Vaccination Frequency

I wish I had cut the article out when I read it in the Houston Chronicle a couple of days ago, but it was the office paper and at the end of the day I had forgot. Anyways, there was an article about dog and cat vaccines. Evidently, according to studies done at a couple of veterinary schools across the nation, vaccinations last quite a bit longer than the vaccine companies want us to believe. According to the veterinary studies, the feline vaccines last about a minimum of 3 years and that the cases of vaccine induced sarcoma and other vaccine related ailments are on the rise with more people adhering to year round vaccine schedules. No drug companies have actually performed any of these studies. Why would they want to see if the vaccines last longer than one year; the more vets vaccinate, the more money they get. The article stated that from the studies, 3 year vaccination programs for felines is effective in preventing the diseases the vaccines protect against and greatly reduces ill effects caused by the vaccines. The studies are the same for both outdoor and indoor cats. From these studies, a local vet in the Houston area is implementing the 3 year vaccine program for his feline clientel.

Anybody else out there heard anything about this and have an opinion?

The stories I have heard about vaccine induced sarcomas are alarming and with my babies getting up there in age it makes me wonder if I might be prolonging there life if I only get them vaccinated every 3 years; especially since they are indoor only.

I remember when I worked at the vet clinic the vet told me that the rabies vaccine he gives is good for 3 years but because of local laws animals are required to have one every year.

Now I'm not suggesting to anyone to not get your cat vaccinated. I just thought this would provide for an interesting discussion.

Mods, if you feel this is more appropriate for the health forum then please move it. I just thought that it would get more discussion here.

My vet recommended a longer time period between vaccinations for Ivo, since she is an indoors cat. Her first round of vaccinations, however, will be boosted in one year. After that, we're on the three year plan. Plus, she is only getting vaccines for rabies and one other respiratory disease (I should know this off the top of my head, but can't remember) that is a nasal drop and not a shot.

I think I'm going to call the Houston Chronicle so I can get a copy of the article. I'll let ya'll know if I can get it or not in case any of you want a copy.

Sabra - check if their website has any archives. I think most newspapers keep at least some articles archived for free use for a short while after they are published.

I also heard a similar news story on my local news a little while ago. Not much help, I know, just that Houston wasn't the only place covering the story.

Heidi, I just did that and it looks to be that the Houston Chronicle gives out no freebies. However, you can purchase a 24 archive pass for $4.95. I think that's what I'm going to do.

I'd definitely like to hear more. I stretch the vaccine schedule out as it is anyway. Think I usually average about 18 months. I don't see the point in flying in there since both of my cats are indoors fulltime. As it is, Squirt has to have his shots spaced out, because one year he had a bad reaction to the "all in a day" routine.

Well, I got the article but it has the following copywright statement:

Copyright notice: All materials in this archive are copyrighted by Houston Chronicle Publishing Company Division, Hearst Newspapers Partnership, L.P., or its news and feature syndicates and wire services. No materials may be directly or indirectly published, posted to Internet and intranet distribution channels, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed in any medium. Neither these materials nor any portion thereof may be stored in a computer except for personal and non-commercial use.

I really wanted to share the info with you guys, the article has some really good information in it. What can I do?

I saved the article to my computer as a word document. I guess it would be okay if I e-mailed it to those who are interested. PM with your e-mail if you want the article as an attachment, if not I'll jut e-mail using the site. So, I'm actually following the rules by doing this. You guys are my personal friends so........

sfell, I'm sure you can do a search on any good search engine, because the Houston Chronicle by no means "broke" this news story. In fact, it's not even new. My cats have been on an every-three-year schedule for everything except rabies since at least 1995. I know in other states a 3-year rabies schedule is also very common. Since Texas has more rabies than any other state, we will probably never be off the annual rabies, but most progressive vets are already at least suggesting a 3 year schedule for their patients.

It's still a good idea to take your cat in for a yearly physical, though, especially as they are getting older. I like to see my vet once a year so the relationship remains strong. Of course, with four cats, that works out to every three months they see my mug!

It's true that they are doing more studies on increasing the amount of time between vaccines. They feel it's the same as with people. We only get a tetnus booster every 10 years. Alot of people now days are paying to get a titer done on their pets to find out just how resistant they are to particular infections.
If you have an indoor cat that will not have exposure to outside cats, then they are saying that after thier initial sets and then thier annual boosters, it's safe to give them every 3 years. If you have an outdoor cat who is exposed to god knows what on a daily basis, it's better to give them every year. I choose to vaccinate every year because I have so many and all of these upper respitory infections in cats are very easily spread with multi cat households. Not to mention we travel to cat shows and deal with rescues on a regular basis.
One of the concerns with the vaccines, such as the feline 3 way and feline 4 way is that while one or two of the infections they protect against are good for 3 years, the other one or two are not. Some manufactures are starting to come out with each one seperate. However, the flaw I see in this is that sarcoma's are not just from vaccines, but injections in general.
Rabies is a whole different ball game. It is up to the state to mandate how often animals are required to get the vaccine. Some are 1 year, some 2 year, some 3 year. There are some states that don't require the rabies vaccine at all. I vaccinate per the State requirements because I don't want anyone to end up at the pound in quarantine.
Okeefecl: I would ask your vet about the intranasal vaccine. It sounds to me as if the vet is giving Bordatella (Kennel cough). My research shows that in cats it's rare and they can't say for sure if this vaccine is effective.

Sandie, I thought it was that questionably effective FIP vaccine, but I did some research and found this:

http://www.heska.com/pets/learn_more...eintranasl.asp

Very interesting! Something to ask my vet about. Pepper's going next weekend.

Sandie-

Thanks for the heads up about the vaccine. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't for kennel cough, because I probably would have thought "Why does Ivo need a vaccination for that", but I'll ask.

The veterinary practice I take Ivo to is a cats only practice. The two vets in the practice are very active in searching out the latest treatments, including vaccines. I do remember that the intranasal vaccine was offered as a better alternative for an indoors cat because it wasn't injected, and therefore reduced the chance of developing sarcoma.

I did some more research at work today on some of the newer vaccines. I did find the intranasal vaccine for upper respitory infections. They are used, but they have also been known to cause clinical infection. Which means that by putting into the nasal cavity, you are going to actually give the cat the infection. Some cats may have the symtoms for a few days to a week and some will have it for the rest of thier lives.
This is not to say that nobody should get them, but IMO I think I will stick with the good ole vaccine