Cats - to vaccinate or to not vaccinate?

[LynetteScavo]

That is the question.

Missed my cats booster last year, so need to start a agiain at £60 per cat.

Could only afford one cat (on top of other vets bills)

So one cat remains un vaccinated. They never go to cattery, so am I a bad cat mummy?

And before any one says you shouldn't have a pet if you can't afford one, I got the cats when I was working, had no DC's (now I have 3, who come 1st- before said cats) and the economy, upon which our livlyhood depends) was booming.

[devonblue]

Do they go out? If not, then it's not a big worry.

My cat had a reaction to a vaccine and I found the cat equivalent of JABS while I was researching it.

They said that cats might still be immune after one year - I'm not sure that anyone had ever tested. Maybe you could do one cat this year and the other the next and so on.

[forevercleaning]

in all the cats we have had, only 1 has not had a jab, and he is the one who has lived the longest, only visited vet twice in his 14 years and fingers crossed is fit as a fiddle!

I'm not saying dont do it, but i am saying that here is an example of one who has not had it and lived to tell the tale.

Of course, a vet will always tell you to do it, as if it will drop down dead the next day without it!

[Takver]

We've never vaccinated any of our cats (and all have lived to a ripe old age), both in city and country.
To put it brutally, it depends how heartbroken you would be if the cat did get sick and die.
If DD had a cat as her particular pet, slept in the house, etc etc, I might feel differently to how I feel about our semi-wild ex strays though.

[LynetteScavo]

Hmmmmm vet has mad me feel guilty.

They both go out and about.

We didn't vaccinate the cat we had a child......but she only lived to be 12.

Both cats are now 11.

Sigh..... I am much fonder of the cat I've just had vaccinated, so feeling rather mean about non vaccinated, unfriendly one.

[leogirl]

I didn't vaccinate my 2 cats, one went missing for weeks, came back and died of what the vet thinks is leukemia - my previous vet had advised against vaccinating them against that - it was awful, she was very very young and I still miss her. so yes vaccinate. you owe it to them as a responsible owner.

[pointydog]

if your cats go out they should b e vaccinated, I'd've thought

[differentID]

I believe some vets only recommend a booster as being necessary every 2 or so years anyway.

[CaptainUnderpants]

we have two cats - 17yrs old. One is taken to the vet yearly to get his jabs -a lthough the vet now recommends that he has it done about every18 months as he is getting on a it. The onther one we can never catch to get in the cat box ! So hasn't had her jabs for years and is in better health than the other one.

Both are outdoor cats but never go very far.

[Lovesdogsandcats]

My 2 old ladies lived to almost 18 and 20 and I didn't vaccinate. They hardly left the garden though, so if you have a cat who likes to explore then yes vaccinate.

[Alambil]

I have a house cat - she's not vaccinated.

Want to get a kitten to be with her though and vet said cos I have 2 cats, I'd need to vaccinate them both - doesn't seem necessary from what you've all said though?

Has anyone got links to the info they used to decide not to vaccinate?

[palaver]

I get mine done every year and always have done for all the cats I have ever had

Have you ever seen a cat with cat flu? I never want that to happen to mine

[girlywhirly]

If you ever need to use a cattery, they will not accept non-vaccinated cats. And they usually check the vaccination card the vet signs each year. They cannot afford sickness to spread among their other boarders.

My feeling is, if you vaccinate yourselves and your children, do the same for your pets.

[SueW]

I don't get our cats vaccinated.

[kiddiz]

I read an article in a newspaper a while ago all about cat vaccinations. It said that yearly booster jabs were not only unneccessary but could be harmful. It said that they were a money maker for the drug companies and the vets. IIRC it said that 2 yearly boosters were adequate and that as a cat got older even less often.
That said this was in a newspaper ...how true it is I'm not sure

[kiddiz]

I certainly don't think that the op needed to start again with vaccines and a booster would have been ok

[tink123]

My three cats aren't. Bit double standards mind you, cos the puppy will always be vaccinated,

[bella29]

Cats can get cat flu from their owners clothing, shoes etc., so even if they don't go out they should still be vaccinated. Death from cat flu or enteritis is a nasty way to go.

[Brangelina]

The new vet we go to has advised us against vaccinating every year as both my cats are over 7yo and at that point tend to have built up some immunity from the previous vaccines, so can go for up to 3 years without a booster, plus also multiple vaccines in older cats can cause tumours at where the needle pricks are.

So, they haven't been done this year but I will probably be doing both the next. I only ever vaccine for cat flu, have never bothered with the leuKemia but then they're house cats so there's less of a risk anyway.

[LynetteScavo]

Thanks every one.

This has actually been a really helpfull thread.

I feel I've made the right decition having just one cat vaccinated.