to be 100% an indoor cat and I have no other animals nor do I come into contact with other animals....So I am thinking: is there any point to vaccinating him? He doesn't have worms, I am sure of that now ..and he is so healthy. I don't want to waste any money, and he will need at least 4 vet visits to complete the vaccinations, which will be about $300. And I am also a little worried about him getting some kind of allergic reaction or even catching some germs in the waiting room....Can someone more knowledgeable please tell me what reasons there are for vaccinating an indoor cat????
 

sharky

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It likely is the law to at least get rabies .... if someone is bitten in some areas they WILL EUTHANIZE an unvaccinated cat without you having recourse ...

Kitten shots IMHO are very important as you can bring in on your person many of these dieseases from outside without knowing it and without direct contact with an animal ... others are airborn and could come in with the breeze ..

I have two vets who make house calls, this elimates most of the clinic risk... which is very very small except for something like a URI (very treatable) ...

Call around for prices ... call the local shelter, often they have low cost shots or will know who does.
 

twokatz

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Where did you get the kitten? You may want to look up the new protocol for vaccinations from the American Veterinary Medical Association. I do not believe in vaccinations routinely but the kitten shots for distemper (it is usually 3 or 4 in one) is important. The shots are usually given every 2-3 weeks and if the 3rd shot is given 16 weeks or later you won't need the fourth, according to my vets. My cats are totally indoor but sometimes I need to take them to the vets, where there a lot of sick animals and some of the diseases are airborne. The other shots you should research and make your own decision.
 

mews2much

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I have a new kitten and the vet tech tried to force us to get the leukemia shot and we refused.
She has all her other shots.
It was in the breeders contract never to get that shot.
My other cats do not get that shot either.
They get the distemper shots.
Find out what shots he is going to give.
I do not do rabies with coco and Meeko to many problems.
Cleo has her Rabies shot and the distemper.
Coco dosent get shots anymore because of her age and problems.
 
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ut0pia

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What's wrong with the leukemia shot? I found a place that charges $50 for first set of vaccines and I am taking him there tomorrow but they didn't tell me anything about which vaccines he will get..I'm just going to trust the vet's judgement...I might call shelters for the next round of shots ..
twokatz that's what i'm worried about when you said they come in contact w/ sick animals at the vet's office- tomorrow will be his first time out of my house and he might be exposed to some germs before he gets the shots

I read distemper spreads from other kittens, and Jake hasn't been in contant with other kittens in the past three weeks. I also read that distemper can be deadly in a young kitten and that they vomit and have a lot of diarrhea, I haven't noticed any of that with Jake for the past three weeks...
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

What's wrong with the leukemia shot? I found a place that charges $50 for first set of vaccines and I am taking him there tomorrow but they didn't tell me anything about which vaccines he will get..I'm just going to trust the vet's judgement...I might call shelters for the next round of shots ..
twokatz that's what i'm worried about when you said they come in contact w/ sick animals at the vet's office- tomorrow will be his first time out of my house and he might be exposed to some germs before he gets the shots

I read distemper spreads from other kittens, and Jake hasn't been in contant with other kittens in the past three weeks. I also read that distemper can be deadly in a young kitten and that they vomit and have a lot of diarrhea, I haven't noticed any of that with Jake for the past three weeks...
FYI my vet is holistic / conventional meaning she goes natural as much as possible then uses traditional methods...

The only shots my vet recommends is a 3 in 1 or a 4 in 1 and rabies series for kittens ... then a booster ... You need to research how often and what shots to give after kitten
 

kara_leigh

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In our city you have to have proof of rabies vaccination in order to get licensed. If you decide not to license and they find out it is a HUGE fine.
 
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ut0pia

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At the Atlanta humane society they do something called FVRCP and that costs $25, they do it three times and then once rabies- the third time..It seems like the prices are not bad I think I will take him there for the second and third round...It is $45 for second round and $65 for third...so my total will be about $150..
kara_leigh what's a license? I've never heard of it lol I might be in trouble!
 

GoldyCat

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What shots are they giving that require a series of four? For kittens my vet does the initial vaccinations, then two boosters about 3 weeks apart. Goldy was older when I got her, but still under a year. She got only the initial shots plus one booster. They won't have to have any more for a year.

