Irregardless of what you decide, there was one thing you said I wanted to pick up on:

Would they even kick in to protect her that day?

Vaccines take several weeks to become effective.

Also, despite what the vet recommends, I wouldn't vaccinate on the same day as major surgery. Vaccination is a stressor; why add an additional stress that could be done at another time? Maybe when you go back to have the stitches removed (to avoid an extra visit).

There's a lot of pro and con on vaccination of indoor cats. And there's "old thinking" and "new thinking" on the part of vets with respect to vaccinations. You certainly have your research cut out for you!

My own viewpoint for my indoor cats is that they have had their first two kitten series, and will get their one-year booster, and then that's it for at least three years.

 

I'd say the only absolutely necessary vaccine for an indoor cat is the one for distemper/panleucopenia. This virus can live outside the cat for up to 7 years and this is the kind of virus you actuarally can bring into your home with your shoes. Unvaccinated cats often die, kittens almost always die.

It's a very effective vaccine and you don't have to vaccinate more often than every three years, some experts consider the vaccine to give life long protection so no revaccinations are needed.

 

Hi
There's lots of different opinions on this, so I'll tell you what I've done.

Mine are both indoor only cats. They both had their full set of vaccines as kittens. Since then they get rabies annually-my state just changes to allow 3 year rabies, so I'll start that this year. I personally get the rabies vaccine strictly because of the consequence of an unvaccinating animal biting a person. In my state that's basically giving your pets fate in their hands. If there is no proof of vaccination its the bitees decision to A-go ahead and get the shots themself. B-quaranteen the animal and see if symptoms show up. C-have the animal tested for rabies! In my mind, it's not worth the risk-Korbel is a biter. Rabies is the only shot that my cats will get from now on. Korbel is diabetic, so her immune system is comprimised, and Calypso had a full-blown antiphalactic reaction last time she got shots (she had 2 at once).

The big con that I'm aware of for vaccines is the chance of vaccine related sarcoma. It's a pretty aggressive form of cancer. It's pretty rare, but it does happen. It's even the reason vets vaccinate the way they do. Rabies-right leg, leuk-left leg. It's so IF a tumor appears they know which vaccine caused it.

It really is a personal choice. Some people feel the risk of reaction to the vaccine is smaller than the risk of not vaccinating. Others feel the opposite.

Jennifer

 

I also wanted to add that I live 2 1/2 hours from our nearest vet so getting it done before isnt really possible. My cats are very well cared for.
When Paris went for her dental last month, Annie was examined and everything looked and sounded great! She 7lbs 9 oz and is very active etc...She came from a cattery and did have her booster shots. She had a litter at 17 weeks and was adopted out to me because she doesnt heat :roll:
Here is a picture of her. Shes the calico persian on the left. Dont mind paris tongue, she only has 8 teeth left 8O 8O

 

In many parts of the US, rabies vaccination is required by law. Assumpta gets a yearly Purevax Rabies booster (which I'd dispense with if it wasn't for her great ability as a mouser, and who knows where the mice have been?)....and Assumpta is a biter, as well. :roll: She doesn't get FeLV at all anymore, and we're probably going to end up on a 3-year distemper rotation just because I'm at the shelter so much...but we're still weighing that one (a couple of shelters up here are under quarantine for Parvo right now, probably the result of a puppy-mill shutdown and subsequent traffic between shelters)

Purevax is a good choice for rabies vaccine, as it doesn't seem to cause injection-site sarcoma, as it's not a killed-virus vaccine. There's been discussion here of the combo vaccine (FVRCP) possibly contributing to Chronic renal failure because of the repeated stimulation of the immune system. FeLV is often cited as a major cause of sarcomas at the injection site, some vets recommend injecting lower on the leg so that it can be amputated more easily if a tumor develops.

All in all, it's something you need to research thoroughly and discuss with your vet. My vet was actually the one who suggested reducing/stopping vaccines on Assumpta...like I said, we're still hashing out distemper, but I do the rabies, and I don't see any compelling reason at all to do FeLV on my cat because she's indoor-only.

I'd also weigh more carefully if I had a cat with renal issues, FIV, immune-system problems, or any chronic illnesses, and like Tim ("Pinky?"), I'd not give vaccines the same day as surgery.

 

Here is a thread to a similar question I asked
http://www.catforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=14865&highlight=shots

 

Chloe had her boosters on the same day as her spay surgery. Also her rabies vaccine that day too, she did not seem the worst for wear because of it.

Rabies is also required in Kansas yearly. In Nebraska where I used to live they just changed it to every 3 years. I wish it was only every three years here too, but it isn't. I have heard that too many vaccs can contribute to illnesses.

 

I personally am very leery of anual vacs on indoor only kitties. My next door neighbor had a 10 yr. old indoor only cat, with no known disorders, that died 4 hrs. after receiving her last vacinations.

Vets always push the vacs because that is their biggest revenue generating resource. As far as rabies shots goes, I believe I read somewhere, that my state hasn't had a case of rabies in a dog or cat, for the past 50 yrs. or so.

 

I personally am not very fond of vaccinating my kitties.

The last time I had my cat Callie vaccinated she got a 7 in one shot and she immediately got very sick and hid in the closet all the rest of that night, wouldn't eat or drink, didn't go to the bathroom and came down with a high fever and I had to take her back to the vet the next day.

 

We're still going back and forth on this issue. Beeper gets full vaccines because she goes outside, albeit always in our yard, and never for long periods of time.

The vet has suggested that the other three also get full vaccines, because they live with an indoor/outdoor cat. But they never, ever come into direct contact with Beeper, so we're trying to figure out what the risk really is.

Other "potential risks" are: I volunteer at a shelter (with small animals, though) and the cats have an outdoor run (what the risks are, we have yet to see. We have had cats come into our yard, but it's rare).

We vaccinate all the cats for rabies, mostly for legal reasons. In our area, we have had problems with rabid racoons, skunks, and more than a few feral cats. So at many shelters, any unvaccinated animal that bites someone is automatically euthanized. We're also a stones throw from our neighboring state, and they have similar laws in place. And since Beeper does go outdoors, and could potentially be a biter, we're just better safe than sorry.

As it stands now, Beeper needs to go in for her shots and check-up soon (she's indoors-only all winter), but the kittens and Scully have completed their boosters and gotten their three-year Rabies vax. So, we'll just keeping talking with the vet and figuring out how to proceed from here.