The first evidence that properly manufactured feline enteritis vaccine offers longer than one year immunity was published in the early 1990s and since that time we have had a policy at the London Veterinary Clinic of giving boosters less frequently than yearly.
Today, we vaccinate and give booster inoculations according to an individual’s life style. These are our general guidelines.
Preventing disease through inoculation is a technique that harnesses the body’s natural ability to fight infection. An infectious agent such as a virus or bacteria is modified so that it is no longer infectious but is still similar enough to its unmodified infectious form that when the immune system is exposed to it, the immune system creates antibodies, proteins that attach to and help destroy the specific infectious agent.
Vaccines are creating either by killing infectious agents, modifying them so they are still alive but no longer infectious or by taking vital components of them and, through genetic engineering, enslaving bacteria to produce replicas of these parts. Kittens acquire protective antibodies from the milk they suckle from their mothers soon after birth. These temporary antibodies usually last around six to 12 weeks.
We vaccinate all indoor and outdoor kittens against feline infectious enteritis and two forms of cat flu, feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV-1) and feline calicivirus (FCV), with two inoculations given three weeks apart, starting as early as eight weeks of age.
We follow the suggestions of The American Association of Feline Practitioners and the American Academy of Feline Medicine and give a booster at fifteen months of age and then no more frequently than every three years for feline infectious enteritis, and in general every three years for FCV and FHV-
Boarding catteries usually require proof of vaccination within the preceding 12 months.
Outdoor cats that meet feral cats are vaccinated against leukemia virus (FeLV) as kittens and again at fifteen months of age. As cats age, the frequency of booster inoculations against FeLV diminishes until in most instances it can safely stop.
Cats traveling under the Pet Travel Scheme are vaccinated against rabies with a three year vaccine. For more information, please go to “Travelling abroad with your pet” in NEWS AND ADVICE
Most cats we see live indoors but if you have a garden decide when you get your cat whether to let it roam outdoors. The indoor versus outdoor debate has no conclusive answer but there is no denying that outdoor cats, especially in the heart of London, live much shorter lives than indoor ones, not just because of the greater risk of fatal injuries but also because of the array of potentially lethal viruses cats come in contact with when they meet and fight with cats that carry these viruses.
Infections from two of these viruses damage the immune system and predispose to the development of lymphoma, the most common tumour cats have. Outdoor risks from transmissible diseases are dramatically reduced through vaccination.