Cat Chat Feline Forum

HI again everyone thanks for all uou recent answers and help. Here's another dilemma , my 13 year old sonny was never vaccinated. He and his sister were mostly house cats that ccasionally went into our garden but had no contact with other animals. However the last 2 years we have moved home and they were very comfortable spending time in the garden, there are a lot of cats in the area, many coming for a wee fuss or snack into our garden. We have also just taken in a stray who is fiv+. Cher, sadly is no longer with us but is sonny too old to start vaccinations now. Really need some input on this as he is my life and would hate to not be doing the best from him.

Well. A good question.

I confess I'm rather testing the water here and this is just my experience and opinion, but I'm not a fan of vaccinations.

When I was growing up with cats, and as a young adult, I understood there were two vaccinations that a cat 'ought' to have - one against Feline Infectious Enteritis and one against Cat 'Flu. Trouble was, FIE was only supposed to strike cats under one year, flu was to have so many varieties that it was impossible to expect the vaccine to protect against all of them (we lived in terror of calicivirus, chlamydia and the rest) and it was even said that apparently FIE and flu were supposed to be the same thing.

I saw many kittens with what I feared was FIE - and later realised was worms/teething - which can cause diarrohea and the awful vomiting and dehydration that can kill...sadly I lost three little rescues before I read a newspaper article about dehydration in babies and learned about dehydration, electrolytes and replacing body fluids (in those days it was saline/glucose; these days there are more sophisticated methods.) Vets just doled out antibiotics, which didn't work. Later I was in touch with a brilliant homeopathic vet who recommended teething granules; don't know if you can get them now but they do the trick with a teething kitten who's passing smelly sludge and doesn't know what to do with itself!

I've only ever seen one case of cat flu. This was after I took a cat to the vet after a mild road injury...in those days (1970s) waiting rooms weren't so spacious and cat carriers weren't insisted on...I was squashed up next to someone with a sneezing cat in an open box...yes, I know, thick of me not to have moved straight away from the poor creature! The cat and her mother came down with the lurgy.

In the 80s when I bred Siamese I had my queens vaccinated and kittens also, it was regarded as essential and responsible. Also no stud owner, rightly, would accept a queen without vaccination and blood tests for FeLV and later FIV.

When I stopped breeding I didn't bother with vaccinations; the cats were getting elderly and didn't roam. When I moved to my present house and lost my old cats and became invaded by needy ferals lol I was like you, with cheeky freeloaders dropping in for a snack and now I too have a couple of cats in their teens, who've never been vaccinated.

These days the garden is secured (Altracatz!) but all the cats once roamed on the streets. Despite no vaccination, they're all in good health (paws crossed!)

I believe there is a vaccination against FeLV too nowadays and is there a vaccination against FIV too?

But in my opinion, if your guy has got to 13 and built up his immunities, then he ought to be ok.

However, always worth consulting the vet - and also other people on here may have different opinions - I and my cats may just have been lucky; I don't claim to be an authority!

Oops, this has been a 'novel' - one way to deal with the dreaded insomnia!

There will be other opinions on this but whatever, hope Sonny has many good years and times ahead of him and Pepsi too!

I agree with Lilith, although I'm sure there are many who will disagree and although I have always made sure that all my puppies and kittiens have had their first vaccinations, I am starting to have my doubts about vaccination in general.

In principle, it sounds a great idea. But in recent years I think that 'Big Pharma' has thought 'kerching' and is rushing through vaccinations for everything - this is just MY opinion.

Even though Bob is FIV+ I would not have the others vaccinated against it (even if it was readily available). The virus has a VERY short life outside a host and can only really be transmitted by deep bites.

I think personal circumstances play a part too - because I live alone, and have no family or friends nearby who could and would look after my two in an emergency, I would feel happier if I knew I could pop them into the nearest cattery if I had to, but this is not an option as I had to stop having Tiffany vaccinated a few years ago due to her increasingly severe reaction

as I have an enclosed garden they don't really need the protection, but being sure they would be OK if I suddenly disappeared into hospital, for instance, is also part of caring for them, and I would have liked to have had that peace of mind

Thanks everyone for reply and Kay we always had same problem at holiday times as we have no one to watch our cats therefor could never have a family holiday , ether It was me and kids or hubby and kids so one of us stayed with our cats. That changed this year and I used a house/pet sitting agency. Was very apprehensive but they had heaps of experience and references. A retired Australian couple, who spoiled sonny rotten and sent me updates and photos the whole time we were away. I will definitely do this again and highly recommend rather than putting animals away from home.

I have had mine vaccinated all the time; mainly because I've always been told it's the thing to do and also because most pet insurances require annual vaccination to ensure cover.

If it wasn't for the insurance then I'd either have the first main vaccination and it's booster and then the next year and then after that every 3rd year only as I gather most vaccinations do provide that length of cover; or the other option would be to vaccinate annually until age 10 and then stop as the immunity would have built up enough for the rest of the cats life (so I've read).

But as said - all that is a mute point for me as my cats are vaccinated annualy because of their pet insurance

I do think though that every cat / pet should have it's primary vaccinations and booster plus an additional year or two as they do offer protection against diseases that are incredibly nasty

I have mixed views on vaccinations especially the flu one. Mainly because I had a healthy cat for 5 years with no vaccines and then he was then given the flu one and seemed to always get sick after that with cat flu:\ It would just flare up every few months and he would need antibiotics. Then the second year he got it he was diagnosed with kidney failure 2 days after. Vets said it was acute and was really shocked how fast it came on. Looking back though mum and I are sure he had some minor signs of kidney issue for the year previous (mainly a tatty coat) and we think the vaccine speeded it up some how? as I read that when a cat has kidney issues they should avoid vaccines.

I guess though that all cats are different and like with humans and vaccinations every vaccine come with risks.

Now we got pet insurance though the two I have now have to be vaccinated but if I saw any signs of reaction I would stop vaccinate them I guess.

I agree with Lilith, by the time they've reached their teens I figure they've pretty much built up the immunities they need. With my five original cats I followed a plan similar to the one outlined by Meriad, vaccinating youngsters but doing it less often as they got older, and all lived until their late teens.