Do you vaccinate your cats?

[cptrayes]

IMO feel (for my animals) why vaccinate the horses but not the cats

Because my horses travel and my cats don't. If i had stay at home horses I would vaccinate only for tetanus.

 

[awilliams]

Because my horses travel and my cats don't. If i had stay at home horses I would vaccinate only for tetanus.

agreed!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Because my horses travel and my cats don't. If i had stay at home horses I would vaccinate only for tetanus.

As I stated

(for my animals) why vaccinate the horses but not the cats

Felv and Fiv and leukemia can affect any cat. I deal with the former two diseases all the time. Only takes one scratch one bite. Same like we keep human hygiene to avoid contracting AIDS I will give my cats the same courtesy.


I will not force or diss anyone for what they do with their cats. Many cat owners who feel like you do, never get their cats a vaccine, then their circumstances change and they need to re home the cat, who many end up going to a charity like the RSPCA and they will blood test as one of the first things, as soon as the bloods come back and they test positive, they are pts. Such a shame

I want to insure my cats are fully vaccinated so if anything ever happens to me and they go to charity, who do a health check will find them healthy and ready to re home.

 

[cptrayes]

As I stated
Felv and Fiv and leukemia can affect any cat. I deal with the former two diseases all the time. Only takes one scratch one bite. Same like we keep human hygiene to avoid contracting AIDS I will give my cats the same courtesy.


I will not force or diss anyone for what they do with their cats. Many cat owners who feel like you do, never get their cats a vaccine, then their circumstances change and they need to re home the cat, who many end up going to a charity like the RSPCA and they will blood test as one of the first things, as soon as the bloods come back and they test positive, they are pts. Such a shame

I want to insure my cats are fully vaccinated so if anything ever happens to me and they go to charity, who do a health check will find them healthy and ready to re home.

I have farm homes with friends already set up for my cats if we die Leviathan.

It may only take one scratch but it does actually have to be from an infected cat. There's more chance my cats will get Vaccine Associated Cancer than being bitten or scratched by a cat with FIV or FIL.

 

[Leo Walker]

my point is, that my cat IS covered after the intial course and first booster. I'm not playing the odds. They have enough vaccines to make sure they are covered and then we stop as they dont need them, and there can be unpleasant side effects

 

[ribbons]

Exactly right frankieCob.
While some are banging on about our cats/dogs not being protected, I believe theirs are being subjected to unnecessary and potentialially dangerous boosters.
All medicine and vaccines will carry some risk. I am prepared to take that risk to immunise them against nasty preventable diseases. I'm NOT prepared to hugely increase that risk by giving unnecessary boosters.

 

[dogatemysalad]

I will not force or diss anyone for what they do with their cats. Many cat owners who feel like you do, never get their cats a vaccine, then their circumstances change and they need to re home the cat, who many end up going to a charity like the RSPCA and they will blood test as one of the first things, as soon as the bloods come back and they test positive, they are pts. Such a shame

If a positive test result is the criteria for euthanasia then the vaccinated cat will test positive for feline 'aids' and be PTS. At least the unvaccinated cat has a pretty good chance of testing negative.

Vets have known for years that cats are being over vaccinated and yet they continue to take the money for yearly jabs, knowing that it is causing more harm than good.

If we had a free health system for pets like the NHS, we'd quickly find that routine frequent vaccination was similar to programmes for humans.

When, as an adult were you last vaccinated ?

 

[suestowford]

Like an earlier poster, I have had five tetanus jabs over the years and thought I was protected for life. That was the latest thinking about ten years ago.
A couple of years ago I was bitten by a dog and went to A&E to get sewn back together. I told them the 'I've had five jabs' line and they said I still needed another tetanus jab.

I still give my cat a booster every year, even though she is old and it probably isn't strictly necessary. I've been indoctrinated! But if I didn't, and she got Leukemia or AIDS, I would never get over the guilt I'd feel.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

If a positive test result is the criteria for euthanasia then the vaccinated cat will test positive for feline 'aids' and be PTS. At least the unvaccinated cat has a pretty good chance of testing negative.

Vets have known for years that cats are being over vaccinated and yet they continue to take the money for yearly jabs, knowing that it is causing more harm than good.

If we had a free health system for pets like the NHS, we'd quickly find that routine frequent vaccination was similar to programmes for humans.

When, as an adult were you last vaccinated ?

FYI I have had my booster always do.



Well this is all very well those anti boosters. But I see more and more cats being FIV + most are male cats owners wont neuter or take up reduced or vouchers for neutering. The end results is the cat gets infected, also queens who don't get neutered get infected when Tom's grab them. (One particular person I am thinking of doesn't deserve to have the cat)

Sad thing is no obvious signs of a cat being infected show till the disease is a long way down the tract.
The message is loud and clear that there are pro people and con. The vets we use are more for boosters than no
(thank god).
To think of my cats ending their lives in pain or illness is to hard to think of. We have had cats over 45 years all have lead lives to 20 - 24. I hope my cats now do the same, Only a few charities pts when they have FIV. This is so sad when there is an alternative should a cat have the misfortune to have the disease. These in my experience are the result of cats who have been family cats and then just dumped or abandoned when the owners move or cannot afford them. Some areas actually are known for cat dumping.

 

[Honey08]

Because my horses travel and my cats don't. If i had stay at home horses I would vaccinate only for tetanus.

Yes this from me too. Because they have to for teams, otherwise I would probably not bother, or at least take the vet's advice.

I don't have flu jabs every year despite travelling to other countries and coming into contact with lots of people from all over the world with colds and germs. I'm still surviving..

The biggest factor in my decision to not vaccinate the cats every year is my vet's opinion.

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Interesting thread-and each to their own-BUT I too stopped vaccinating an older cat as he rarely went out and he contracted a horrible preventable virus-I so regretted stopping his vaccs. I have 6 cats now-all vaccinated and neutered living in a rural home but with plenty farm cats passing through.

 

[Alexart]

I've never vaccinated mine in 35yrs of owning them, and have had them live into their 20's. My 16 furballs are all wild caught adult ferals though, the majority toms, and have had a few tested in the past which came up with all sorts, they've all had cat flu at some point or other too, so the vet said not to worry as they probably have or have come into contact with most things so not much point in vaccinating! Our oldest feral is at least 16yrs old and was a huge bruiser of a tom who was covered in scars and abscesses when I caught him 14yrs ago, and he just went for his first trip to the vet since having his nuts off when we first caught him for a dental, he's back patrolling the garden again now! We do live on a farm though in the middle of nowhere and since neutering pretty much most of the local cat population, around 40 odd so far, we rarely see outside cats now as the message seems to have got round most of the surrounding farms to catch and neuter so it's not something I'm worried about. I would be if I bought a cat that had never been outside or in contact with others and I was going to let it outside, like a show or house cat, then I'd probably get a course of jabs as their immune system would be pretty immature so wouldn't risk it.