Ask specifically what the $50 covers. It should include an examination fee. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I don't pay nearly that much for shots.
 

momofmany

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Don't get the FeLV and FIV vaccinations confused. After an FIV vaccination is given, the cat will test positive for the disease afterwards. The FeLV vaccination is far more effective than 20%, and probably more like 60-75%. I refuse the FIV vaccination but do the FeLV vaccinations.

I vaccinate for FeLV because I used to bring in new cats and kittens, and 2 of my cats are indoor/outdoor. One of the kittens brought FeLV into my house and of the 11 cats that lived with me at the time, only 1 caught the disease, and all were vaccinated. Had I not done the vaccinations, roughly 4-5 of them would have gotten it.

If your kitten ever goes outside the house at all (whether it be to the vets, or an emergency happens), or if you ever plan to adopt another cat while he is alive, vaccinate while they are young to build up their immunity to diseases.
 

sharky

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

Don't get the FeLV and FIV vaccinations confused. After an FIV vaccination is given, the cat will test positive for the disease afterwards. The FeLV vaccination is far more effective than 20%, and probably more like 60-75%. I refuse the FIV vaccination but do the FeLV vaccinations.

I vaccinate for FeLV because I used to bring in new cats and kittens, and 2 of my cats are indoor/outdoor. One of the kittens brought FeLV into my house and of the 11 cats that lived with me at the time, only 1 caught the disease, and all were vaccinated. Had I not done the vaccinations, roughly 4-5 of them would have gotten it.

If your kitten ever goes outside the house at all (whether it be to the vets, or an emergency happens), or if you ever plan to adopt another cat while he is alive, vaccinate while they are young to build up their immunity to diseases.
Thank you...

I just had several get shots and the vet said not to give the FELV vaccine , upon googling I am thinking it was the tumor risk and my cats overall risk... THIS is a good reason to talk with your vet ....

here is a basic chart with shots available and what they are
http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+1385&aid=951
 

emmylou

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Definitely get your cat the recommended shots. You want to protect the cat's health... can you guarantee that the cat won't escape outside a single time in its whole life? You don't want to risk that, or that your cat might bite someone and be put to sleep. Also, germs can be passed through window screens and on infected rodents, etc.

I wouldn't worry about the cat picking up germs at the vet's office. Your kitten will be in its own carrier most of the time, and the exam table will be sterile. At my vet's office they have a lovely mascot cat who lives there and is fawned over by all the staff. I was surprised by this, and asked, but they said he never gets sick from being around all the sick animals (of course, he's vaccinated).
 
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ut0pia

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I really hope that the $50 covers the exam...The other two vet offices I called said the entire vet visit plus shots will be around $100-$120..
 

GoldyCat

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Originally Posted by Momofmany

Don't get the FeLV and FIV vaccinations confused. After an FIV vaccination is given, the cat will test positive for the disease afterwards. The FeLV vaccination is far more effective than 20%, and probably more like 60-75%. I refuse the FIV vaccination but do the FeLV vaccinations.

I vaccinate for FeLV because I used to bring in new cats and kittens, and 2 of my cats are indoor/outdoor. One of the kittens brought FeLV into my house and of the 11 cats that lived with me at the time, only 1 caught the disease, and all were vaccinated. Had I not done the vaccinations, roughly 4-5 of them would have gotten it.

If your kitten ever goes outside the house at all (whether it be to the vets, or an emergency happens), or if you ever plan to adopt another cat while he is alive, vaccinate while they are young to build up their immunity to diseases.
Thanks for the clarification. I was getting a little worried since all my cats have had the FeLV shot. Looking at their records, the FIV box is blank. Apparently my vet doesn't even offer it,
which is a good thing since I was totally ignorant about cat care when I got my first kitten.
 

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If you're going to go to various places to get shots (as many do), please make sure you keep an up-to-date file on your kitty's medical background in a handy place - so that in case you ever have a medical emergency, you can bring in his complete history with you. I can't even remember my own last visit to the internist, and I know in a panic I'd never remember exactly which shots my babies had.

