An Exploration Of Cat Vaccines

Hi everyone and thanks for joining me on this episode of Val Talk’s Pets. Have you ever wondered what your cat was being vaccinated for?  I have.  So together, let’s go on an exploration of cat vaccines and find out.

Let’s start with how a vaccine actually works. 

According to VCA Animal hospitals.com, “Vaccines work by stimulating the body’s immune system to recognize and fight a particular microorganism such as a virus, bacteria or other infectious organisms.”  As we know with human vaccines, the idea is to trick the immune system into thinking it knows this invader and therefore is geared up to fight it if it enters the system.  Now, as VCA points out “while a vaccine can prevent illness, it cannot block microorganisms from getting into the body.  This means that sometimes a cat may not look sick thanks to the vaccine, but the cat can still spread the invading microorganisms to other cats.” 

VCA sets out for us the three major types of vaccines.

They are modified live vaccines, killed (inactivated vaccines) and subunit vaccines. 

Modified live vaccines

“contains live organisms that are weakened or genetically modified so that they will not produce disease but will multiply in the cat’s body.  Live vaccines induce a stronger, longer-lasting immunity than inactivated vaccines.” 

Killed (inactivated) vaccines

“are prepared using actual organisms or genetically modified organisms that have been killed by various treatments.”  Because these vaccines are not as strong, there may be an added ingredient to boost.  (Know Your Pet | VCA Animal Hospitals (vcahospitals.com)

Subunit vaccines

“are more commonly called recombinant –DNA vaccines.  They are vaccines in which the infectious organism has been broken apart and only certain parts are included in the vaccine.” 

Either way, most vaccines are given by a needle.  There are a few that go in by drops in the nose, but most are the jab.  

Core Vaccines

When you take your cat into the vet for their shots, the vet will administer what is called “core vaccines”.  These are the ones recommended for kittens and adult cats.  The non-core vaccines are optional and are chosen based on the cat’s risk to the specific types of disease.  

The core vaccines are as follows:

• Feline panleukopenia virus (pan loo-koh-PEE-nee-ah
• Feline Viral rhinotracheitis  also known as herpes virus type 1 (FHV-1)
• Feline caliciviruses (kuh lee see vai ruhs)  (coo leesy virus)
• Rabies virus
• Feline leukemia virus FeLV)
• The non-core vaccines are:
• Chlamydophila felis (cla mid i phyla)
• Bordetella bronchiseptica
• Feline leukemia in adult cats.

Let’s start with the core vaccines and determine what these are.

Feline Panleukopenia (pan-loo-koh-PEE-nee-ah) virus. 

According to merckvetmanual.com, Feline Panleukopenia “is a highly contagious, often fatal, viral disease of cats seen worldwide.  Kittens are affected most severely.”  FPV “is a parvoviral infectious disease…characterized by depression, anorexia, high fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and consequent severe dehydration.  Adult cats are much less often affected.”  Feline Panleukopenia is a parvo virus so it is often called the feline distemper like we see in dogs.  Basically the virus attacks the white blood cells and therefore attacks the cat’s immune system.  The virus is easily passed through feces.  It is important that if you are getting a kitten from a rescue you inquire as to whether the kitten has been tested for FPV and or vaccinated.   If you find a kitten, you should take it to the vet for the testing and the vaccines.  If you are adopting an adult cat the same questions should apply and you should speak to your vet about the vaccine for FPV for an adult cat. 

Feline Viral rhinotracheitis

Also known as herpes virus type 1 (FHV-1).

FHV-1 is caused by feline herpesvirus type 1.  Because this virus is species specific it only affects cats and cats of all ages.  

As VCA hospitals point out, “FVR is a major cause of upper respiratory disease in cats and is the most common cause of conjunctivitis (inflammation of the tissues surrounding the eye, especially the lining of the lids and the third eyelid).”  There are photos online of cats with FVR with their poor little eyes all red and swollen.  Poor wee things, they look so miserable. “FVR is spread in saliva and discharges from the eyes and nose of infected cats.”  What is rather concerning about FVR is that transmission with an infected cat is not the only way for a cat to get the virus.  As VCA explains, if an infected cat were to be on clothing, furniture or near food and water dishes, the viral particles can contaminate these items and create a spread. The virus depending on the surface can live for anywhere from ½ hour to 18 hours.  “Once a cat has been infected with FVR, it will usually show disease symptoms in two to five days (the incubation period of the disease).  That cat can infect other cats during this incubation period, once symptoms appear. The active infection will last about 10 -20 days.  

