Since the number of encouraged feline vaccinations grows, the whole entire dilemma of whether to vaccinate your cat has come to be increasingly more debatable. A couple of years ago, the majority of kittens and cats were only vaccinated against 1 or 2 infectious conditions and people accepted that these vaccines were necessary in order to protect their felines and eradicate the disease.
However today, because vaccines are produced for more and more diseases, it is becoming clear that in a few instances vaccines can end up being more dangerous than the illness which they were designed to protect against. So should you vaccination your feline at all, and if so, which vaccines should you select?
There are five essential vaccines which are advised for essentially all cats. These are:
- Distemper (Panleukopenia virus) - Rabies - FIE (Feline infectious enteritis) - FHV (Feline herpes virus, rhinotracheitis, 'cat flu') - FCV (Feline calicvirus, another form of 'cat flu')
Beyond those, a number of other vaccines are available and might be offered to your cat. These include:
- FIV (Feline immunodeficiency virus, or 'feline AIDS'): encouraged for aggressive cats, or felines living with an aggressive cat. However this virus is not always effective.
- FeLV (Feline leukemia virus): advised for cats who spend time outdoors and mix with other cats, or who have contact with a cat known to have FeLV.
- Feline chlamydiosis: perhaps only necessary if the cat is known to be in contact with another cat who has the disease, although it may be given routinely in some geographical locations where there are many affected cats.
All of these vaccines can have side effects in some cases. The most common side effect is irritation at the site of the vaccine or minimal health problems such as flu-like symptoms or cystitis, but occasionally felines suffer additional serious side effects that can be fatal. These include anaphylactic shock and fibrosarcoma, a type of cancer that occurs rarely (approximately 4 in 10,000 cases).
In the event that you decide to administer cat shots yourself, it is very crucial to study the instructions and adhere to them closely. A badly prepared or administered vaccine can be dangerous and might even cause the disease that it was designed to prevent.
The vaccine companies recommend annual booster injections of many vaccines. Even if you decide to have your cat vaccinated once against a certain disease, you might decide not to follow up with annual boosters. Often, vaccines will protect a cat for life. Even if not, a vaccine should give protection for more than one year. Boosters of vaccines for either cats or people increase the risk of side effects and may not be as necessary as the medical profession used to believe.
Before making decisions about vaccination, check your cat health insurance policy. You may find that certain vaccinations are required in order for the insurance policy to remain valid. If you find that the policy requires vaccines that you are not comfortable with, you have a difficult decision to make. It may be time to change your pet health insurance company.
In the end, whether to vaccinate your cat is your own decision. Your veterinarian will certainly have advice and if you trust your vet you will want to follow them, but keep in mind that cat vaccinations are a subject on which nobody can be 100% certain.
