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Pets

Should I vaccinate my kitten

18 replies

Taradavies1312 · 21/10/2016 10:23

I've been reading up on pet vaccinations, I have an 8 yr old cat, he is an outdoor cat and has never had any vaccinations and has been totally fine all these yrs, I have just had a kitten who is settling in very well with my other cat he is 11 weeks old. I am planning on him being an outdoor cat too. Obviously not yet, he has been exploring my garden with supervision, I have spoken to the vet because he was Ill when he came to us, wasn't treated very well and I had to hand feed from the start. With a lot of love and care he is thriving The vet was disgusted when I said I'm not gonna get him vaccinated, but going by my older cat, I really see no need in it. Am I doing wrong? Im second guessing myself now and I don't know what to do x

Should I vaccinate my kitten

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Paulat2112 · 21/10/2016 10:24

Yes you should. Doesn't cost that much.

ReallyTired · 21/10/2016 10:30

I don't see this thread going very well. There will be the anti vaxers convinced that your kitty will get autism if he is vaccinated. There will be the pro vaxers demanding that your kitty is denied access to (non existent) kitty state education.

Ofcourse feel free to flame me for being completely flippant about what is deemed a serious issue for human children.

How much are these vaccinations? Does your cat need these vaccinations for kitty health insurance? If you cat caught one of these diseases would it die? Would you be hit with a large vet bill to nurse kitty through a life threatening illness?

Taradavies1312 · 21/10/2016 10:30

The money is not the issue for me, its what is the right thing, when I had my other cat, vaccination wasn't pushed on u like it is now, now it is frowned upon if u don't x

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ReallyTired · 21/10/2016 10:34

Do you vaccinate your children? I suppose it makes sense not to vaccinate if your children aren't vaccinated.

icandoscience · 21/10/2016 10:39

If they are going outside, they could easily come into contact with feral cats that have any of the diseases that the vaccines cover.

There are two very practical reasons to get them vaccinated:

If you get pet insurance, it is only valid if your cats jabs are up to date.

If they are not vaccinated, you will not be able to put them in a cattery. Even if this is not something you are planning to do regularly for holidays etc, it is good to know you could do it in an emergency e.g. if your house floods/burns down and you have to move into no-pets-allowed temporary accommodation. I know it's not a nice thought, but unfortunately it does happen.

WindInThePussyWillows · 21/10/2016 10:41

The main vaccination areas protect against Feline viral infectious respiratory disease (Cat flu),
Feline panleucopaenia (Enteritis), ^
Feline leukaemia,
Rabies^

I would do a little reading into each, the chances of contracting them, cost of treatment if contracted and effect/pain/suffering it may cause kitty and then make an informed decision either way.

Gorgeous cats.

Soubriquet · 21/10/2016 10:42

I'll be honest

I didn't vaccinate my kitten. And I've done it a month ago because she was going into a cattery.

So it's your personal preference really.

I won't deny feline illnesses can be terrible but I don't think it's as common as it was

GinIsIn · 21/10/2016 10:45

Do you have pet insurance? The way to look at it is: it can invalidate your insurance if you don't have the appropriate vaccinations in place, and if you don't have insurance, one of the nasty cat diseases is going to cost you an awful lot more at the vet than the cost of the vaccination....

TwinkleTwinkleLittleBat · 21/10/2016 10:54

We've always vaccinated ours. I suppose I probably am someone who feels it's an important issue. If a cat became ill with something preventable, how awful would that be?

I can see your point in that your older outdoor cat has been ok so far, but who knows if that is just down to luck or whether he would have been anyway. It's not a chance I'd be happy to take, but every pet owner makes the decisions they do according to what they think is for the best I guess.

Taradavies1312 · 21/10/2016 10:57

Thank u for all your comments and there's loads that I haven't thought about so thank u for that, will have to thinka little more x

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DownWithThisSortaThing · 21/10/2016 11:07

Yes you should. It protects them from illnesses and infections that can kill them. Your older cat might have been ok so far out of luck, but the kitten is especially vulnerable as a young cat. Why would you put them at risk of something preventable?
www.cats.org.uk/cat-care/key-cat-care/vaccination

paap1975 · 21/10/2016 11:09

If there isn't a cost issue, I can't imagine why you would even contemplate not vaccinating. By the time they get ill, it's too late to have regrets.

Soubriquet · 21/10/2016 11:09

It was cheaper than I thought too

It cost me £15 to vaccinate toots

Taradavies1312 · 21/10/2016 11:42

Yes there's no cost issue. If my pets need it then I will be happy to take them, and of course if something was to happen to them I would feel awful, I'm a very loving pet owner to 2 beautiful animals. It was never pushed on u 8 yrs ago this is why I don't understand if its not needed then y give it, but reading all these posts I can see a different side to it x

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froglou · 22/10/2016 18:57

Out of my 4 cats, my eldest was a 15 year old stray who passed a couple of months ago (of kidney failure nothing injection related) we never got him vaccinated as he was about 10 when we took him in and by that point it's pretty much pointless, 2 of our cats we have got vaccinated since they was 8 weeks old and we still get them done every year. My youngest I got vaccinated at 7 weeks (she was given to us too young we didn't buy her she was dumped) she had a bad reaction to it so we haven't her done since because of this and she's now coming up 3.

In short get her done and take it from there, id say the vaccines are most important while they're kittens as they haven't built up immunity yet, take it from there as wether you went to get it done again. If she bounces back fine after her injections keep up with them :)

ratspeaker · 22/10/2016 20:59

Our cat is vaccinated as a condition of his insurance, as is a yearly check up.
The insurance was well worth it as it paid out nearly £1000 when he had an accident and needed emergency op and stay at vets.

CatBallou2 · 03/01/2017 20:45

I have 3 cats, one of which goes out and about everyday and she gets vaccinated. My other 2 cats are pretty much indoor cats and they do not get vaccinated, and my vet agrees with this. My outdoor cat doesn't mix with my indoor cats as she's a bit of a bully, so I keep her in a separate part of the house. My vet's not keen on vaccinating just because it's expected, so I don't get any negative treatment from him, but he does think that cats who go out should be vaccinated.

onecrazycook · 03/01/2017 21:15

From a different point of view, many diseases have been eradicated due to vaccination, but in humans and animals likewise, those diseases are being seen again now and spread due to lack of vaccination. I wouldn't want that responsibility on my shoulders for the sake of £50

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