How much at risk is an unvaccinated kitten with no immunity passed on from mother?

[maya2008]

- Mother unvaccinated.
- Various cats visit our garden regularly, in which the children and the dog play.
- We go regularly to the farm which also is visited by multiple cats.


Are we safe so long as she stays indoors? Or not?

Tried to ask the vets. Can’t actually speak to one, just get ‘We are not doing kitten vaccinations because they don’t go out.’ from the receptionist.

OH lost a young unvaccinated dog from a disease you vaccinate against as a child, he is worried. I would just like to know!

 

[AmyMay]

How old is the kitten?

 

[maya2008]

How old is the kitten?

9 weeks now - but local vets not vaccinating for next few months at least so we will need to get her to six months old before she will have the chance to be vaccinated.

 

[AmyMay]

Can you find another vet, or ring around generally, to find one that will vaccinate?

 

[maya2008]

Have tried two - blanket ‘no’ on phone from one, no discussion. One we have our dog at asked senior nurse (no) and when I rang back to say I was pretty sure mother unvaccinated (have since confirmed that) she said would get practice manager to confirm. I don’t hold out much hope. Pretty much got told it doesn’t matter if she gets ill from something preventable and dies because she is not a human and we are in the middle of a HUMAN pandemic. Yes I know that... but we have a duty of care to our animals and can socially distance for this. Apparently local practices are all in contact and have all agreed not to. So it probably doesn’t matter who I ring, unless I can find a practice small enough that an actual vet responds to the query.

 

[maya2008]

In case anyone else is in this position, Cats Protection advised us that she is at risk, although there isn't a huge amount of disease in this area so risk not as high as it could be, and to try to find a vet who will vaccinate. According to BVA guidelines, they should vaccinate 'at risk' animals.

No luck, even with their recommendation.

We are in a low numbers area for Covid-19 but the impression both my OH and I have got on the phone is that the vets/receptionists are terrified. The answer from Cats Protection was logical and reasoned -risk is roughly x, ideally you would do this, but if you can't, do this. From vet, get a panicked answer, despite the reasonable ability to socially distance.

I guess we're saving our money and crossing our fingers for the next 2 years at this rate...