FIV - Annual injections

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ownedbymycat
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FIV - Annual injections

Post by ownedbymycat »

Again sorry folks for posting twice on the forum but don't want this to be overlooked.

We took Mikel in for his annual jabs (first time we have had to do this as we only got him last year at 9 months when he had them from the rescue centre) and the vet sent us away as it turned out they had ordered the non-FIV friendly vaccinations. We were told to come back next week.

Then my other half got a call from the same vet yesterday basically saying that we may want to think about NOT vaccinating him, he is fairly low risk FIV (kept indoors, no other cats etc) and so the vaccinations may just cause his FIV to flair up and turn out to be more dangerous than its worth.

I just wanted to see if anyone else had heard the same thing as it sounds pretty bizarre to me, what would you guys do? Mikel's health is my first priority as I love this furry mess so much I don't want to make him sick and risk losing him :(
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Janey
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Re: FIV - Annual injections

Post by Janey »

Hi, well I don’t have an FIV cat, but all my cats have had some reaction to the jabs. Usually they have been subdued and not eaten for about 24-48 hours, all our cats over the years have been the same. We’ve only adopted very elderly cats for the last 10 years, and not had holidays so our vet said she probably wouldn’t bother vaccinating, which we agreed to. However, our current cat, who found us, and is nearly 7, had a bad reaction a few months back to her vaccination which lasted a full week. She was very poorly indeed, and I questioned the vet about risking it again, and our vet said next year she would give her the vaccinations separately, but I will still worry. So, if it were me in your position and I trusted my vet, I would go with what they suggest, I would like to think they are giving you the best advice. We don’t holiday that much still, but I did look into it, and I think if it got where our cat couldn’t have vaccinations then I would have to sort out a cat sitter, or I think some vets will write to the cattery and explain, and they may be able to sort something out.
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Kay
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Re: FIV - Annual injections

Post by Kay »

I haven't heard of this either, but there is certainly a fair bit of info out there about over-vaccination, so it doesn't surprise me, and I too would go with the vet's advice, as you would never forgive yourself if having vaccinations caused your boy any problems

and the bigger and better catteries usually have an isolation pen for unvaccinated cats, so it might be worth checking around your area in case you need one in a hurry
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Lilith
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Re: FIV - Annual injections

Post by Lilith »

Hi there - I'm not qualified to comment on the vaccination thing but if you can find a good pet-sitter it might be less stressful for Mikel, and also cheaper.

About a year ago I had to inquire about pet sitters, just in case I might need one, and one quoted me £8 per daily visit or £15 for two daily visits. Of course that price may have gone up now but I think that competes with cattery fees and the cat has the reassurance of its own home, even if it chooses to hide from the sitter.

All the very best with Mikel and hope he stays in good health, paws crossed :)
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meriad
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Re: FIV - Annual injections

Post by meriad »

I can't add much but just wanted to also give heads up re vaccinations and pet insurance

If Mikel is insured then you need to make sure the insurance company are aware that he won't be vaccinated as most (if not all) insurances - quite wrongly in my opinion - have annual vaccinations as part of their policy conditions. So you may need to get your vet to write a letter to them explaining why you're not vaccinating and make sure it's on Mikel's records. Just so you're covering yourself and the insurance doesn't use it as a reason to not pay out for something totally unrelated.

Fusses to your boy - love his name!
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