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Out of our 5 cats, 3 are vaccinated, 2 are not. I think I will get Huggins vacced though as I don't think his immune system will be too good after his start in life. |
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I feel that not vaccinating pets is nearly as irresponsible as not vaccinating children. It decreases their risk of illness - and it's hard enough to explain to a child that they're ill and all the injections and blood samples and nasty medicines will make them better, let alone explain it to a pet. And it creates herd immunity - if the vast majority of the cats in an area are vaccinated, those illnesses can't get a hold in that area and all the cats are safer for it. |
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i think the more we learn the harder it is to keep pets. In the past we believed everything the vets told us without question and indeed doctors too. As we become better informed we are able to research and question. I have read reports that say vaccines can last for three years and some say for the life time of the animal. We have had the dogs vaccinated and then a booster,after which we haven't had anymore as i am concerned about damage from over vaccinating. I did contact the school of veterinary medicine to ask about this a few years ago but they said they couldn't comment. Hopefully one day things will be clearer as we all want the best for out pets |
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Another good read for anyone that's interested is the world small animal veterinary association (wsava) guideline on vacations... This is a piece of literature written by vets and it does not advocate yearly boosters, but talks a lot about the memory of the immune system... It would seem as well that vets in this country are unfortunalty tied into the recondmendations due to product labeling... http://www.wsava.org/guidelines/vaccination-guidelines |
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In 2012/13 I fostered two wonderful cats who both have Feline Leukaemia Virus. Suzi had been used as a breeding machine to churn out kittens to sell for extra beer money and dumped on my friend's charity when her final litter didn't sell (her five kittens were all dead from FeLV before they were a year old) and George was dumped in a box in a vet nurses' garden. Blood tests confirmed his FeLV and he was given to the charity and came to us as a long-term foster. Suzi was with us for 9 months before succcumbing to kidney failure in the space of three days  I cried buckets for a LOT longer!!! George was with us 13 months before the FeLV kicked in and started to affect his appetite. From being a lad who loved his food it became a struggle to get him to eat more than a mouthful, no matter how tempting  It was heartbreaking and frustrating to see him getting thinner yet he still had that 'spark' which had me thinking it wasn't quite time to make that Dreaded Call to the vet. When it did happen - he became very lethargic late one evening and just wanted to cuddle up to me on my bed - I knew instantly it was time to let him go and we both took him to the vet as soon as they opened the next morning and within minutes he had passed to Rainbow Bridge in my arms I wasn't just upset at losing two wonderful and young cats, both less than 3 years of age, but angry too at the waste of it all. I said then no more cats.....and lasted less than a month!  That's when we got Chilli and Lily and they are both vaccinated, spayed and insured. No way will I go through losing a cat because I haven't vaccinated  Both go outside too so that's another reason I insist on it being done  |
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Quote:
Some will need vaccinating every year, some less so. The titre test works for some infections but not all, so it depends on the illness as to whether it's accurate. Personally, I would rather vaccinate than risk the alternative, you have to assume your pet was fully fit and healthy at vaccine time, and even if the vet check was ok, they may well have been harbouring an illness which would affect the vaccine. Its not worth the risk. |
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