Do cats need jabbing?

[Kris35]

I've had cats all my life but the last three I had, I never jabbed them in later life and I can't remember if cats need yearly jabs or not? I have my two rescues now and want to do right by them. Thanks.

[Ruth B]

The general opinion is in favour of annual booster vaccinations and most vets will do a general check up at the same time. Even if your cats are kept inside all the time, there is always a possibility of you bringing a virus into the house when you go out.

Personally I couldn't live with myself if one of my cats caught something i could have vaccinated against. My oldest girl was due her booster a few weeks ago and at the time she was being treated for recurring Cystitis, with the possibility of it being related to something more serious. My vet seemed a little surprised that my question was 'what are the dangers of her having the boosters in her condition?', and after having to readjust her thinking (I have a feeling most ask what are the dangers of not having it) said there weren't any, so Tiggy, my cat, got her jabs. Worst case scenario, she goes downhill in a few weeks, and I paid out for vaccination that wasn't needed, best case scenario, she carries on for many more months and costs us a small fortune in medication, either way she will be as healthy as we can make her.

[Kris35]

Yes, I'm going to get my boys done, thanks. It's just that one of them only has one eye and is nervous around anyone but me so I don't like the idea of taking him to the vets. I hope your cat will be ok. My old girl lived to be 3 months shy of 22 years old. It was an antibiotic jab that caused her to pass peacefully that night in bed with me.

[Mollycat]

Hello again Kris - wasn't it you looking for FIV+ cats to adopt or have I got muddled up? Not sure which way that would make a difference, I don't have any experience of FIV.

Many boarding catteries still ask for vaccinations to be up to date, I don't know what the situation is with cat sitters. There is some debate as to how much boosting is needed, how often and for how long. I don't know, the last time I had a vaccinated cat was 18 years ago.

But your one-eyed nervous one, probably still should get a check up regularly ideally and so may as well have vaccines while he's there. My nervous girl has distance reiki any time she is going to the vets and it really helps. As in, I can get her in the carrier now.

[Kris35]

Hi Molly. Yes probably re FIV cat, but I had an FIV stray I adopted ten years ago and he passed over five years ago so he lived to be around 9 or ten. I might have been on the look out for another one when all mine passed. Got my one eyed ginger and his black playmate - got them in a Facebook group last year cos the human was moving to a smaller property.

This is the thing about vacs. Are they harmful? I know little about them, but I'm thinking on the whole, it's better that they have them?

[Mollycat]

I'm the wrong person to ask, I had 3 in/outs and 2 indoors in the last 18 years (after Misha) and none have been vaccinated. The 4 that have gone were between 14 and 23 and none died of anything infectious or preventable, and surviving Molly is now 14. I don't think there is anything harmful in vaccines, I just don't see the need in an indoor cat and the other 3 were sort of accidental adoptions and I'm not sure we ever felt we owned them, I know that makes no sense but it did to us. As far as I'm aware all were vaccinated as kittens and received at least some boosters in the past.

That said the sheer horror of distemper or misery of calcivirus or kennel cough, all preventable. Also if cats go out there is the social responsibility of preventing spread. But vaccines in themselves aren't harmful, they carry a very small risk of injection site sarcoma and a very small risk of allergic reaction. The fact we even have these conversations about vaccines shows how casual we have become about disease risk.

The only thing I will say, that I'm becoming a bit evangelical about, is that if your vet doesn't massage the area to disperse the injection, do it yourself. Just massage gently for a minute or so. They always used to and I'm convinced the increase in injection site lumps just when the vets don't massage any more is not a coincidence.

Off topic but two more examples of medical practices that have fallen out of use and appear to be responsible for a lot of problems - nobody gives vitamin B with antibiotics any more, and injections into the muscle cause blood clots if they accidentally get into a small blood vessel so they should always draw up first to check, but they don't.

[Ruth B]

Tiggy is about 17 years old, we had her 15 years ago and she was an adult cat then, so she might even be older, so we know it is only a matter of time, we just want to minimise any risks we can for her and to give her as good a life as possible for how ever long she has left.

As far as vaccinations go, I did know someone, going back about 15 years, who fostered for a charity. She had 4 foster cats in pens in the garden, and 3 of her own that lived in the house. One of the cats got Feline Enteritis, which even with her best efforts, ended up spreading to all the cats. The 4 foster cats weren't vaccinated, it wasn't the charity's practice to vaccinate the cats in its care, her own 3 were vaccinated. All 4 of the foster cats died from the disease, her own 3, while ill, all survived it. She stopped fostering for that charity soon after. 7 cats may be a small sample size, but hearing it from her directly and seeing how much it hurt her to lose those foster cats when the evidence was in front of her that it need not have happened, has made me very pro vaccine, whether for humans or animals.

[Kay]

I had a cat who absolutely hated being put in a carrier, so I paid extra for a home visit when vaccination time came around. He and his companion used to be injected while lying on my bed and I don't think they even knew what had happened to them. But of course they didn't have a proper annual check up, just a cursory look over.