Vaccinations for indoor elderly cats - still necessary?

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Helene & Cleo

Member Since 2012
All you guys with elderly indoor cats, and no other pets who go outside / likely animal routes of infection - do you keep up with vaccinations?

I know there is probably a big difference depending on what country you live in. Obviously rabies is a big thing in the US, and vaccines are necessary I suppose, but in the UK the core vaccinations given as a kitten are for feline panleukopenia virus (FPV), feline herpesvirus (FHV-1) and feline calicivirus (FCV - cat flu).

Cleo had all these, and all the necessary boosters until about two and a half years ago, when she was 12; since then she hasn't had any boosters. Throughout the whole diabetes diagnosis, and getting her well again, I haven't really even thought about vaccines. But now I am thinking about it, I'm actually reluctant to risk any negative reactions to the vaccine boosters, considerig Cleo's age, if they are not absolutely necessary.

Cleo is the only animal in the household, she is an indoor cat, so...what do you all think?

Thanks.

H
 
I keep mine up to date but they are not really sick. If they were sick/poor health and likely would not have much time left I would defer vaccinations.
Your cat can get some diseases from vet visits.
One concern with rabies vaccinations is that if the cat bits somebody, if the rabies vaccinations is not current, then the cat may have to be quarantined in a place other than you home.
 
Thanks for that link, a lot of good info there. Seems to back up my notion that enough immunity is developed from the kitten shots and first ~12 years of boosters to cover Cleo at present.

In the UK we don't have to give our pets rabies vaccines, as the UK is designated a rabies-free country.

I forgot to mention, another UK vaccine given fairly regularly, but one which does not fall into the 'core' group category is feline leukaemia (FeLV); however this is only given in cases where a high risk of exposure is present.

Additionally, the FIV vaccine isn't available here. It isn't licensed in the UK, mainly due to the fact that with the current vaccines/ tests for FIV it is impossible to differentiate between a vaccinated cat and a FIV+ cat.

Cleo isn't in ill health per se, it's just that we seem to have reached a nice equilibrium at the moment, where she appears to be doing very well with her current diet etc. I don't really want to rock the boat by unnecessarily altering any variables, and obviously a load of vaccine boosters would be something entirely new to her since her diabetes diagnosis.

However, Larry's point about picking up viruses from vet visits is something I admit I hadn't considered, and this is the most likely place an indoor, single cat household kitty would pick something up. However, Cleo hasn't been to the vets in quite a few months now, and I have no intention of taking her there in the near future, unless anything unexpected happens. The vet stresses her out so much; Cleo hates it, and they can't get near enough to examine her half the time as she switches into ultra-mental feral cat mode as soon as we walk through the doors, and refuses to come out of her cat carrier. Additionally, I seem to end up going home with a massive bill for something that either a) could have been done myself (in the case of BG testing for instance) or b) could be completed perfectly adequately by way of a telephone consultation (in the case of a repeat Rx for meds to treat a chronic, recurrent condition).

Has anybody experienced/ heard any anecdotal evidence of negative reactions to vaccine boosters amongst senior and/or diabetic kitties?

Thanks for your replies.

H
 
Unless your cat came in contact with another cat at the vet's, there should be no way to contract anything there.

We've kept ours up. There was a gap in Smokey's vacs when the reminder cards didn't come out on her because we had fostered another Smokey and things got messed up in their system. We just didn't realize we weren't taking one of them and and she went without vax for 3 or 4 years. I will always wonder if this contributed to her catching Calicivirus from Avie in 2010 because she was vax and boostered except for those years so she should have been protected.

I discussed not getting the older 2 their vax this year with our vet. Because our younger ones are Calici carriers, Smokey has it and the vax is thought to possibly help keep the virus/symptoms dormant, and we do foster and I volunteer my vet felt it was safest to keep my cats up-to-date because their older bodies will be less able to fight anything they might catch.
 
Everyone has to weigh the risks and benefits for their own cats. Yes the vets staff does clean the room before every patient but Upper respiratory infections are airborne. Calici virus and Panleukopenia virus can live for a very long time dormant. A vaccinated cat can still get sick but it wont be as severe.

So the only vaccines my cats got were the FVRCP vaccines, and rabies, since all of them could bite.. my worry wasnt day to day life but in case of fire or earthquake, someone else might find them or take them out of my apartment and if they were scared they or any animal might bite. They are only indoor cats also.

I personally decided not to vaccinate my cats when they got older.. and do agree with the idea that they probably last longer than the recommended schedules of vaccination.

