Unlike vaccines for dogs, vaccinating your cat is much less complicated.  There are three vaccines available that protect against 5 distinct viruses.  Whether your cat goes outside or not is the major deciding factor on whether you need all three vaccines or just two.  Here is a description of each virus and why we recommend vaccinating against them.

 

Feline Rabies

The rabies vaccine is given once your kitten is 12 weeks of age and boosters are given annually. Rabies is required by law. There are more cases of rabies in cats than dogs primarily because they are a less vaccinated population. Rabies is fatal and highly contagious to humans. Cats do not show typical symptoms and infection can be mistaken for many other conditions.

FVRCP

This is given 3 times as a kitten, one year later, and then every 3 years. We recommend this vaccine to all cats whether they reside indoors or outdoors. The viruses in this combination vaccine include:

 

Rhinotracheitis: otherwise known as feline herpes virus #1 (FHV-1).  FHV-1 is more likely to cause eye changes including ulcers and loss of vision, but also causes sneezing, nasal congestion and discharge, as well as oral lesions. It can be spread from seemingly healthy individuals to infect others, and often persists for life.

 

Calicivirus: otherwise known as Feline Calici Virus (FCV) and is one of the causes feline upper respiratory syndrome, sometimes referred to as feline respiratory disease complex (FRDC). Vaccination manages the severity of symptoms but may not prevent the disease. Sneezing, congestion, fever, eye swelling, discharge, and loss of appetite are all symptoms. FCV is more often associated with oral ulcerations, but will cause multiple respiratory symptoms.  The FCV virus has multiple strains and mild disease can occur in vaccinated cats.

 

 Panleukopenia: a preventable infectious disease caused by feline parvovirus (FPV), also called feline parvo or distemper. Symptoms are usually gastrointestinal (vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, fever), but this disease may also attack the bone marrow.

 

Feline Leukemia Virus

Feline leukemia virus (FeLV) is the leading viral killer of cats. The virus is spread from cat-to-cat through bite wounds, through casual contact with infected cats, and from an infected mother cat to her kittens. The individuals most at risk of infection are outdoor cats, indoor/outdoor cats, and cats exposed to such individuals. FeLV vaccines are recommended for all cats at risk of exposure to the virus.  This vaccine is given twice to kittens and then annually thereafter.