Feline Caliciviruses  (coo-leesy virus)

According to Wikipedia FCV is “a virus of the family Caliciviridae (cal-i-cer-vir-i-de) that causes disease in cats.  It is one of the two important viral causes of respiratory infection in cats.”  Basically a cat will present with the typical upper respiratory infections symptoms.  The poor little guys will have sneezing and discharge from their eyes and nose, feeling pretty under the weather.  As VCA points out, this can also be accompanied with, “ulcers on the tongue, hard palate, gums, lips or nose.  These cats will usually salivate or drool excessively as the ulcers are very painful.”  Basically this virus is highly contagious, spread through sneezing, saliva, feces or urine.  “The virus may survive for up to one week in a contaminated environment (and possibly longer in a cool, damp, location).” Vcacanada.com  So, this is one of those viruses that can run through shelters and rescues very easily because all it takes is one cat to come in either in the incubation period or in full symptoms for the virus to take hold with everyone.  Treating with antibacterial drugs will only address possible secondary bacterial infections, so most cats will receive eye medication for discharge and possibly an anti-inflammatory, but then they just have to ride it out with TLC.  The best approach is to isolate the cat with symptoms and do a thorough disinfection of everything.  

Rabies

Rabies is 100% fatal and is transmitted through saliva from an infected animal by a bite.  We know that raccoons, skunks, foxes, bats, porcupines, but they are more at risk of being quilled than bitten and possibly coyotes.  It really depends what wild animals your cat could be exposed to.  

The Rabies vaccine is usually given to kittens at three to four months of age.  Rabies is given every 3 years to cats.   The three year vaccine is non-adjuvanted.  (ad-ju-vanted).  I have also had my work cat vaccinated with a five year vaccine.  If the cost is a bit pricey to do the longer period vaccine, you can always opt for the yearly, which will be less expensive.  

The argument for getting and not getting an indoor cat vaccinated for rabies is as follows.  Many pet parents believe that vaccinating for rabies for an indoor cat is relatively useless as they are indoor and do not interact with wildlife.  The argument against this as pointed out by petmd.com, is that there is always the possibility that your cat could escape and be outside exposed to wild life.  Or a wild animal could come into your home, or a bat could get in and the cat goes after it.  

I’ll tell you a bat story.  We were fostering Tundra at this time so before adoption and one night I noticed something in the fireplace.  Well of course it was a bat.  The cats noticed it and sat staring at it inside the glass.  The bat secured itself in a corner of the fireplace and hunkered down for I don’t know what he thought.  I had done this before where I put a container at the bottom of the glass doors and pushed it up against a vent that I opened.  I secured the container and voila, in the morning, Mr. Bat was in the container.  I slipped a lid over the container and took him outside.  I figured I would do the same this time.  The cats sat in vigil taking turns and Tundra just ignored the whole thing.  Sometime in the middle of the night, Tundra came into the bedroom, kind of walking around the bed and looking at us.  At this time, he never came into the bedroom, so we were a little surprised.  Anyway, he left and that was it.  In the morning however, guess who had escaped the fireplace and was at the top of the ceiling?  Anyway, with a towel and a broom, we got Mr. Bat outside no problem.  But, obviously the little midnight visit by Tundra was him coming in to tell us that, that thing in the fireplace is out, and those cats are doing nothing.  I guess in the long run it was good that they gave up vigil and went to their beds instead of a full out cat/bat brawl which would not have been good.  

If you acquire a stray cat it is best to head to the vet and discuss how to proceed with the vaccine and get the information about what shots the cat has had if you adopt from a shelter or rescue.

Last of the core vaccines is

Feline Leukemia virus, FeLV

According to Wikipedia the FeLV “is a retrovirus that infects cats.  …it can be transmitted from infected cats when the transfer of saliva or nasal secretions is involved.  If not defeated by the animal’s immune system, the virus weakens the cat’s immune system which can lead to diseases which can be lethal.  Because FeLV is cat to cat contagious, FeLV positive cats should only live with other FeLV positive cats.”  According to www.vet.cornell.education, a cat with FeLV “has a median survival time of 2.5 years.”  This of course varies.  

