[Thien T]

My 10 year old cat is due for shots in Feb. It has been 3 years since his shots. He is an outside cat. I know I have to get the rabies but do I need the others? I just wondered if cat vaccines are dangerous like dog ones. Need advice from HDM.

[anonymous]

Please read and discuss with your vet: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2014/08/routine-vaccinations-for-dogs-cats-trying-to-make-evidence-based-decisions/ (excerpt below)

In general, I recommend following these guidelines for the initial vaccine series and the one year booster. I often cease vaccination for strictly indoor cats after that, however this involves a thorough discussion of the possible risks. If a cat escapes every once in a while, for example, they should certainly be kept current on rabies vaccination. And, of course, if there are legal requirements for rabies vaccination, these should be followed. Cats that visit other cats or have visitors or new cats come into the household, cats who attend shows or are boarded, and cats with owners who interact with cats outside the household may benefit from vaccination even if they are strictly indoors.
The risks of vaccination are generally similar in cats as in dogs, and very small, with one significant exception. The evidence is stronger for the development of a very serious kind of cancer, called a sarcoma, associated with some vaccines in some cats. The risk of this is still very low (reported to occur following as few as 1/10,000 doses of vaccine to as high as 36/10,000 doses), but it is a very dangerous and often fatal disease. Changes have been made in the vaccine used in cats to try and reduce this risk, but it isn’t absolutely clear if these changes have lowered the risk. This disease needs to be considered when making vaccination decisions for individual cats, and certainly we need to make a serious effort to avoid unnecessary vaccination. However, irrational fear of this disease is not a good reason to subject cats to unnecessary risk from equally serious infectious diseases by avoiding appropriate vaccinations.

[haleycookie]

I would vaccinate an outdoor cat yearly, make sure he has a tag and collar on so if someone picks him up they can get ahold of you, make sure u are also deworming monthly and keeping a flea and heart worm preventative on him monthly as well. Outside is a dangerous place for cats. Know that he will have a shorter life span than indoor cats as well.

[anonymous]

The cat has made it to age 10. That’s unusual for an outdoor cat, maybe you are in a rural area, have a street smart cat, or are just plain lucky.
The average life span for an outdoor cat is 5 years.

[Susan]

Hi Thein,

I don’t over vaccinate my pets, they are vaccinated first 2 yrs of their life then I do not vaccinate them no more….
Humans do not keep getting vaccinated every 1 or 3 yrs so why are our pets over vaccinated??
I’ve had a few outside cats over the years & they’ve lived till 14-15yrs old, we lived in the suburbs at the time, they weren’t vaccinated, what killed my boy was kidney failure & the girl cat had an accident when she was about 7yr old & she either poked her eye with a tree branch or was shot with a BB gun the vet at the time said do I want to remove her eye, then he said when the eye heals she still might have some sight in that eye, so I left her left eye, the eye healed then as she aged her eye turned to jelly then when she was 15yrs old she started walking in circle so we rushed her to vet & she was put to sleep.. both cats were very healthy cats.
I have a 2 yr old cat now she’ll be 3 in April, she was desexed & vaccinated thru the RSPCA when I bought her, she hasn’t been vaccinated again or had any need to see a vet she is brought back inside at night & sleeps indoors then goes back out in the morning after breakfast, then she comes back inside thru the day as soon as she hears Patch getting food she knocks on the door to come back inside, she opens cupboards, opens food packets, opens the linen cupboard, pulls out all the linen to make a bed, she has beds everywhere but prefers to make a mess, drinks her water with her front paw, she acts like a dog not a cat, doesn’t jump fences, she is the weirdest cat I’ve ever owned Patch picked her when we went to the RSPCA looking for a new cat after my boy cat died..

Dr John Robb is really good, he said vaccinations last for 7yrs or more..
are you on F/B follow Dr John Robb – “Protect the Pets”
https://www.facebook.com/DRRobbPTP/

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