Annual booster vaccination

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dominowelfordwilbur
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Annual booster vaccination

Post by dominowelfordwilbur »

Hi all, apologies if this has been asked before, I am a newly registered member. We have 3 cats, two male and a female, aged 1, 3 and 10. The 10 year old is an extremely nervous cat ( we got her when she was 5) so because of us not being able to go into the vet with her because of covid 19 she missed her annual booster. Our other two cats are due their booster soon. However as all 3 cats don't come into contact with any other animals ( we have a secured garden so they can't leave and no other animals can enter) I'm unsure about them having their boosters. The main reason for this is because the three year old always develops a marble sized lump at the injection site and the vet has informed me this could lead to future issues, i.e. sarcoma. Our cats will never go into a cattery so them not being vaccinated wouldn't be a problem in that sense. The only issue it would cause is voiding their insurance. We only have them insured in case they have an accident around home, have a leg stood on etc. Are there any members on here that don't have the annual vaccination? What is the health of their animals like? It's not to do with money. All my previous cats have had their annual booster, however two of them always got the injection site lump and only lived to about 12. Our vet said as they can't get into fights with other animals because of the secured garden or come into contact with traffic, the risk of disease is low so them being unvaccinated should not be a huge problem. We would still take them for an annual health check, to get their teeth etc looked at. Thanks for reading. 👍
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fjm
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Re: Annual booster vaccination

Post by fjm »

Many years ago the series of vaccinations were assumed to give protection for life - annual boosters are a comparatively recent development. Having said that, so are some of the more nasties they protect against. Some of the vaccinations for dogs have been tested and confirmed to provide at least three years protection, and the WSAVA guidelines now recommend re-vaccination of the core vaccines at intervals of not less than three years for low risk cats like yours, too: https://wsava.org/wp-content/uploads/20 ... s-2015.pdf I stopped having my cats vaccinated when they were 8 or 9, and no longer needed to stay in catteries or visit high risk areas. If you are sure that they are very unlikely to escape your garden or meet another infected cat there I would go with your vet's advice. It is a rmatter of balancing risks and benefits, but if your vet considers the risk from the reaction is significant then that would decide it for me.
dominowelfordwilbur
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Re: Annual booster vaccination

Post by dominowelfordwilbur »

Thank you for your comprehensive reply, very helpful.
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Mollycat
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Re: Annual booster vaccination

Post by Mollycat »

Voiding insurance is significant but it's also blackmail, really. If they go outside at all, there is a small risk something could happen. There are also risks around the house, and there's always illnesses. Fresh and raw in my mind, my neighbour's cat was recently attacked by a passing dog and has lost a leg, the operation cost more than £3,000. She wasn't insured because she rarely went out. That said personally I'm not a fan of insurance, despite having just spent £12,000 in 3 years on 3 animals. To my mind, it's something to be considered carefully for individual situations.

Kind of the same for vaccinations, and it's so wrong that insurance depends on boosters, that seems like a sneaky get-out clause to me. Exclusions for infectious vaccinatable diseases would be acceptable, but blanket invalidate is wrong wrong wrong. I really do hate insurance.

My two indoor cats aren't vaccinated. My last 3 out/in cats weren't vaccinated either, possibly because they were all walk-ins and we never really felt we owned them, although of course they had veterinary attention as needed.

It really is up to you. If you take your vet's advice and don't vaccinate and then they catch something, you're going to be very very angry with your vet. I do have one question though. When the vet has given the injection, does he/she massage the injection site to disperse the fluid? Vets always used to but I have noticed they don't seem to do it any more, and injection site lumps and sarcomas seem to have rocketed - logic suggests the two could maybe be connected.

As for the health of unvaxed cats: Sarah was of unknown age but died a very very old lady peacefully in her sleep; Henry was 14 and was put to sleep due to a mouth tumour which the vet couldn't have reasonably done anything about even if we had known about it earlier; Purdy was put to sleep this year aged at least 23 having not seen a vet in 12 years prior; Bobby was a pampered pedigree who I adopted at 8 years old and died at 15 after 3 years of digestive problems / possible lymphoma; and Molly the sole survivor is 14 in great health having been through hyperthyroidism and having very slight early kidney failure and possible arthritis. Misha my vaccinated cat died in 2003 aged 16. I don't believe it makes any difference to general health unless they catch one of the communicable diseases you choose to vaccinate or not vaccinate against.
dominowelfordwilbur
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Re: Annual booster vaccination

Post by dominowelfordwilbur »

Thank you for the reply. I wouldn't be dishonest with the insurance. If I do decide not to re vaccinate I will cancel the policy. I agree there should be an option to exclude various illnesses if you choose not to vaccinate. Unfortunately this isn't an option on our policy. If one of the cats did manage to hurt themselves we would just take it on the chin and pay the associated costs. We currently get a discount on the insurance as the garden is secure, therefore they cannot come into contact with other animals, apart from mice and shrews!
The vet didn't massage the vaccination site the last couple of times the cats have been, we moved recently and have a new vet. Having said that the other vets didn't to my knowledge. We also haven't flea or worm treated out cats for years and they never have any issue.
booktigger
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Re: Annual booster vaccination

Post by booktigger »

I wouldn't cancel your policy if you don't re-vaccinate, it only excludes illnesses that could have been prevented by vaccinations, you would still be covered for other illnesses and injuries, you don't want to be in a position where you can't afford something that could save their lives because they were no longer insured.
dominowelfordwilbur
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Re: Annual booster vaccination

Post by dominowelfordwilbur »

Thanks. I will re read the policy or may give them a ring. To me it looked like they were only covered at all if they were vaccinated every 12 months.
booktigger
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Re: Annual booster vaccination

Post by booktigger »

I've used 3 different insurance companies and all have just excluded illnesses if they could have been prevented, one did pay for an unvaccinated cat (I only had her for 5 weeks, I gave her a couple of weeks to settle in before taking her up for a check up, and it turned out she had cancer, so we obviously didn't vaccinate and they didn't even ask, just paid)
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