Vaccinations for Indoor Kitties

[Pinot's Mom]

My kitty, essentially indoor (supervised garden romps only), gets a 3-year rabies. She got distemper ONCE when we first got her (she's 3) and, because she got so sick, I swore to never do it again. My vet supports this.

[Medusa]

My old vet told me point blank that if I intend to keep my cats indoors permanently, there is no reason to vaccinate them. However, since all of my cats are rescues and semi-feral, I vaccinated them in the beginning b/c I worried that one or more of them would bolt outdoors and not return. That wasn't the case, though. Also, when my RB Pidge had to go in for a lion cut, she had to be sedated b/c she was 20 years old at the time and it was considered surgery. (She was too stiff to groom herself properly and it hurt her to be brushed so she became terribly matted.) By the time I got her caught up on her shots, it was quite expensive b/c the groomers at my vet's would not groom her until she had all her shots. My RB Puddy would be terribly sick for 3 or 4 days afterwards so I stopped the shots altogether. Be that as it may, I still do not immunize my cats and my vet feels that's why they live so long. I don't know how true that is but I'm just sayin'.

[krazyaboutkatz]

My current vet told me that since all of my cats are indoor only that after they've had all of their kitten shots and then one regular shot the next year, that I could stop giving them the distemper shot. She also said that she doesn't recommend cats over the age of 10 to get any more shots. The city that I live in doesn't require rabies shots for cats. I used to vaccinate all of my cats annually for both FVRCP and Rabies but I don't any more. They don't go any where except to the vets. My Sky had several bad reactions to the FVRCP shot in the past so no more for him.

[Cataholic]

Add me to the non vacciners, with my vets support. I did the rabies for my two youngins, and one other...that I can't recall, for upper respiratory, maybe? But next year, it will be none for all.

[TommyCat]

Thanks everyone. It's interesting to get everyone's views on the vaccinations. It's great the Vets support your decision, too. I've decided no more shots for my kitty since she's almost 12 years old, and she's completely indoors.

[Catlady711]

I'll update on Torry in her thread but since I ran across this thread first..

Torry's always had her vaccines kept up to date, and when she got older her vet switched her over to 3 year vaccines since she never goes outside. We do keep her vaccinated for the Calici and FELV because of where I work and the slim possibility I could bring something in to her. However even if I didn't she would have always been current with her Rabies vaccine.

My own cats are currently on the 1 year vaccines because some of them do go outside on a leash, and a couple of them do travel with me in the summer to my mom's trailer in a seasonal campground.

What we tell clients at work is that with cats that never go outside, to just keep current with Rabies and CVR (distemper). Older, indoor only cats that have always had those vaccinations kept up to date are switched to the 3 year at about 8-10 yrs old. For cats that go outside or travel we highly recommend the FELV and Calici vaccinations and a 1 year schedule because they are at the highest risk.

I'll go find and update Torry's thread now.

[TommyCat]

Thanks Catlady for your response regarding vaccinations for indoor and outdoor cats and senior kitties. I have to check my kitty's records, but I believe she may be due for just the rabies shot. I can see why Torry would need to be vaccinated because of where you work. Glad to hear Torry is feeling better.