Ormee-

Welcome to the boards!

In my somewhat educated and experienced opinion, I would say that if you board your cats, they will need to be vaccinated (and about six weeks before they go). Although the transmission of FelV is considered to require close contact, I would be afraid to trust even the best kennel as far as cleanliness and universal precautions go. I personally do not vaccinate my cats for FeLV, because they are indoor cats. Two of them escape occasionally, but only for short periods and they stay very close to home. We have virtually no outdoor cat population in our neighborhood. I agree with your vet that kennel cough is the more rampant communicable pet disease encountered in boarded dogs! The only thing I might be concerned about, though, is the fact that your vet blames the FeLV for the sarcomas. It may be that my vet has neglected to update me (and I haven't asked), but my vet said that it wasn't clear what vaccine was to blame, or even if it was a vaccine at all - they were just assuming it was because of the location. It could be that the studies have been completed and FeLV is to blame. If so, someone please let me know! And most vets, like Wolflady and Spencer have mentioned, are rotating sites and inoculating every three years. FeLeuk is still annual (I think - again, anybody out there can update me since mine don't get it) and Texas still requires an annual rabies, but I think the rest of the world is giving them every three years.

So, to sum up, other steps can be taken to lessen the risk of sarcoma, and your cats will be exposed to other cats, so I would get the shots. This is just my opinion, thoough.