Vaccinating your Cat

Cats can start their vaccination course from 9 weeks of age. The vaccines start with a course of 2 injections 3-4 weeks apart. To keep the immunity effective your cat needs a booster every year.

The vaccination course gives protection against the following diseases:

Cat flu:

A viral disease caused by two main components Calicivirus and Herpesvirus. The main symptoms are sneezing, coughing, watery inflamed eyes and mouth ulcers. It can develop into pneumonia and can occasionally be fatal. There is no specific cure for these viruses and treatment can only reduce the symptoms. Herpesvirus is able to lie dormant in the body throughout life causing clinical symptoms of disease during times of stress. It is therefore not uncommon for cats that have had flu as a kitten to be snuffly all their life.

Feline Enteritis/Panleukopaenia:

This is a fatal viral disease particularly affecting kittens. This virus damages a variety of tissues including gut lining and bone marrow. It causes a severe fever quickly followed by vomiting, diarrhoea and death. Sometimes it can be so severe that it will cause death before any of these signs become apparent. There is no specific treatment available and the survival rate is extremely low.

Feline Leukaemia Virus (FeLV):

Is the most common cause of death in young cats in the U.K. Infected cats show problems ranging from diarrhoea, mouth ulcers and lethargy to cancerous tumours. It is spread mainly in the saliva of infected cats and is passed from cat to cat by grooming, sharing the same feeding areas or by cat bites. Feral cats are therefore a common source of infection and one which it is not possible to protect your cat from. The disease is fatal with average life expectancy of 2 years after infection. The vaccine gives good immunity against FeLV infection and protects your cat against the disease, but it cannot cure an animal which is already infected.

If you are planning to travel abroad your cat will also need to be vaccinated against rabies. Please ring the surgery for more details on the P.E.T.S travel scheme and how to protect your cat abroad.