Just Cats Veterinary Clinic - Vaccination Policy

An award winning veterinary clinic devoted to feline healthcare

An award winning veterinary clinic devoted to feline healthcare

Summary

Outdoor Cats

Kittens RCPFeLV at 9 weeks, 12-13 weeks, and 1 year
At 2 years: RCFeLV
At 3 years: RC only
Thereafter – RC every year, FeLV every third year, P every 3 years

Indoor Only Cats

Kittens RCP at 9 weeks, 12-13 weeks, and 1 year
At 2 years – RC only
At 3 years – RC only
At 4 years – RCP
Thereafter RC every year, P every three years

Please remember that in addition to having their vaccination, your cat also gets a very important Health-check including mouth/teeth, listening to heart and lungs and checking for abnormalities felt within the abdomen and signs of parasites. We hope that in carrying out the Health-check we can pick up signs of problems at an earlier stage, which may allow us to intervene or provide supportive treatment and thus hopefully extending quality of life for your cat. It is also a chance to discuss any concerns you may have including weight/diet and parasite treatment or any behavioural changes, with the Vet.

To download a copy of our Vaccination Policy, click here.

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Just Cats Vaccination Policy

Vaccinate more cats, but less often and in accordance with what we assess the risk to be within our local environment

The European Advisory Board of Cat Diseases (ABCD) have published consensus guidelines suggesting vaccination protocols for cats in Europe. They recommend that we should aim to vaccinate the maximum possible number of cats, but to avoid “over-vaccination” of each individual cat:

Aim to vaccinate more cats, but less often

Their recommendations are based on the best scientific information that is available, and have been developed after discussions between all members of the Board – 17 feline infectious disease experts from a range of European countries.

Their recommendations are not in-line with the vaccine manufacturer’s data-sheets. This is because the manufacturers’ recommendations are based on their own studies that prove that their vaccines do provide cover for 1 year, but they do not have to look at how long beyond that the immunity continues. Some independent studies have now been done, and it is clear that for some diseases the vaccines do last for longer than 1 year, but the vaccine companies cannot recommend vaccinating less often because they would have to run very expensive studies if they wanted to change their data sheet recommendations.

Vaccinating every year certainly ensures the best protection that can be achieved, but there are concerns about the possibility of side effects from vaccines, and the more often a vaccine is given the more likely it is that a cat will suffer from side effects. These side effects do happen – they are rare, and they are usually mild, and they usually settle down within a short space of time – BUT sometimes they are very serious, and very rarely they are even fatal … so we do need to be careful that we don’t cause side effects more often than we have to. This means that our aim is to:

We therefore plan to adopt the ABCD guide-lines for most of our patients. This means that we will be recommending:

Feline Panleukopoenia ( “P” part of PureVax Vaccine) – vaccination is required for all cats, even indoor only cats, because the virus is common in the environment and can be transmitted via fomites (shoes, clothes, baskets etc). Our vaccination recommendations are in line with the data-sheet:

Kittens need two vaccinations 3-4 weeks apart, starting at 8-9 weeks old.
First booster 1 year later
Further boosters every 3 years after that.

Feline Herpesvirus and Calicivirus (the “RC” part of PureVax Vaccine). Vaccination is required for all cats, even indoor only cats, because the virus is common in the environment and can be transmitted via fomites (shoes, clothes, baskets etc). Vaccination prevents severe signs of disease but does not prevent infection, carrier status and shedding. Our vaccination recommendations are in line with the data-sheet:

Kittens need two vaccinations, at 3-4 weeks apart, starting at around 9 weeks of age.
Boosters are needed annually.

Feline Leukaemia (the “FeLV” part of PureVax Vaccine): recommended for all cats that have free access to the outdoors. Our vaccination policy is not in line with the data-sheet:

Kittens need two vaccinations - at 8-9 weeks of age and again at 12 weeks of age
First booster 1 year later
Second booster 1 year later
Booster vaccines every 3 years after that.

For cats whose vaccinations have lapsed

There is no evidence to support repeating the “kitten course” of vaccinations for adult cats who have missed boosters or come in late for a booster.

If cats have had their kitten course and their first annual booster, and had their most recent injection within the last 3-4 years we can give a single injection to restart their cover.

If they did not have the full kitten course, or did not have their first annual booster, or it has been more than 3-4 years since their last injection, then we do need to give two injections 3-4 weeks apart.