Need Help On Vaccinations Please

History:  1yr old neutered male who is a 95% indoor cat who does accompany us, maybe twice a week, outdoors on his harness.

Current Vaccinations Administered @ Approx. 8mos Old:

3/20/13 - One StongID worming
3/28/13 - One 1yr PureVax Rabies Shot
            - One Feline 4 + Leucat Booster
            - One StrongID worming
*I also use Revolution, however only every other month.

Due to his throwing up a worm yesterday, he received:

8/30/13 - One 1yr Feline Herpes/Calcivirus/Panleuk Shot
8/30/13 - One StrongID worming (with 2 more sent home)
*Fecal testing is in progress to ensure which worm & if there is anything else going on.


Since we travel we don't have a "regular" veterinarian (although we do hope to establish a cat-only vet when we return to Texas next month) --   Am I done with needed vaccinations?  Since he was a stray, we made the assumption he had no vaccinations of any sort.

I'm not one who wants to over vaccinate for anything, and would rather not even booster vaccinate for rabies, but it's the law to some degree in all states we may travel so I'm OK using only the PureVax 1yr vaccination as required.

I know it's a loaded question sometimes, but what are everyone's thoughts on the parvo, leukemia, herpes, or calcivirus boosters?   It's confusing at best, but I'm learning more every day here.  I should also add that the local vet who saw him today is not a fan of the leukemia shot for Si's current living circumstances. 

I want our boy to have the best life possible and I can't imagine that being a life full of shots :/

All thoughts on the matter are greatly appreciated!

You will get a lot of ideas about that.  The current guideline, though there are still a lot of vets who don't follow it, is every three years for the four way vaccine.  Some people don't give anything after the kitten shots and the one year booster which it sounds like your cat has had now.  Some vets still give it every year which I consider over vaccinating and is not the guideline now.   My vet uses the one year rabies shot and gives the other one every three years.

His original vet in Louisiana where we found him stated that Feline 4 thing was good for 3yrs, but those are the things that make my head spin .. I really don't like the thought of a "whole bunch 'o stuff" combined into any kind of shot .. for me or a pet. 

Denice said:

You will get a lot of ideas about that.  The current guideline, though there are still a lot of vets who don't follow it, is every three years for the four way vaccine.  Some people don't give anything after the kitten shots and the one year booster which it sounds like your cat has had now.  Some vets still give it every year which I consider over vaccinating and is not the guideline now.   My vet uses the one year rabies shot and gives the other one every three years.

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I really like what Dr. Pierson says on www.catinfo.org about vaccines. It makes a lot of sense to me and is starting to be supported by the science as well.

Since he isn't outside interacting with other cats (even if you take him on a leash), and you don't rescue, I wouldn't think anything other than the rabies would be necessary.

And given that the Winn Feline Foundation conducted a study and found that the PureVax (non-adjuvanted) rabies is effective for 3 years, you can choose to have it done every year if you think it's necessary because of your travels, or you can have it done every 3 years.

At this point in time, we provide no vaccinations to any of our adult cats (that already received initials and boosters). For rescue kittens, we give them the distemper (only) and rabies, and they get the one year booster. We don't recommend any further after that IF they are indoor-only and the adopter doesn't rescue.

If someone boards cats, annual vaccinations may be required.

Thanks a million for that website vball.  That thinking/research is a lot more in line with what I would prefer for Si when it comes to vaccinations.  I'll certainly be looking seriously at titre testing before vaccinating for anything over & over.

vball91 said:

I really like what Dr. Pierson says on www.catinfo.org about vaccines. It makes a lot of sense to me and is starting to be supported by the science as well.

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