[MommyHuggs&Heavynn]

Hi,
I have 2 seal point siamese mix kittens both now 12 weeks old, brother and sister that i adopted recently. They have adapted quite well, are very healthy looking, freely eat kitten chow throughout the day, and each get a tablespoon of canned food which they love. They are very active and playful with each other and use the litter- box like PRO's. However, i know they were due for their first vaccines around 8-9 weeks old. They have been wormed and flea'd..as well as FIV tested which came back negative. Heres the thing. They are strictly indoor kitties, and will always be, and i've heard of the shots they are supposed to get but am afraid of side effects. I am a member of 2 other cat forums and read about terrible side effects cats can have to vaccines. My kitties are so healthy acting now, that i dont want anything to change after their shots. Does anyone know what shots STRICTLY indoor kittens need. Yes, i know theres the worry of them "somehow" getting loose outside, but i dont want to give them more shots than they need. PLease offer any advice...thanks!

 

[jonsgirl]

Hmmm, I have never heard of bad side effects from cat vaccinations but I can tell you what my kitten recieved and he is indoors only: rabies (I think some states require that one), Feline Leukemia, Distemper, a de-wormer (he had tapeworms from living outside before I got him) and some kind of nose drops (chlamydia?). If only there was a such thing as kitty Ritalin I would be all set... :lol:
Anyway, if your cats are already heathly then I wouldnt think they have a risk of reacting to the shots because of their immune system being strong.
I hope this helped in some way!

 

[Lilly]

I have heard recently that there have been studies that show all the immunizations are not necasary, and can cause side effects (although rare) However I asked my vet about this and he still recomends all the above mentioned shots.
I would consult your vet first. The only shot required by law is the rabies shot.

 

[AngelZoo]

Ok.
All of the vacinations are important. You must get:

Rabies
Distempter (Boosters)

Do the FIV test yearly
You also should have exams 2x yearly
Fecal samples yearly (even if they have been dewormed) you need to run fecals to make sure that they are gone.

There is also Giardia which you can get, but that can be treated with antibiotics if they get it.
As far as the FIP and Feline Lukema vacs are concerned, it is not certain that they work 100% But this doesn't mean they do not work either.

It's not quiet so much as a side effect of the vacs, but a reaction to them, it can happen to any pet, at any time, they might not have a reaction the first time, perhaps 4 years down the line they might. But in most likely hood they will not, it is rare where pets will have a reaction to vacs.

I do recommend that you get all of these vacs. However the boosters are supposed to be spaced out over a period of time, about 3 weeks between the boosters, and only so many vacs will be given in one day to help lessen the chance of a vac reaction.

 

[Cat_Woman]

I am in Canada, so it may be a little different here. My kitty had to be neutered and declawed (males spray, and we were living somewhere where he was scratching the leather couch), and my kitty hadn't recieved any shots yet. (he was around 9-10 months old) My vet told me that normally cats receive two shots when they are under a year old, and then once yearly after that. In order for them to do the operation, my kitty only required one shot: rabies and distemper. Even if your cat is not an outdoor cat, it would really be a shame if your cat got outside one day, and go bitten by an animal with rabies. Cats are sneaky, even when you think they'll never get out.
It is really up to you. I have never heard of shots doing harmful things to cats...of course there may be rare side effects, but they are "rare". My mom had a cat live to be 14 and he never had one shot, and my cousin's cat lived to be 18 and had all her shots. So it really doesn't prolong their life, but it does help keep them safe. It is up to you what you want to do based on what you think is best for your cats. If you have any questions, you're best to call your vet.

 

[AngelZoo]

Cat Women: When taking a cat with vacs, verse a cat with out it, depends on many different living conditions. On average, a cat that is fully vacinated will typically live longer, as their chance of falling ill to things is much smaller.
In theory, and statistics wise, cats will live longer if they are vacinated.

