Understanding Current Feline Vaccination Guidelines

by
Jerry Williams, D.V.M.
Cat Clinic, St. Louis, Missouri
314-991-3131

There are currently vaccines available to immunize cats against nine different diseases. In almost all cases the recommendation of the vaccine maker is to revaccinate cats every year. The question facing the veterinary profession now is: Do we follow the vaccine maker’s advice and recommend to all our clients that we vaccinate their cats for all these diseases year in and year out?

In order to decide which and how many vaccines to recommend, the following four questions must be considered:

1.) Are the vaccines we use always completely safe? The answer is, without question, no. It is possible to have allergic reactions to vaccines and the most severe form of allergy, anaphylactic shock, can be fatal. In recent years, it has also been learned that certain vaccines on rare occasions can cause a highly malignant cancer (fibrosarcoma) to develop at the injection site. Both these tragic consequences are rare, but they do occur. In my 25 years of practice I have seen two cats die of vaccine related anaphylactic shock and have dealt with several vaccine associated fibrosarcomas. The reason for using vaccine is to prevent life threatening diseases and no one in our profession believes we should stop vaccinations altogether but we clearly need to assess benefit against risk.

2.) Is every cat at risk of being exposed to each of the diseases for which we can vaccinate? Again the answer is clearly, no. Some of these diseases can only be transmitted by direct contact with an infected cat so cats who live entirely alone indoors may be at no risk at all for some of these diseases. Vaccination would be unnecessary if there is no risk of exposure. In order to asses what your cat’s risk factors are, your veterinarian should be asking questions with respect to whether your cat stays entirely indoors or is allowed outside, whether there are other pets in the household and whether your cat ever leaves the home to travel or is taken to boarding kennels, grooming parlors or cat shows.

3.) Are all these diseases serious enough that we need to vaccinate against them? Once again, no. Some of these disease are fatal, some very serious and some (e.g. chlamydia and ringworm) are very mild and treatable disorders. For that reason it is probably not necessary to use every vaccine available.

4.) How long does the protection from these vaccines last? If a person can get a single dose of smallpox vaccine and be immune for life or a tetanus shot and be immune for 10 years, why can’t the veterinary companies make vaccines that last longer than one year? The answer is, they do. The are just not telling you. To get a vaccine on the market the drug companies have to prove that it works, but they are under no obligation to do what are called "duration of immunity studies." So vaccine makers can arbitrarily label a vaccine to be re-administered every year without ever testing at two or tree or five years to see if more vaccine is really needed. Currently some of the veterinary colleges are testing vaccines for duration of immunity and are finding that some of the vaccines labeled for annual use do last as long as three years. So it may be appropriate for veterinarians to recommend less frequent vaccination in spite of the vaccine labeling.

In order to address these issues an Advisory Panel on Feline Vaccines was formed through the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and the Academy of Feline Medicine (AFM). This panel consisted of several practicing veterinarians, representatives of two vaccine companies and professors from two veterinary colleges. The panel’s goal was to make recommendations to practicing veterinarians regarding their feline vaccination program. In 1997 the panel published its guidelines in the form of a 25 page booklet which went to members of the AAFP and AFM. In 1998 a summary of the guidelines was published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association and other veterinary journals so that all veterinarians would have an opportunity to read it. These guidelines, which I will attempt to summarize, vary considerably from what has been the convention in most veterinary practices. Since I am a member of the AAFP and a fellow of the AFM, I support and follow the recommendations of my colleagues on the panel, but many veterinarians do not. Some veterinarians are as yet unfamiliar with the guidelines and others disagree with them.

The guidelines divide the vaccines into CORE and NON-CORE.

The CORE vaccines are for rabies, panleucopenia (feline distemper), rhinotracheitis (feline herpes) and calici virus. The panel feels all cats should be vaccinated for these four diseases.

The NON-CORE vaccines are for feline leukemia virus (FeLV), feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), chlamydia, dermatophytosis (ringworm), and a new vaccine on the market this year for bordatella. The panel says "The decision to vaccinate a cat with a vaccine that is NON-CORE should be based on the realistic evaluation of all the risk factors, as well as vaccine efficacy and safety."

The panel addressed the issue of how frequently to administer vaccines. For the four CORE diseases, the panel recommends that in the first year of life all cats receive a one-year rabies vaccine and two doses of FVRC-P vaccine (a combination of distemper rhinotracheitis and calici virus). The next year when boosters come due the panel recommends giving boosters which are then regarded as three year vaccines. In the case of rabies this would be a vaccine labeled for every three year administration, but in the case of FVRC-P it would be a vaccine currently labeled for annual use, but given every third year. This is the point that has many veterinarians questioning the panel’s recommendation. Veterinarians agree that for the prevention and early detection of disease it is important that cats have an annual check up which includes a thorough medical history and a complete physical exam, and in some cases diagnostic tests. The concern is that the annual FVRC-P vaccine has been the inducement for cat owners to bring their cats in each year and if the vaccine is given every three years many cats medical care will be neglected in the two in-between years.

The panel recommends that you follow label directions for annual use on the NON-CORE vaccines IF they are used. However, the panel is not recommending the use of FeLV, FIP and chlamydia vaccine for indoor cats since they are not at "realistic risk" of exposure. On this point the panel may again be at odds with many veterinarians who do recommend some of the NON-CORE vaccines for all cats.

Another recommendation from the panel has to do with the standardization of the location of the injection site for injectable vaccines. This is an excellent recommendation which sadly many veterinarians are still not following. A vaccine made to be injected subcutaneously (under the skin) will work equally well no matter where on the body it is given. So the panel recommends the FVRC-P always be given on the right front leg, the rabies always be given on the right rear leg, and the FeLV always be given on the left rear leg. One reason for this protocol is in order to assess which vaccines are creating problems such as the development of cancers (fibrosarcomas). Compiling this data will be impossible if veterinarians continue to give multiple injections at the same site or fail to record the sites or give vaccines in the muscle rather than under the skin where a developing growth is more readily detected. The reason for recommending that vaccines be given on the limbs also has to do with the development of fibrosarcomas. These cancers, when they occur, are very aggressive and efforts to surgically remove the cancer alone are usually unsuccessful. If the cancer develops on an extremity it leaves the surgical option of amputation of the limb. This may seem like an extreme measure but in my own practice is has proved life-saving for one now healthy, happy, three legged cat.

Because of the problems I have mentioned with injectable vaccines, the panel also encourages veterinarians to consider the use of alternative-route vaccines. There are currently no vaccines for cats which can be given orally but there are several intranasal vaccines which are administered as nose drops. You may be hearing more about such vaccines or other alternatives to injectable vaccines as time goes by.

Catmine.com 2003-2006 | Privacy statement |