I do not believe in the FeLV vaccine, its not been proven effective with enough studies. And the FIV vaccine also is not proven effective, and with the risk that they might be euthanized should they ever end up in a shelter because they tested positive for FIV isnt an option. Supposedly theres now a test that can distinguish the vaccinated vs infected but have no idea about the accuracy of that test or if shelters would trust the accuracy of that test.

My only other comment is that even tho Panleukopenia is primarily an unvaccinated kitten disease, adults not vaccinated can die from it also. I work in a shelter environment and never want anyone to see their cat with that disease. We have 2 wards quarantined for panleuk right now. The one cat was 10 months old, but was from a high kill shelter in another county, and vaccines are done on adoption, not on intake. Before vaccines were commonplace, Panleukopenia was the leading cause of death for cats.

So I chose to vaccinate-just the core and just til they were in the 10-12 yr range, unless the cat is in that range and I dont know the vaccine history. Sorry for the book!
 
Hi Helene and Cleo! I've got 3 cats and last time I took them all for their jabs the vet did say that now that they are all over 10 they will have built up sufficient immunity and don't really need them anymore. I do keep mine up to date just because they do have outdoor access (albeit they are mainly too lazy to make the most of it) but also just in case they have to go to a cattery for whatever reason...

So I'd say with Cleo you're fine to not give her the boosters. Worst case scenario (as my vet pointed out to me) is that (if she did have to go to a cattery or something) you would have to have the whole regime from the start.

How are Cleo's numbers doing these days?
 
Hi Helene,

Our cats are indoor/outdoor cats (in the UK, so no rabies here, thankfully). A few years ago I elected NOT to continue with their boosters. I feel uneasy about giving meds that aren't absolutely necessary, and one of mine was always unwell for a few days after the shot. Further, I couldn't find any evidence anywhere to support their continuing to need booster shots (if I came across such evidence I would review the situation). But it IS a contentious issue, and one that every cat owner needs to decide for themselves...

Eliz
 
Has she ever had a reaction to her vaccines? If she has, I would definitely forgo the ones that aren't necessary. And if there are any that are necessary you might want to give them separately. I have had a problem with one of my kittens getting sick (lethargic, vomiting) when given more than one shot at a time. The down side of this is that it's more trips to the vet and more money.
 
Thanks for the replies!

I've decided to ignore the vaccine reminder card that arrived from the vet, and any future ones that I receive.

Cleo is doing great, her numbers are stable (still just that tiny bit too high, but not rising!), and she's healthier than she has been since before she was diagnosed. Why risk it?

No, she hasn't had any reactions to vaccines, but the last time she had a vaccine she wasn't really an elderly kitty as she is now. And the whole Vaccine Associated Sarcoma thing can spring up at any point after vaccination; I'd just never forgive myself.

Since I posted this query originally I have done a fair bit of reading on the subject. Vets over-vaccinate cats. That seems to be a given. Owners need to weigh up the risks. If a cat has had 10-12 years of vaccines and boosters, I think that's enough. Why would they lose immunity? I haven't had a vaccination for about 11 years, and that was only because I was travelling to Malaysia. But when it comes to core vaccines, in my opinion cats (like humans) won't just randomly lose the immunity they have developed over the years.

H
 
Yep, it is a big problem.

But Lisa, if it wasn't for sites like yours, people like me would just be blindly taking their cats in for yearly vaccines every time that card dropped through the letter-box.

So the message is being spread, and our cats' humans are learning how unnecessary many of these vaccines are.

So thank you, to you and to and all the others who tirelessly work to disseminate, re-educate, circulate etc correct, up to date research and info.

H
 
Helene & Cleo said:
Yep, it is a big problem.

But Lisa, if it wasn't for sites like yours, people like me would just be blindly taking their cats in for yearly vaccines every time that card dropped through the letter-box.

So the message is being spread, and our cats' humans are learning how unnecessary many of these vaccines are.

So thank you, to you and to and all the others who tirelessly work to disseminate, re-educate, circulate etc correct, up to date research and info.

H
Click to expand...

Thank you for your note of appreciation.

What is so frustrating is that I should not have to take so much of my time to write the content of my website. I am supposed to be retired and off doing other things rather than trying to correct so much that is wrong within my profession.

I fully understand how arrogant that comment sounds and I cringe when reading it but really....between the lousy nutrition advice - leading to cats like Opie suffering from excruciatingly painful urethral obstructions...and cats with diabetes..... and the over-vaccination issue....less-than-optimal diabetes management.....drastic overuse of antibiotics - especially with regard to urinary tract issues.....etc...etc....etc....it is a full-time job trying to keep cats from being fed lousy diets...from being overvaccinated....overAB'd...etc.

I am sure that any colleague reading these comments will think that I am very arrogant but I am just calling it as I see it after >35 years spent in this profession. And..... I am not getting any less frustrated....
 
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