Yearly vaccinations or no?

My kitty has gotten vaccinated for distemper, FelV/FIV, and rabies. Obviously with the rabies shot, it needs to be done on schedule.

But with the others, is it best to do the yearly boosters or to titer check the cat? The vet said that immunity lasts longer than a year, but the vaccines are only licensed for yearly boosters. Just conflicted because I don't want to lose my kitty to a vaccine induced sarcoma.

My kitty has been indoor/outdoor and that's the main reason why I got him vaccinated with as many shots as he has. Currently, though, I'm in the process of training him to stay indoors (day 3 of no unsupervised outdoor time) so probably his risk of contracting disease is going way down.

My other kitty has only been vaccinated for rabies and nothing else since he's indoor. 

Any thoughts that you have on vaccines are appreciated.

All of my cats and I have 4 currently always have just gotten rabies and distemper. I don't really think the other ones they try to con you into are really necessary.

Your question has been asked many, many times.  However, yours is just a little different.  Most times the cats are completely INDOORS.  That makes a HUGE difference, to me, anyway.  I, personally, would get both cats vaccinated since one of them goes outdoors and has the opportunity to come into contact with any and everything. 

Here is one of the threads that gives varying opinions on vaccines and titers:  http://www.thecatsite.com/t/245463/do-indoor-cats-really-need-vaccines

As I mentioned in my initial post, the formerly indoor/outdoor cat is no longer allowed to be free roaming.

That is why I'm questioning whether to continue with yearly boosters.

Crazy4Strays said:

As I mentioned in my initial post, the formerly indoor/outdoor cat is no longer allowed to be free roaming.

That is why I'm questioning whether to continue with yearly boosters.

Click to expand...

Yes, I did see that, but not sure that supervised outdoor time means he/she couldn't still be exposed to things out there.  Probably not cat bites, but there are certain things that linger in cat urine on a blade of grass (for instance).

What we did when deciding about vaccine was sat down and had a heart to heart with our Vet.  We discussed our cats, their lifestyle, their age and health conditions (which of course our Vet already knew, but we re-iterated again), the fact that they had gotten them (vaccines) for x years so probably had plenty of antibodies built up, etc.  Discussed the pros and cons.  Then we made what we felt was an informed decision for each cat individually, even though ours are all 100% indoors.  (1 goes to the groomers, so has to have rabies shot, etc.) 

I would think that the chance of contracting anything while walking outside on a leash and harness has to be fairly remote. My other kitty (who I described as indoor in my initial post) does also go outside on a leash.

Crazy4Strays said:

I would think that the chance of contracting anything while walking outside on a leash and harness has to be fairly remote. My other kitty (who I described as indoor in my initial post) does also go outside on a leash.

Click to expand...

Remote, probably.  Possible, yes.  It's a personal decision.  All you can do is arm yourself with as much info as possible and go from there.

I may ask about titer testing at my next appointment.

I am struggling with this decision as well. I am 39 and grew up on a large dairy farm and amongst an army of tamed barn cats. Out in the country many people do not vaccinate at all. Most of ours had a single rabies vaccine and that was it. They all came into contact with wildlife. None of them had any serious health issues and when we had a death, it was at a ripe old age.  I had two house cats also, and they had the same singular vaccine and nothing more. They died at age 22 and 23 human years.

I moved to the city. There I found that there were dozens of homeless cats in my neighborhood due to people in poverty not getting their cats fixed. Many people just abandoned litters not long after they were weaned. Because of this I made a hobby out of catching, homing them as well as taking in as many as I could reasonably fit in my home. For me that number is 4 as a maximum.Upon taking them in most needed vet care and all needed to be altered. I did this as well as gave them first shots assuming they had none ever in their life. I followed the same protocal that I had always known, just first shots. We lost my thor at the age of 21, our thomas who is still alive and kicking at age 15.

Then came scrappy. When we found him......when he broke into our house malnourished and weak, we knew there was no way we were turning him away, but the timing was wrong for us to afford his initial visit. I had heard about Banfield and their wellness plans and decided that this was how we were going to get it done. I was never an anti-vaccer I had previously just always done what I grew up doing. In the country, I had never heard of fiv or feliv, but never questioned the vet or thought that getting these vaccines mattered either way so might as well. The wellness plan is a one size fits all plan where you bring your pet in on a schedule and theyget the same routine exam and vaccines layed out in the plan. I never questioned this. He had regular visits and all recommended vaccines for 5 years. In those years we had taken in two more.

