Cat shots question

[t3h_wookiee]

We now have a 7 month old (born 7-24-05) spayed female that I rescued from my sister (who got her from the SPCA in November). She had the Panleukopenia, Calicivirus, Rhinotracheitis, and Chlaymdia shots on 10-24-05. She also tested negative for FIV thta day. Then on 12-26-05 she has repeats of the first 3. Somewhere in there she got a rabies shot too (She at least has the tag for it from the vet, but no mention of it on her shot record that I was given). The reason for the 2 months in between the shots is that she had a very bad case of ringworm that just would not go away.

From talking with my sister, the second set of shots is really the first set of shots given a second time, because too much time had passed. So do we need to take her in for another round of shots then? I'm rather confused by all this. It was only 2 months in between the sets, not much longer than the usual interval I thought (I haven't owned a cat since I was a kid). I'd ask a vet, but we don't have one we trust at the moment, because she got married and moved away. :p Still trying to find a good one around the area.

I'm just really leary of her starting the series over again for that small amount of time, but then again, I'm just leary of all the shots required nowadays anyways. I want to make sure she's getting what she needs, but I don't want to give her more than she needs either, you know what I mean?

And since I've only had dogs recently, how many more shots would she be needing of those series? Or what other vaxes? Thanks so much if you managed to read through my rambling and make any sense of it. :)

[jesvet]

You can ask 3 vets and get 3 different answers. It's a controversial field of study and the answer is, no one knows for sure.

It's those first set of vaccines that are really vital, and we know that if they are boosted within the 2-4 week window you get a long term immunity. If you miss that window the immune system may have forgotten that it had the initial exposure and you may have a less effective short term response.

To be safe you should boost again; (all kittens should be boosted at 1 year old anyway). Is she protected? Possibly. No way to tell without doing titers.

FWIW the two vaccines most associated with vaccine related sarcomas (cancers) are FELV and rabies; the panleuk series is not so hard on the system and if it were my cat I would get it boosted to be safe.

[southhavenjen]

Jesvet, do you recommend boosting all cats annually, or do you believe that cats get lifetime immunity if their kitten shots are done properly and they are boosted at one year?

[jesvet]

My personal guidelines are the series of 3 as a kitten, boost at one year, then every three. Which vaccines to give depends on the cat.

[t3h_wookiee]

Thanks so much Jesvet. :) She's so tiny, I didn't want to ambush her immune system too much (she's about 2 pounds, and won't be any bigger than 6-7 full grown).

So since it's been another 2 months since the second round of shots, will she likely get any benefit from doing that same round again now? We'll definitely be doing the one year boosters in July. If I can find a vet soon, maybe I'll have them do titers on her and see. I plan on doing that for the Corgis before they have to get their annual shots done. Especially because of the rabies one (our town requires the shot every year, but yet most vets, including our old one, give the 3-year shot. I don't like that too much.)

I definitely want to make sure she'll be ok, so if we need to do the boost twice more, that's ok, but hopefully only once more is needed, you know?

[vwinkel]

For the future - I never get my cats their annual shots since they are indoor only. I had cats growing up (three lived to be in their 20's), and they never got yearly shots. I know that vets don't recommend this, but that's what I do.