Everything You Need To Know About Cat Vaccinations

Hi, I'm Dr. Broussard with the Wagon Train Veterinary Clinic, and in today's segment we're going to discuss cat vaccinations. My assistant Cole and I have put together a list of commonly asked questions that we will run through to hopefully give you a better understanding of vaccinations in cats. Cole? Dr. Broussard, what exactly are cat vaccinations? Well, vaccinations in general are any time that you give an animal or a person, for that matter, a modified version of a pathogen, usually a virus or bacteria, in hopes of stimulating their own body's immune response. You want their body to produce antibodies against that substance so that, therefore, that way if they're ever exposed to it another time down the road, they already have an immunity towards that organism and can better fight it off. Are cat vaccinations important? Yeah, I think they're very important. Why? Because you have no idea to know what your cat is going to be exposed to over the course of its life. We see animals at times that come in for illness and they've never been vaccinated in things like leukemia or what we call feline distemper, those kind of things. They're completely at risk for if they've never seen them before and have no way to fight it off immunologically. So, yes, I think they're extremely important, particularly at a young age. You want to start that animal off What cat vaccinations are typically recommended and what are they for? I guess the way I would answer that is what most people refer to as core vaccinations. Core vaccines are the bare minimum. They're the essentials. They're the things that are the most important, the most life-threatening, or perhaps the most likely that that animal is going to be exposed to. In cats, I look at it as two core vaccinations. One, of course, is rabies. We all know about rabies. I'm not going to go into depth about that here, but that is considered a core vaccination for cats. And the other one is what we typically call FVRCP. Now, what that stands for is feline viral rhinotracheitis, that's one, calicivirus, and panleukopenia. That is typically, they come in combination typically, and for every cat that I see, indoors, outdoors, multiple cat household, I'm going to recommend those two as my core vaccines all the time. What is the vaccine schedule for kittens? So kittens, it's similar to that in dogs, and so what that means is they come in for a series of vaccinations, usually separated by about three to four weeks apart. You will give an animal the first set, usually in the six to seven week range, and as I said, every three to four weeks thereafter, until they're about four or so months of age. Again, guys, there's no exact science with this, and a lot of veterinarians do it differently, but my schedule, my ideal schedule would be six weeks, nine weeks, 12 weeks, and then probably 15 or 16 weeks, and then I'm finished as a kitten, okay? You want the take-home messages, you want at least two sets of vaccinations after 10 weeks. That has to do with antibody production. I don't have time to explain all the ins and outs of that now, but it has to do with the way they produce antibodies, so I do at least those, and once those kitten vaccines are done, then it's at least annually thereafter. What about adult cats? Well, adult cats fall into the annually thereafter category, so assuming that an adult cat has had vaccinations as a kitten, then they would require annual revaccination for most of those pathogens, in my opinion, for life. Now, the difference being to that question, if an adult cat comes in to see me and they've never had vaccinations, then again, kind of like I said about they need two sets after 10 weeks, well, that's where an adult falls in, so if an adult cat comes to me and has never been vaccinated, I'm going to do one set now, and then I'm going to booster that in three to four weeks, and then continue to vaccinate them annually after that. And senior cats? Yeah, so a lot of debate on this one, you know? Some people come in and they say, well, my cat's 12 or 14 or pick a senior cat age. They've had vaccines all their life. Do they really need to continue doing it? It's a fair question, and it's a tough one to answer. My answer, do I vaccinate my own cats as they continue to age? And that answer is yes, I do. The old expression, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, rings heavily to me. Does that mean that the cat is going to be just as susceptible at 12 years of age as it was at 12 weeks of age? No, of course not. They have antibodies. Those antibodies should stand up and do their job. But think about elderly people. You know, sometimes their immune systems are not as viable as they once were. Let's look at COVID, for example. Who's the highest risk population? It's senior people, especially those with underlying medical conditions, but elderly people are more at risk. How would a cat be any different? You know, as they age, sometimes their immune system is weaker than it used to be as a young, vibrant cat. So it's a long answer to tell you that yes, I do believe that senior cats should continue to be vaccinated. Now, if you want to cut those back a little bit and not give them as often, if you're worried about the illness because of the vaccine, do you want to separate them, things like that? I got no quarrels with that. But I do think it is important to continue to vaccinate them to ensure that they're protected. Are there risks or side effects associated with cat vaccinations? There's always a risk with vaccines. I can't sugarcoat that. Is it common? No, not terribly common at all. But is it possible? Yes, it is. Anytime you introduce a foreign substance into the body of a living creature, you run the risk of that substance causing a volatile reaction. The most common thing that we see would be that, an allergic reaction, anaphylactic reaction where they might break out in hives, they might itch, in some cases vomiting, diarrhea, things like that. They're possible. To be honest with you, right now as I answer this question, I would be hard pressed to tell you the last time I saw a cat that reacted to the vaccines that we give, and that's truthful. But is it possible? Yes, it is. If my cat is going to strictly live indoors, do they still need to be vaccinated? I believe yes. Why? How are they going to catch things when they're indoors? Are they going to get bit by a rabid animal when they're in your living room? No, probably not. But what happens when that door stays open and the window screen gets torn and the cat jumps outside and is in the neighborhood for an hour, a day, a week? Who knows? That's when the importance of vaccines really shows itself. Is it as likely for an indoor cat to get some of these things we've touched upon as it would be for a stray cat that's rolling? Of course not. No, it's not. But you never know what the future holds, and it takes one accident, one escape, one runaway, one broken pet carrier as you're walking to the car, anything like that, and that cat can escape and it now is unprotected out in the world. It's just a gamble that me I'm not willing to take. So now maybe an indoor cat, we don't do as many vaccinations because they're not at risk for as many things if they are primarily indoors. But again, refer to one of the first answers I gave when I talked about core vaccinations. That's when I think those core vaccinations like rabies and the viral rhinotracheitis and those kind of things are in my imperative. Why is it important to avoid missing a cat vaccination? Well, first of all, it's very important as a kitten when you're doing the spacing of vaccines. You don't want to give them any closer than three weeks apart because the immune system doesn't have a chance to form what's called an amnestic response and produce adequate antibodies to that second or third set. So they have to be at least three weeks apart. The flip side to that is you don't want them to be more than six weeks apart. Again, this is in the kitten stage. Any more than six weeks and the antibody production will spike and then dwindle to the point where it's beyond six weeks. Then you give them another booster vaccine. It's almost like starting over again. It has to be in that three to six week window to have an adequate amnestic response. So there's that. As an adult, if we do it a little bit late, I mean, does it have to be 12 months on the nose? No, not really. I think it's wiser and there are certain legal things like rabies where I practice. It's mandated that it's given every year. So to stay in law, that's why we try to shoot for once a year. But if you're a little late or you can't get the cat in or there's some other illness that prevents you from vaccinating, it's not the end of the world. Just when you can and when the cat is healthy and stable, I think it's wise to boost them as soon as you can after that. All right, guys. Well, that does it for today. I appreciate you guys tuning in. If you have any questions, just reach out to us. You can call us, come on by. You can reach us on Facebook, anything like that. But I appreciate you tuning in and we'll see you soon. Bye-bye.