Recent reports have indicated that a particularly nasty type of cancer may develop as a result of vaccination in cats, and that cancer is called a “vaccine-associated sarcoma.”

A tremendous effort is underway to determine why and how these tumors occur and how they can be treated or prevented. Experts in feline medicine, immunology, and cancer treatment have teamed up to form the Vaccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force. In the meantime, the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) and the Academy of Feline Medicine (AFM) have published guidelines for the vaccination of cats, and from these guidelines we offer the following suggestions when having your cat vaccinated:

Discuss with your veterinarian which vaccines he or she recommends. Vaccination protocols should be selected for individual patients on the basis of risk of exposure to specific diseases. It is impractical for any veterinarian to recommend a standard vaccination protocol for your cat without this discussion, because your pet’s risk of acquiring disease varies with her age, health, extent of exposure to other cats, and the prevalence of different diseases in your geographical area.

Talk with your veterinarian about how frequently your cat should be vaccinated. Although veterinarians have recommended annual vaccination in the past, recent information suggests that some vaccines protect cats for longer than one year. Therefore, the AAFP/AFM guidelines recommend that booster doses of certain vaccines be given only every three years, depending on the cat’s risk of exposure. Other vaccines may be recommended only for kittens, or not at all, depending on the cat’s individual needs.

Don’t be afraid to ask your veterinarian for more information if you’re not sure what is best for your cat. Check your library, bookstore, and the Internet, and learn all you can about your cat’s health. The more you know about feline health, the better decisions you can make for your cat. And your veterinarian will appreciate having a well-informed client.

Continue to have your cat examined by your veterinarian every year. The annual visit is a crucial opportunity for your veterinarian to detect any subtle health problems your cat may be developing, to discuss with you new treatments and procedures which may be beneficial to your cat (even if she’s already in perfect health), to recommend changes in health care as your cat gets older or your lifestyle changes, and to discuss any concerns you may have about your cat’s behavior.

All info from http://www.hsus.org

I’ve used a holistic vet for 10-12 years and have had only the best of results with this form or treatment.  Holistic vets don’t believe in all the shot protocols of traditional vets.  They test for any communicable diseases and if the cat tests negative, and doesn’t go outside, then the cat is not exposed to the diseases the vaccines are meant to prevent, and the vaccines are unnecessary.  For strictly indoor cats, non-vaccination is the healthiest thing to do for your animal, and is much easier on your pocketbook.  I can’t say enough about the benefits of using a holistic vet.

Depending upon your location, rabies vaccination may be required for your cat by your municipality or state.  I agree that only those vaccines that are absolutely necessary for the cat, based upon his or her lifestyle should be given, at the greatest interval possible.  Non-adjuvanted vaccines should be used in cats. 

A true story from my past:  I had a client in the south suburbs of Chicago with an indoor cat that she refused to have vaccinated against rabies.  She did have a young boy in the home and I was concerned about the possibility of a bite to the child or one of his friends.  However, she absolutely and steadfastly refused rabies vaccination for the kitty.

Fast forward a few months to a very hot July.  The client was on the phone with me, crying.  She was at her pediatrician’s office.  The cat had caught a bat in her house and had scratched her son on his face.  The pediatrician was ordering her to euthanize the cat and have the head submitted for rabies examination.

I got on the phone with the physician and told him that although I understood his concerns, the timeframe from the time the cat caught the bat to the time the kitty bit the boy was too short for rabies transmission.  I even contacted the state veterinarian.  However, the physician was steadfast:  The kitty was to be euthanized.

After a long morning of phonecalls, I finally persuaded the physician to allow us to see if the client could find the bat (she had disposed of it in her outside garbage can) and, if she could do so, have the bat tested for rabies.  The client (the one who was so sure that rabies was never going to be an issue) went through her garbage on an unbearably hot July morning and found the bat.

Long story, short:  The bat was found to be negative for rabies.

Because rabies is a devastating disease and even our urban areas have potentially rabid animals, such as bats, rabies vaccination for cats is a matter of feline, as well as human, safety.

Michele Gaspar, DVM, DABVP (Feline)