 

[Sol]

Hi,
I have 2 seal point siamese mix kittens both now 12 weeks old, brother and sister that i adopted recently. They have adapted quite well, are very healthy looking, freely eat kitten chow throughout the day, and each get a tablespoon of canned food which they love. They are very active and playful with each other and use the litter- box like PRO's. However, i know they were due for their first vaccines around 8-9 weeks old. They have been wormed and flea'd..as well as FIV tested which came back negative. Heres the thing. They are strictly indoor kitties, and will always be, and i've heard of the shots they are supposed to get but am afraid of side effects. I am a member of 2 other cat forums and read about terrible side effects cats can have to vaccines. My kitties are so healthy acting now, that i dont want anything to change after their shots. Does anyone know what shots STRICTLY indoor kittens need. Yes, i know theres the worry of them "somehow" getting loose outside, but i dont want to give them more shots than they need. PLease offer any advice...thanks!

Strictly indoor cats doesn't develop equally strong immunesystem as outdoor cats and therefor it's more important to vaccinate indoor cats than outdoor cats (however outdoor cats should be vaccinated too).

I'm from Sweden and Sweden is a rabies free country so we don't have to vaccinate against rabies. I have no idea how usual or unusual rabies is in your country but I would recommend to vaccinate against rabies if you don't live in a rabies free country.

The diseases you absolute should vaccinate your cats against is cat flu and panleukopenia. You can bring these diseases in with your shoes if you have bad luck.

The vaccine against FIP isn't very good so I can't really see the point in vaccinating against FIP unless any cat in your home have died or suffers from FIP.

The FeLV-vaccine might be unnecessary too. You can test your cats against FeLV each year instead.

In Sweden the standardvaccines are against panleukopenia and cat flu.

Healthy cats rarely suffers from any sideeffects but if you're concerned because your kittens are young you can wait until they've gotten a little bit older (16 weeks maybe) but know that they have no defense against these diseases until they've been vaccinated or have gotten the disease and recovered.

 

[MrPurryMotors]

Don't worry. Most cats, from what I hear, don't react badly. My boo was a biter at that age, but Drizzle? He didn't even flinch. He's just like "la la la... I'm cute, someone hug me, why am I on a metal table?" :lol:

 

[MommyHuggs&Heavynn]

Thank you for all your help and Suggestions

Thank you all for your opinions and suggestions. It eases my mind to hear about your experiences. I am looking for a good vet in my area for my kittens. I want to find one that doesnt pressure me for things that i dont agree with. I need to get them spayed and neutered too, they are 3 months today....does anyone know when i should get this done?

 

[AngelZoo]

MH&H: Well it depends on the vet, some will spay/neuter earlier then others, as early as when the cat is at least 3 pounds and in good health.
Otherwise a lot of vets will do it around 4/6 months.
Different cats mature faster then others, some will mature at 5 months, so it that case you wouldn't want to wait until he/she is 6 months along.
After they get all their vaccinations and boosters you can set up a date to get them spayed/neutered, most vets will not allow animals in the back for scheduled surgeries such as this until they are up to take on rabies and distemper.

Good luck on your search for a vet, feel free to take the time and stop in to a few local ones talk with the people who work there and get a feel for the place and the people, think of it as if you were interviewing for your own doctor, you want someone good, who will listen to your concerns.

 

[meoakley]

I took my cat for her second annual distemper booster. She reacted horribly. She refused to move, screamed if you lightly touched her, her hair stood straight out, her eyes dialated and she laid there looking brain dead. I took her back to the vet and she had a fever of 105.4 at the time, but we determined it had been much higher the night before. I am going to pick her up in a few mins but she still has a fever and is on aspirin and fluids under the skin. She could have easily died from this.

My question is do you really think it's neccessary for me to put her through this again? She is strictly indoors and we are not getting any more pets.

Thanks, this is my first post.