Feline leukemia is a rather odd disease I’d say.  As the College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell discusses, when a cat is exposed to FeLV, “in some instances, a cat can mount an effective immune response against the virus and completely eliminate it before the virus becomes incorporated into the cat’s genome.”  “About 30 – 40% of cats have a partially effective immune response following exposure to the virus and develop a regressive infection.  While a cat has a regressive infection, it cannot actively infect other cats with the disease, and it is unlikely to experience clinical signs from FeLV.  However, it is possible for the virus to reactivate and start replicating again, especially if the cat becomes immunosuppressed through illness or medications.  When this happens, the cat is again infectious to other cats and at risk of developing clinical illness”  

A cat that has FeLV is more prone to cancer and other infections.  We had a work cat that was found as a stray.  She was beautiful.  A rescue person found her and thought she would be a good fit for us.  She was!  We were told she was spayed.  Well, she went into full blown heat and so no, she was not spayed.  After the heat settled down, I took her for spaying.  She ended up staying an extra night at the vet because her spay was very difficult.  Her uterus was full of fibroids and she needed observation. 

We were told to come and get her the next day, as she was doing fine.  I picked her up and took her back to work.  She wasn’t home an hour before she started wobbling and collapsed on the floor.  I took her back immediately.  They hooked her up to fluids etc. and kept her another day and night.  She came back and she seemed to be fine, tired but that was expected.  However, I always thought something was not right.  The vet never seemed to have any answers for what happened and I thought that to be rather curious as well.  She would also have bouts where she had a fever and would sleep for a full day and not really eat.  Then one day she wobbled and collapsed, panting and in real distress. 

The vet that I had changed to was away, so I went to the clinic that was covering.  They were very good.  They wanted to take some blood and see what was going on so I said I would be in the area not far so just call me.  I wasn’t gone 10 minutes and they said, all hell had broken loose, as she was bleeding out and basically crashing.  I rushed back., they took her blood, that was it, it just started gushing out and that’s when everything fell apart.  The test came back that she had just about no red blood cells in her blood.  Leukemia!  There was no choice at this point. So she is in my pet cemetery and received a toast from all the staff who came to bury her.  I always felt there was a red flag about the spay and the bouts of fevers.  I just knew she was immunocompromised. 

So, these are the core vaccines a cat will get when you go into the vet. 

There are some non-core vaccines and they are:

Feline Chlamydophila (cla-mid-a-fill-a)

which causes feline chlamydiosis. Chlamydophila is a primary conjunctive pathogen that involves the eye with conjunctivitis and sneezing and nasal discharge.   Young cats and kittens are susceptible but cats of all ages can contract this.  This is another one of those discharge, sneezy infections that is a risk for multiple cat homes or rescues and shelters.  

Feline Bordetellosis

Is another highly contagious disease caused by the bacteria Bordetella bronchiseptica. This one can transmit between dogs and cats, mostly through licking and nuzzling.  Again, sneezing, discharge, coughing and possibly retching are symptoms.  At risk are shelter, rescues, breeding kennels etc.  

Feline Leukemia Vaccine

for adult cats is not considered a core vaccine but for cats that venture outside it is recommended.  

And last but not least, let’s discuss FIP.  

Feline Infectious Peritonitis

Known as FIP is a “viral disease of cats caused by certain strains of a virus called the feline coronavirus.”  Sounds a bit familiar?  According to Cornell University, “Most strains of feline coronavirus are found in the gastrointestinal tract and do not cause significant disease.  Cats infected usually do not show any symptoms during the initial viral infections, but may occasionally experience brief bouts of diarrhea and/or mild upper respiratory signs from which they recover spontaneously.” “The most common transmission of FIP is believed to occur when (an infected mother cat) passes along the virus to her kittens, usually when the kittens are between five and eight weeks of age.  Cats housed in high density facilities appear to be more susceptible to the development of FIP, as are pure bred cats, male cats, and geriatric cats, for reasons that remain unclear.”

“There is only one licensed FIP vaccine available, but this vaccine has questionable effectiveness.” If FIP is a concern, you will need to consult with your veterinarian.  

Conclusion

Well there you have it.  Cats can be protected from several diseases that may come their way and you can always have your veterinarian go over the core vaccines with you and discuss any of the non-core vaccines.  Over vaccination is a concern, so it is best to have a thorough discussion with your vet and do some homework as well so you can make an informed decision and at the very least know what you are protecting your cat against, because as I say knowing is caring! 

All Pictures, unless otherwise stated, have been obtained from Canva with a paid subscription

Tagged as: cat health,  cat vaccines,  core vaccines.