I had already started to question Banfields plan from a financial standpoint. We started taking them to a new low cost clinic and cancelled scrappys plan. After experiencing the great individual service at the smaller practice, we planned on taking scrappy there instead when his next round of vaccines became due.....but it was too late. He started becomming ill, losing weight, drinking excessive, peeing more, stopped playing. We took him to the new vet and he was diagnosed with renal failure. We did everything we could to save him. A week of iv fluids in the hospital, prescription diet, subcutaneous fluids at home, but he did not improve and finally crashed. He died in our arms while getting ready to take him to be put down.

I could not understand how a cat so young could die of kidney failure. The more I sought answers the more I learned about vaccines. Many of the vaccines we give without second thought can actually be harmful. Some have been linked to chronic kidney failure. There are newer better vaccines now available called purevax that do not contain an ajuvant. I panicked and went to the vet papers of all my cats and found that the two younger ones had the newer vaccines. I was relieved. Soon it will be time to give them boosters. After scrappy, I am terrified. The science behind the new vaccine seems sound. This does not relieve my anxiety about it though.

I think after the things I have read, I personally will only give them their rabies vaccine. ....the new one. Every last one of my fur babies were indoor/outdoor cats and none have ever gotten sick from any of the other diseased that they want you to vaccinate for. I am on the fence about distemper. At first I was sure about giving that one to the younger ones, but my 15 year old cat has not had this in 14 years and its like he is not only healthy but aging backwards! He runs, wrestles, plays with the younger ones and even wears them out sometimes. All of them have friends in the neighborhood, including a family of raccoons that they have known now for years. As a former feral cat, my youngest one was raised amongst their litter, so they are his brothers and sisters. After a year or so of indoor life as a pet , he has finally stopped denning with them, but they still occasionally visit. When we first took him in, we did what we have always done to make sure he was not someones pet. Nursed him, then set him free to see if he came back......he did, but he would want to go out at night , be gone all day and then mamma raccoon would bring him home at precisely 9pm. It took him a year to even learn how to be a cat. With much patience, he has become a cat.

I worry though about not boosting his distemper, then I worry about doing it. I have been mourning scrappy for 3 months now, he was my best friend. Almost like a dog, a german shephard at that. He used to guard the yard, walk the parameter hourly, run to walk us to the door when he heard the van pull up, watched fireworks with me in the yard and boy could he love you to death!! His life ended far too soon. I feel like I wronged him, by simply trusting in the wrong vet. His last vaccine could have been the better, safer one, but I never knew that. The wellness plan did not take into account newer products. I would have gladly paid the difference!!!  I now this, a good vet will always answer your questions, and keep up on new medical research. The worst ones take what they learned in school 15 years ago as law that can never change and will not even discuss new findings with you. Their way or the highway, even if their way is based on research from decades ago.Here is something I found shortly after scrappy died     http://www.catinfo.org/?link=vaccines   it contains a lot of good information on the topic. 

This is also something I'm trying to determine for my three younger cats. Sara has too many other issues to put her through that now, and Maple is a hermit crab and I'm still trying to figure out how I can even get her to the vet one of these days (she's a big cat and will pee or poop on us if we pick her up - she hates it that much). Both Sara and Maple are 13, almost 14. But my other three... a 3 year old and two 7 month olds, need to have a chat with my vet one of these days about them. 

In my case, all five are 100% indoors. But, we do have two small dogs that go out for walks, so may need to do it because of that.

Here's a useful page, it really goes into detail about the different vaccines and current recommendations: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/vmth/...edicine/newsletters/vaccination_protocols.cfm

There is now a 3 year recombinant rabies vaccine available. If my new vet has not already stocked up on it....which she may have, because she is fantastic, I will have her order it and wait patiently, even if I have to pay ahead. Its good to know that progress is being made towards better care. Like a good mechanic, when you find a good honest one....keep em for life. If you have not, keep looking because they are out there. For every one of us concerned pet parents trying to learn all we can, there are others in the vet world as well as researchers trying to find our answers. Kudos to those people.

I'll admit, when I first heard that the rabies vaccine can cause sarcoma down the line, I was none to happy about getting it. And the idea of giving it to them multiple times makes me cringe. I don't think we've done it more than that first time with all of our other cats as they have all been indoor-only. I have heard a good story as to why indoor cats would still be better off getting it, but still, we never did. And I won't for the older ones, but just not sure what to do with the younger ones. Do I want to put them at risk of further having issues when it may not be warranted? I don't really know the statistics on it unfortunately, as I never even heard of it until Penelopy got her rabies vaccine a couple weeks back. And wouldn't you know, I've heard about it more times than I can count since then - even in a memoir I read!