 

[marijun]

my oldest cat, lint...i had moved to upstate new york and he was staying with my parents until i could come back for him. when he was taken to the vet, he was mistaken for a female cat that was in for having all 4 paws declawed, a spaying, and shots. so he ended up with no claws and a shaved belly before the vet saw his family jewels and realized they had the wrong cat. needless to say, i was furious. they could have very well given him the wrong set of shots too. i don't know exactly what to blame this on...but when i came back for lint, he was not the same cat. he was clumsy, extremely irritable, and about as half as smart as he was before. he remains that way to this day. a once nimble and sweet cat now lets himself fall off of things, and he is just generally a very mean and clumsy cat. he also howls a LOT, and i think he either has vision problems or hallucinations of some sort. i guess you'd just have to see him in action, he is bizarre. he's perfectly healthy, but his mind is completely whacked. i don't know if was the anisthetic or the vaccines or just shock, but he is one messed up kitty.

reeko was also dragged to the vet by my parents, they took him in for shots and declawing (which i wasn't cool with, but he was staying with them for a couple weeks so they felt it was their call :roll: nevermind the rest of his life...) i was ok with the shots, i figured the situation with lint was a freak accident. when i came back for him, thankfully he wasn't insane like lint, but he was really timid because my parents locked him in a room by himself. i thought it was rather cruel of them to lock up an already stressed out cat like that. when i opened the door, he ran and lept into my arms, and could not get enough attention. poor lil guy!

thankfully, my parents could not intervene with woody's vet visit, i was living far away and i'd learned my lesson not to leave my cats with them. they claim to be cat lovers and have had many cats, but they just don't realize how ridiculous they are sometimes...anyway, i took woody to the vet myself to have her spayed and get her rabies and distemper shots. she's a little champ, she was groggy and dizzy when i first brought her home but she was bouncing around like nothing happened later that day.

but...i have never taken them back for shots. they've only been to the vet once since, and that was for deworming and frontline. they are strictly indoor cats. i think its necessary to get the rabies and distemper shots once as kittens, but after that, its your call. my parents take their cats in for shots regularly, and the results on their cats' lives has not been good. i can't say if its due to the shots or not, but i suspect it is. i'm not a vet, obviously, so i can't prove it, but it seems to weaken their immune system for some things and strengthen it for others. their cats have all died due to various things around the age of 12. one's death was due to tumors, they were removed several times and just kept coming back. another's was due to some sort of cancer in her throat. the other hasn't passed yet, but she has constant urinary tract infections and has trouble walking, and she's only 10 years old. my unvaccinated cats are healthy as can be, even after making a few escapes outdoors, and my little one used to kill and eat mice every day. my oldest are both 8 years old now, and my youngest is 3. they don't eat special cat food, i feed them tuna as treats sometimes, and they get their fair share of my food if they want it. they've yet to need a vet visit for health problems, they're healthier than i am!

 

[red_kittycat]

You're right to worry about side effects. Vaccine-related sarcomas are becoming WAAAAYY too common. In case you're not familiar, sarcomas are malignant cancerous tumors that are terminal. Vaccine injection sites are quickly becoming a major cause of sarcomas. In fact, the veterinary field is so concerned, a decision is now underway as to whether to change the official protocol for feline vaccinations.

As of now, the protocol for vaccinations are 1 year for distemper, herpes, clamydia, calici, and feline leukemia. It's 1-3 years for rabies, depending on your state laws. But studies are showing distemper vaccinations are good for at least 3 years, and rabies may be good for as long as 7! In the near future, a new protocol with less frequent vaccinations is expected. And that will reduce the risk of vaccine-related sarcomas, since it is due to vaccinations being administered in the same place too often.

What do they absolutely need? Well, according to all US state laws, your cats can be confiscated, or you can be fined, if you're not able to provide proof of their rabies vaccination. And many states make it illegal for vets and techs to even TREAT animals that are not vaccinated. So rabies is pretty much manditory, even though it's unneccessary for indoor cats.

Now, in my opinion, I would still do the distemper and herpes vaccinations. Distemper is extremely stable in the environment. If you bring it in on your shoes, your cats could possibly get it, and it's deadly a good deal of the time. Herpes is airborne, and it can come in through a window, on your pants, etc. So I'd still vaccinate against that, too. Clamydia, calici, and leukemia are not as highly contagious, so you could skip those. But here's the kicker - those are all available in a combo shot with distemper. So you get the vaccinations against all those diseases in only one shot. Therefore, the risk of vaccine-related sarcomas is no more probable than if you just got the distemper vaccine.

Until a new protocol is released, to reduce the risk of vaccine-related sarcomas, your vet should give one vaccination in the rump, one in the shoulder.