I dont do vaccines past kitten stage....so I wouldnt do anymore if he were my cat

 

Mine are indoor-only and they get rabies annually and distemper every 3 years. It's very much a personal decision and you'll find pros/cons of each side of the decision from everyone! I foster kittens pretty regularly (who come from shelters and are usually sick), and while they do stay isolated for at least 2 weeks from my cats, I don't like to take chances. I also give them Revolution monthly for the same reason.

 

Rabies is required by law here in VA (and probably most if not all of USA) so that is the only vaccination I get. I have no choice when I adopt, they give the cocktail of vaccinations, but after that it's only rabies.

 

I do every 3 years as well for everything. Distemper and.rabies.

 

Same here! Though my vets recommend distemper once a year (rabies is once 3 years), I plan to do it every 3 years. Don't see any risk here since my kitties never leave home.

 

I also don't do vaccinations past kitten stage for my indoor cat.

 

THis is not a recomendation, only informing you of what I do.

My boys are inside only and do NOT get vaccinations. I dont see a reason to expose them to the possiblity (however remote) of vaccination site carcinoma or the viruses in the vaccines if they don't need them.

I know that they SHOULD (by law) give them rabies but since they are never in contact with any wild animal I take the chance and don't vaccinate them. I know that should they bite someone they could be quaranteed but, I'm willing to take that risk.

 

My thoughts exactly. Whiles its law here, I don'y see the risk in an indoor cat. The vet tried the "What if a rabid bat flies into your home?" question and I explained that I could count the number of rabid bats in my area found on two hands in 1 year....not a great enough risk for me and the chances of that happening ate very slim.

 

I haven't done any vaccines since kitten shots. They are indoors only and only come in contact with my dogs. I don't vaccinate my dogs anymore either. They are all older 11, 10, 8 and I feel their immunity is good enough. It's the law, but whatever :roll: They're never off leash and we don't do dog parks! Vaccines are a big money makers in the vet world and I feel we over vaccinate our animals as well as our people, JMHO :thumb

 

MowMow, did your cats receive vaccines as kittens?

I know that studies have shown just the initial sets of vaccines to be effective throughout the life of the cat, which is part of why I am hesitant to vaccinate further. I am certainly not anti-vaccine, but I am very cautious of overdoing it without reason. I think I will not vaccinate again until he is 6 years old, and then probably not ever again after that unless a vet requires it for some sort of procedure. Of course if Midas is old enough when that happens I might just look for a vet that accepts titer results or does not worry about such things.

 

For a cat that spends any unsupervised time outdoors that isn't in a completely isolated enclosure, I would recommend the same course of vaccinations as an outdoor cat - it only takes one incident to transfer a serious disease, and if you aren't standing right beside your cat at all times outside you can't control what the cat comes in contact with.

Speaking in general, the way I decide for myself whether or not to give a vaccination is whether the risk of the shot itself (because that exists) is greater or less than the risk of them being unvaccinated against a disease. For my indoor cats, I do rabies and distemper vaccinations only.

Rabies vaccination is required by law here, and in my state it's pretty strictly enforced. My vet isn't allowed to let an animal leave the office without them either vaccinating or the owner presenting proof of vaccination, and if my cats were ever found to be out of compliance with the law and they had a run-in with an animal or person they would be put down. It's just not worth the risk for me - even though it's unlikely my cats would be exposed to rabies, the legal issue is still a concern.

I do distemper vaccinations too because distemper is so contagious. It can be spread via a human's clothes or shoes, so my cats wouldn't actually have to have direct contact with another animal to get sick or pass the disease on. This is especially an issue for my particular cats because I come into contact with pets of unknown health status at the animal shelter where I volunteer, but I would do this anyway because I feel they are at risk of contracting distemper even as indoor cats.

I do not, however, do feline leukemia vaccinations, because the odds of my cats ever contracting it would be negligible given how it's spread (and the law doesn't require it,) so for that one the risk of the vaccination would be greater than the risk of the vaccine.

Basically, there's no one right answer, and you have to weigh the risks on both sides and decide which is more problematic for you.

 

I'm glad you said this. I've gotten a crash course in feline infections this past week, with my rescue kitten being hospitalized with a severe, and as yet undiagnosed, infection. I was really surprised to learn that distemper can survive up to a year in the environment, can be transmitted by humans/clothing/etc, and is resistant to cleaners/disinfectants. I personally will be keeping up on this one for all my cats from now on.