My opinion on the matter for 100% indoor cats:   Get the kitten series for FVRCP.   Then do their rabies at the time of their neuter/spay.   Get the one-year booster for FVRCP.  Never vaccinate for anything ever again (including rabies - I don't care what the law says, the rabies vac is the most dangerous one if your vet doesn't use PureVax).   I feel that for my 100% indoor cats, the risk of VAS is higher than the risk of them contracting rabies or panleuk/calici.    I know others may not agree w/me, but this is how we handle vaccinations in our house.   I've never had a vet refuse me treatment over them not being "up to date" on their rabies vac.  I think vaccines are wonderful, life-extending inventions - but there is no reason, in my opinion, to continue vaccinating 100% indoor cats after their one-year booster.   We people don't get yearly vacs after our childhood series - or even every 3 years - believe me, if I were to get an MMR vaccine every single year, I would likely develop some kind of unpleasant health issues....

jolie0216 said:

 
My opinion on the matter for 100% indoor cats:   Get the kitten series for FVRCP.   Then do their rabies at the time of their neuter/spay.   Get the one-year booster for FVRCP.  Never vaccinate for anything ever again (including rabies - I don't care what the law says, the rabies vac is the most dangerous one if your vet doesn't use PureVax).   I feel that for my 100% indoor cats, the risk of VAS is higher than the risk of them contracting rabies or panleuk/calici.    I know others may not agree w/me, but this is how we handle vaccinations in our house.   I've never had a vet refuse me treatment over them not being "up to date" on their rabies vac.  I think vaccines are wonderful, life-extending inventions - but there is no reason, in my opinion, to continue vaccinating 100% indoor cats after their one-year booster.   We people don't get yearly vacs after our childhood series - or even every 3 years - believe me, if I were to get an MMR vaccine every single year, I would likely develop some kind of unpleasant health issues....

Click to expand...

That's pretty much what we've always done in the past with all our indoor-only cats (the only kind we have). I know the one vet made a good point that if our cats sneak out even once it puts them at risk. And yes, I've had cats that liked to sneak out. Lucky used to and so did Sara, quite a bit actually. They both stopped that in the last couple of years though. And of course Lucky's gone now so no worrying about him sneaking out now. Oscar, no, Oliver snuck out one morning, but he was absolutely terrified. I hope he remains that way about the outdoors. Oscar seems very curious though so not sure if he'll try or not. We have a lot of ferals in the area so I understood where the vet came from. The other vet in the practice (who is my vet) didn't give me quite as much grief about it, didn't give me any for that matter, but regardless never said they wouldn't treat my animals. There are some vets in the area that won't treat unless they are up to date unfortunately, but thankfully that isn't the case with my vet.

To be honest, I feel that any vet who would refuse to treat my cat unless I vaccinated right then & there for rabies is just trying to pad my bill.   Also, if a cat is sick, it would seem really counterintuitive to vaccinate them in the midst of an illness...........hopefully most vets wouldn't press the issue,  If they did, I would definitely find a new vet!   I think a lot of younger up & coming vets are starting to get with the fact that annual vaccines are unnecessary, and that is great!  It takes a long time to change attitudes, esp when everyone is used to doing it that way for such a long time.

When I got Tiger vaccinated at the "low cost" vet clinic they charged me $40 for his rabies shot. They said that it was the newer one that was supposed to be safer, in terms of vaccine related sarcomas. I'm guessing that's the PureVax?

Tiger is an escape artist. Both Tiger and my other cat are leash trained and go out occasionally on the leash and harness.

For me, any forgoing of the rabies shot just isn't worth the anxiety and possible legal issues. I'm not interested in forced quarantines or euthanasia in the event that my cat bit someone or got bit by wildlife if he escaped from the house.

We've had multiple bats test positive for rabies in our county in the last few months.

Even if a cat is indoors, that doesn't guarantee that your house won't get bats in it. I had a local friend who had problems with a bat infestation.

I did the FPCVR, FeLV & rabies vaccine for Sawyer for his kitten series.  I will get the full set again when they are due after a year and then avoid getting anymore.  At the vet I work at after the yearly vaccines the FPCVR is good for 3 yrs, FeLV, FIV is good for 1, and rabies is good for 3.  I hate over vaccinating... for my dog unfortunately I do try and keep up to date but mainly because if he needs to be boarded he has to be up to date.  Sawyer is an indoor cat and hopefully I won't need to board him as long as I have people willing to come check on him when we go on vacation, so I won't worry as much about keeping him up to date on vaccines.  Though, I will most likely keep him up to date on Rabies, just in case.  

And just to add to the pile of troubles about vaccines, please be aware that cats in Southern states where mosquitoes are prevalent are also susceptible to heartworms.  They don't seem to get them the way dogs do, but it is an issue.  One of the neighbors just had to have her cat euthanized due to advanced heartworms.  The cat was over 15 years old, and the vet was almost sure that the treatment would not only kill him, but make the remainder of his life a misery.  I had never heard of heartworms in cats before.  My vet verified it, and Hekitty is now on heartworm meds.  She is indoor only, but that makes no difference to a mosquito.