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What Shots Does a Cat Need?

Not all vaccinations are necessary, and some carry dangers

Denise Flaim | Animal House

January 7, 2003

In previous columns, I've talked about concerns about overvaccination, especially for dogs.

Today, cats get their due.

"Vaccines are a hot topic," says Arnold Plotnick of Manhattan Cat Specialists, a veterinarian who is the city's only board-certified cat specialist. "They've stopped being thought of as benign. Like any medical procedure, you need to weigh the benefits and risks."

With cats, one huge consideration is vaccine-mediated sarcomas, cancerous tumors at the vaccine site that affect an estimated 1 in every 10,000 cats, though some reports place the incidence at 1 in 1,000. (In dogs, by contrast, they are extremely rare.)

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Certain vaccines - such as rabies and feline leukemia (FeLV) - are thought to be more likely to cause the sarcomas. Both are "killed vaccines," meaning that, unlike modified-live virus, or MLV, vaccines, they do not allow the disease to replicate. To make them more effective in stimulating the immune system, killed vaccines contain adjuvants, which are thought by some immunologists to provoke more adverse reactions than MLV vaccines. And some experts theorize that inflammation at the vaccination site is what prompts some cells to turn malignant.

"Do the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks of tumors? Absolutely," says Plotnick. "But people do need to be aware."

Plotnick follows a road map for administering vaccinations to his feline patients: He gives rabies on the right rear leg as far down as possible and leukemia on the rear left leg - again, far down, so if cancer were to develop, a cat has the greatest chance of surviving surgery or amputation. For this reason, cats should never be inoculated between the shoulder blades with any vaccine.

"The best place to put it would be the tail," says Plotnick, "but there's not enough room or skin."

The kitten vaccine series that Plotnick recommends, FVRCP, contains feline viral rhinotracheitis (also known as herpesvirus-1) and calicivirus, which are both upper respiratory viruses; and feline panleukopenia, or feline distemper.

Plotnick suggests vaccinating kittens at 7 to 8 weeks, then again at 10 to 11 weeks and 13 to 14 weeks, and revaccinating them a year later.

Thereafter, he follows the recommendations of the American Association of Feline Practitioners and the Academy of Feline Medicine Advisory Panel on Feline Vaccines: boosters every three years, not annually, for feline panleukopenia, herpesvirus-1 and calicivirus.

When making a decision about the feline leukemia vaccine, a cat's lifestyle - indoor or outdoor? - is a determining factor. Plotnick recommends pediatric vaccination for this disease, since it is highly contagious among kittens. But for an indoor-only adult who does not live with infected cats and will never come into contact with strange ones, it's probably unnecessary.

One vaccine where there is no flexibility is rabies: After the initial kitten shots, state law mandates that it be given every three years.

Among the feline vaccines that Plotnick does not routinely recommend are feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), giardia, dermatophytosis (ringworm), chlamydiosis (also called feline pneumonitis) and bordetella. Ditto for the new, much-touted FIV vaccine, which causes false- positive readings in vaccinated cats that cannot be distinguished from the disease itself. The "consequences of this ambiguity," he fears, are that healthy, vaccinated cats will be misdiagnosed as FIV positive and euthanized.

When it comes to vaccination, as with most things in life, there are no clear-cut guidelines. For more information on the subject, visit the American Association of Feline Practitioners at www.aafponline.org, as well as www.catshots.com.

Plotnick's parting advice is also a good rule of thumb: "Vaccinate as infrequently as possible but as frequently as necessary."

Show offs: Paumanok Cat Fanciers' annual cat show will be Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. and Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sports Plus Event Center in Lake Grove. Call 631-878-0619.

For recent Animal House columns, visit www. newsday.com/animalhouse. Write to Denise Flaim c/o Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville, NY 11747-4250 or dflaim@newsday.com.