Vaccinating old (18 yrs) indoor cat?

[Moonshine25]

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if I could seek some opinions from some fellow cat owners. My cat William is 18 years old and now living as an indoor cat. We inherited him from my in-laws and aside from a couple of visits to vets for fighting related incidents (!) He's never been otherwise.

He had a check up recently, they noticed a bit of muscle wasting in back legs and I have observed some head twitches / shakes recently (not ear mites or infection) so may be something else. Otherwise he eats and drinks fine, plays and interacts same as usual and uses litter tray fine. The vet said they are happy he is in good health to have feline enteritis and influenza vaccination next week and booster 3 weeks after.

The only reason I asked about it is we are thinking of going away and found a lovely 'cat hotel' one of the Longcroft ones, to take care of him l went to visit and it looks lovely. But he has to have these vaccines as conditions of stay. No local family or friends to look after him and partner not comfortable with a pet sitter in our house.

I was wondering what others opinions are about vaccinating old and indoor only cat? Is it risky, anyone had side effects with their cat? I am asking as feel guilty as we are only doing it to benefit us to board him and would hate for something bad to happen as a result
I would much rather not have a holiday and just stay at home if the vaccine could cause him harm in anyway.
Would other people bother vaccinating old indoor cat unless they had to board him?

Any advice or opinions much appreciated. X

[Kay]

the leukemia vaccine can cause problems with some cats, but the flu and enteritis ones have been around now for a very long time and are I believe considered very safe

it's a nuisance that catteries still insist on yearly vaccinations but hopefully no worse than a nuisance (and expense!) and catteries that don't insist are very likely to be inferior than those that do

[Moonshine25]

Hello Kay; thank you that is good to hear!
And yes that is a good point that the best catteries will insist upon them as conditions of stay
I just get so anxious about everything as he is older now and probably feel a bit guilty for leaving him to go on holiday! My partner thinks I have seperation anxiety

[Ruth B]

I would advise that you check what the cat hotel requires, if it is only the flu and enteritis, then, as Kay says, they have been around for a long time and are as safe as any vaccine can be, so I don't think he would come to any harm having those although he may be under the weather for a few days afterwards, some cats are. I don't really know about the Leukemia one, mine are all vaccinated for it as well and have it at the same time as the other two, I think it is all in a single jab these days, I don't think it is really any worse than the others.

I can understand that any cattery or cat hotel has to insist on vaccinations, if any of my cats stayed in one and came out with any of the diseases i would never use that cattery again, and I think many cat owners would be the same. I also knew someone who fostered cat for a charity that didn't vaccinate the cats. She had 5 of her own, all of which lived in the house with her, and 3 from the charity kept in an outdoor pen. The charity cats caught Enteritis and even though there was no direct contact between her cats and the charity ones and she did her best to contain it he own cats caught it as well. The three from the charity, even with vet care, all died, her own, while all were rather unwell, all survived, they had been vaccinated.

In my personal opinion all cats, indoor only or indoor and outdoor, should all be vaccinated. Viruses aren't only passed from cat to cat, they can be airborne, carried on clothing etc. Some viruses have a dormant state in which they can survive outside a host body for hours, days, months or even years, after which if they come in contact with a possible host they can awaken and infect that person or animal. You can do a lot to help get rid of them by thorough cleaning, but the risk is always there.

[Moonshine25]

Thank you Ruth those are some really good points My vet said to think of it has the flu vaccine which is given out on NHS to older adults and as my boy is now 18 he is a senior cat!
Thats story about your friend is so sad glad her cats survived!