Feline Leukemia Vaccination

hosman

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My vet kind of left it up to me whether to get this vaccine for Alley or not.She says if there is any chance of Alley going outdoors at all I should get it for her.What would you do? I`ll probably opt for it just in case another cat breaks into my house? Rumors of a cat burgler in the area.....Sorry.
 

carolina

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IMO you should give the kitten shots, and a booster at 1 yr old... After that, if he is an inside cat, then no...
 

thrasymachus

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Alot of time vaccines can actually cause their own problems or get you or your cat sick. Jenny McCarthy has well publicized the minority knowledge that there is a possible linkage from the combination of vaccines given to human babies causing ever growing later incidents of autism as children age.

IMHO I would not trust the medical profession too deeply. They do not question certain axioms. The intellectual Ivan Illich in his work Medical Nemesis says that the main purpose of the medical profession is to adjust us to modern capitalist growth and development. The high prevalence of diabetes in Western society is a consequence of Western diet high in bread, sugars, etc. according to Michael Pollan (talk of Michael Pollan on our modern industrial diet and the health issues it causes.)

Basically the entire medical profession has an instrumentalist, mechanistic approach to problems instead of trying to examine deeper issues. Give this prescription, give that treatment, remove this tooth. Instead of asking what in diet in this uniquely invented industrial food stuff industries and our man-made environment is causing the underlying and deeper issues making sickness so prevalent.
 

carrielynn

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Be careful. My cat was strictly an inside cat but died of feline leukemia at 9 years. She darted outside maybe 10 times over the years when a family member would accidentally hold the door open too long, though someone would always scoop her up as soon as possible. She had direct contact with another cat one time that I knew of. I was very shocked to learn she had a virus.
 

mews2much

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My Lucy would not be dead if I had not got her that shot.
None of my cats get that shot.
Coco and Meeko used to before Lucy died from it.
The others never have and never have got that shot and never will.
To me it is not worth the risk.
It is even in breeders contracts not to give it.

 

goldenkitty45

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Both of my Ocicat breeders (one is a vet himself) will not give the vaccine to their cats and its stated in the contract that health guarantee is void if the FELV shot is given.

I was skeptical about the shot when it first came out and never gave it. My cats are tested negative and they don't go outside - only go to shows.

I would not give the FELV shot (and the clamedya shot either - that one causes problems too).
 

alleygirl

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Riley had it only when he was a kitten and only because I was fostering cats at that time and wanted to make sure he was safe since he was exposed to lots of strange cats. However, he has not had one since and I will not give him one. None for Xander either. They are not exposed to any strange cats and never go outside.
 

lynneny

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Our first sweet cat, Cookie, died at a very young 4 years old from bone marrow cancer. We are convinced that she got it from that shot. She was strictly indoors and never exposed to another cat after birth, and had tested negative from the start.

None of our other cats will ever get that shot again. Sorry to sound so forceful but it was the general consensus that she died most likely due to having had that shot.
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

I would not give the FELV shot (and the clamedya shot either - that one causes problems too).
I would never give those shots either. Nothing above F3 for my babies, far too many complications from the others.
 

mews2much

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I hope he listened to us.
I would hate for another cat to die like Lucy did all because of that shot.
I still can not forgive myself for letting her have that shot.

 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by mews2much


I still can not forgive myself for letting her have that shot.

You didn't know
It's not your fault.
 

lynneny

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Not to lessen your grief about Lucy, but our Cookie died in December of 2001. I wonder if there was a problem with the batch of shots that they got before that happened?

I feel the same way you do about having given her that shot.
 

rang_27

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I struggle with that particular vaccination because your cat will forever test positive. We have a cat at our shelter right now that tested positive, but in the 6+ months that she has been there has never had so much as a cold. We don't know if she is positive or had the vaccination but we can't adopt her out as anything but positive. She was a stray & we have no idea about her prior medical history. So it is difficult to find her a home because of this positive test. At the same time I understand if they do get out they may be infected.
 

alleygirl

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Originally Posted by Rang_27

I struggle with that particular vaccination because your cat will forever test positive. We have a cat at our shelter right now that tested positive, but in the 6+ months that she has been there has never had so much as a cold. We don't know if she is positive or had the vaccination but we can't adopt her out as anything but positive. She was a stray & we have no idea about her prior medical history. So it is difficult to find her a home because of this positive test. At the same time I understand if they do get out they may be infected.
Can you give me the sources of your information? I've found many sites that say a vaccine will NOT cause your cat to test positive, so now I would like some clarification about which is correct. Thanks.

ETA: I DID read that the FIV vaccine will cause a false positive, but not the Felv.
 

rang_27

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Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

Can you give me the sources of your information? I've found many sites that say a vaccine will NOT cause your cat to test positive, so now I would like some clarification about which is correct. Thanks.

ETA: I DID read that the FIV vaccine will cause a false positive, but not the Felv.
OK, maybe I'm confused. I know that a co-worker of mine surrendered a cat to us that tested positive, but because he had all her vet records to show she had been negative & then got the vaccines we knew that is what it was. It could have been FIV. I guess I just thought both caused the same side affect.
 

alleygirl

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Originally Posted by Rang_27

OK, maybe I'm confused. I know that a co-worker of mine surrendered a cat to us that tested positive, but because he had all her vet records to show she had been negative & then got the vaccines we knew that is what it was. It could have been FIV. I guess I just thought both caused the same side affect.
I might make a note to ask my vet next visit. I'm asking because Riley did have the felv vaccine when he was at the rescue but not the FIV one. I would hate to think he would test positive if he were to ever get lost
 
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