Also, and this is just me, I like to maintain a relationship with a practice (vet or human) - so that I'm a regular client if I need to get in super quickly or ask any other 'favor'. Also, I tend to be in the camp that preventive care, including regular exams, keeps the costs down in the long run. I know it can be hard to dig up that extra cash - my babies have nice clean teeth and regular exams, and I haven't gotten new dress office shoes for 8 months!
 

kara_leigh

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Originally Posted by ut0pia

At the Atlanta humane society they do something called FVRCP and that costs $25, they do it three times and then once rabies- the third time..It seems like the prices are not bad I think I will take him there for the second and third round...It is $45 for second round and $65 for third...so my total will be about $150..
kara_leigh what's a license? I've never heard of it lol I might be in trouble!
Here we have to get our pets licensed if we live in city limits, or within 3 miles of the city limits. In order to get them licensed you have to have them vaccinated for rabies, otherwise they refuse to license your pet. If you don't license and they find out, it is a hefty fine. It is also much cheaper to license them if they are fixed. Such as cats...an intact cat costs $50 to license, a fixed cat only costs $12. (Other counties are only $15/$5
)
 

wellingtoncats

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My favourite saying is "Owning a cat is a privilege, not a right".

I do not believe that people who cannot afford pets should have them. I would never consider for two seconds whether to get the shots or not for my pet. Here in New Zealand they only need two. One at 9/10 weeks and the booster 2 weeks later. We don't have vaccines for rabies, distemper etc, but we do refuse the chlamydia vaccine for our cats.

Our vet is honest with us and tells us it is unneccessary to get shots when they are adults so we choose not to. I've recently read threads on TCS about the credit crunch and people downgrading the quality of their cats food, that makes me sad, I would rather eat cornflakes then have my cat eat something dyed yellow and green.

I've never been out of Australasia so I can't say whether or not you should get your cat shots, our vet also says it is OK to skip one generation if the parents are vaccinated but if you don't know the parentage that's probably too risky.

You have to have licenses for cats??? We can have as many cats as we like where we live but I think there's a limit on dogs.
 

snake_lady

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Originally Posted by WellingtonCats

My favourite saying is "Owning a cat is a privilege, not a right".
agreed 100%

I do not believe that people who cannot afford pets should have them. I would never consider for two seconds whether to get the shots or not for my pet. Here in New Zealand they only need two. One at 9/10 weeks and the booster 2 weeks later. We don't have vaccines for rabies, distemper etc, but we do refuse the chlamydia vaccine for our cats.

Our vet is honest with us and tells us it is unneccessary to get shots when they are adults so we choose not to. I've recently read threads on TCS about the credit crunch and people downgrading the quality of their cats food, that makes me sad, I would rather eat cornflakes then have my cat eat something dyed yellow and green.
agreed again, somewhat, but just wanted to point out that 'some' people who own pets, got their pets when they could afford them. We're in a recession now, and alot of people are losing jobs, etc. The animal shelters are full, and most vets won't let you run a tab. I would much rather see someone trying their best to take care of their pet, then throwing it out in a shelter that will euthanize, or letting it out on the street.

"Downgrading" foods is something people feeling the "money crunch" can do easily. Especially if they were feeding a very expensive brand. There are cheaper, just as good brands out there. Again, I would rather see that, then the person putting the cat outside or in a shelter (if they can find a shelter).

The above is ONLY regarding people who know the responsibilities of owning a pet, and were willing, but life has hit them hard lately.

I have no tolerance for those who take on an animal, without thinking about its costs, or take on an animal for the wrong reason.


DEFINATELY get your cat vaccinated, there's been some helpful links and advice in this thread that will help you know which vaccines to get, and which not to get.

It is something I have to do once Kizzy is feeling better too. I do not know which vaccines are offered here, but I most certainly am going to ask.
 

GoldyCat

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Originally Posted by carolinalima

Ok - So: Rabies once /yr due to licensing.
What about FeLV? How often?
Rabies should be good for 3 years. My vet does FeLV once a year. I haven't done any research, but I trust my vet. Somebody else my know more about it than I do.
 
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