I've stopped yearly immunisations of my cat - am I bad?

[morningpaper]

I haven't had my cat immunised for a couple of years. She is pretty feral and it's too stressful. She is pretty ancient now and I feel bad putting her through it.

MY question is:
WHY do they need yearly immunisations? Why do the immunisations only work for 12 months?

Hippipotami, I did not mean you to take offence. I was actually addressing everyone who had responded in much the same way as you, not you alone.

I only have the views I have because I suffered hugely from the death of my cat which occurred at a very critical time in my life. The reason she wasn't vaccinated, as I vaguely mentioned in my fist post, was because this occurred many years ago before annual vaccinations were available.

If your cat does not meet other cats, then I can see why you may feel vaccination is not necessary.

My cat's jab is due now. It is awful taking him but I see it as part of the responsibility of owning him. If there is a vaccine available that could prevent him from a significant illness then yes I will take him.

We cat fenced our back garden to keep our cats in and other cats out. As our cats can not interact with local cats, we decided to stop yearly vaccinations. I am biting my tongue and worrying, even though I know as inside and outside in our garden only, there is no advantage in pumping them full of chemicals.

Message withdrawn

That's okay DG, sorry.

Sorry about your cat, and of course I see why you believe in vaccinations. And if I was in your situation I would too.
I do believe in vaccinations of the masses to protect everyone, I honestly do.
Just in this instance, for a cat who does not like other cats (nor humans really, she is an odd animal) I felt there was no need.

The dog on the other hand is vaccinated to within an inch of his life because he is a sociable bear and will scarper over the fence and take it upon himself to visit the dog next door at every opportunity.

Just for information Cat flu is an aerosol transmitted virus (in the air!). Cat proofing your garden will not necessarily prevent infection. Vaccines are still recommended for cats in these circumstances. They will however not be at risk of feline leukaemia if they are not coming into direct contact with other cats (or their secretions...eg shared food bowls) so this is one vaccine you could go without under such circumstances.

Currently the vaccines are licenced over here for yearly booster vaccinations in cats. More recently the manufacturers have been looking into the immunity duration provided and in the case of cats they have not yet managed to get a formulation that lasts longer that I am aware of anyway. In dogs some of the vaccinated diseases are no longer given annually, but there are still some that do need to be done each year too. It is an ongoing area of research. As a vet I vaccinate my cat every single year and will continue to do so until research suggests it is safe to change this approach.

beautifulgirls, When the cat fence is a couple of feet on top of a 6 foot solid wooden fence, a local cat can not even get close enough to breath over or sneeze on my cats, hence I do not feel there is realistically any chance of flu transfer but thanks for the concern.

(This is assuming the local cats would try to enter the neighbouring gardens which all have dogs !!!)