Beware of Over-Vaccinating Your Cat

My overall view of vaccination is that we rely too heavily on it and do far more harm than good with them in general.  That being said there are three vaccines in particular that I adamantly oppose.  They are the vaccines for FIV, FeLV and FIP.  And I am not alone in this opinion as these vaccines are not recommended to be used except in cases of animals at high risk (for FIV and FeLV) by Cornell University and others.  As for the FIP vaccine it is considered completely unnecessary to put the cat at risk with another vaccine that won’t even work and in some cases may actually cause the disease it is supposed to prevent.

Cornell does not recommend any of these three vaccines except for cats exposed to FIV or FeLV cats or allowed outside. http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/vaccbr.html This speaks volumes to me as I much more cautious with vaccination in general than Cornell’s Veterinary college.

FIV Vaccine – High Risks, Little Benefits

Here are just a few things to consider concerning the FIV vaccine.  When you do the risk assessment for an indoor cat, even in a cattery situation, the risk (in properly managed catteries) is very low.  It is a disease only passed on by cats that are sexually active with stray cats positive for FIV or that get into fights with cats with FIV.  If you are testing your cats and any cat you use for studding or allow to be used with your stud there is no reason a tall to use it.  For pet owners the precautions are to make sure incoming cats to your household are tested negative or that they come from a breeder that tests for it.  The risk here is associated with reactions to the adjuvents they put in the vaccine.  Adjuvents are additives put killed vaccines to cause an inflammatory response by the body to encourage the immune system to respond where it might not otherwise.  These adjuvents are associated with causing an alarming amount of vaccine area sarcomas (VAS) or fibrosarcoma which is often deadly to the cat.  The best case scenario with VAS is that it occures on an limb that can be amputated so the cat can survive.  Another serious risk to consider is the fact that a cat vaccinated for FIV will show up as FIV positive when tested.  So if your cat ever did get out and got picked up by shelters, animal control or a vet they will test for FIV and the test will show positive which is a death sentence.  The cats are put on the fast tract to be euthanized which may be before they can realize the cat is someone’s missing pet.  FIV positive cats are rarely kept alive because they take up a huge amount of limited resources and must be kept isolated which in a crowded shelter may not be possible.

The FIV vaccine is reported to protect only 50 to 80 % of cats vaccinated for it and then if they do get ill it’s impossible to test them and determine if FIV is the real cause because you will get a false positive if it’s not.

More info on FIV vaccines:

http://cats.about.com/b/2008/07/18/fiv-vaccine-friend-or-foe.htm

http://www.littlebigcat.com/index.php?action=library&act=show&item=livingwithfiv

FIP Vaccine – All Risk, No Benefit

The FIP vaccine is another failure on the risk vs. benefit analysis.  The vaccine cannot be given to kittens younger than 16 weeks and the majority of cats that die of FIP came into contact with the usually harmless corona virus long before then.  There is also growing concern that FIP vaccinated cats are at more risk of developing FIP and are made more sensitive to exposure by other corona viruses.  The nature of FIP makes it extremely difficult to develop an effective vaccination against it because originall the cats are exposed to the usually harmless corona virus which mutates in a small percentage of cats who then develop FIP.  It’s very rare for this mutation to happen.  A research study on the vaccine showed no benefit of vaccinating for FIP and increased risk instead.

FIP: Evaluation of the Vaccine

ROBERT H. WINN FOUNDATION COMPLETED STUDY REPORT |

PRIMUCELL-FIP (INTRANASAL FIP VACCINE): A REPORT AND ANALYSIS OF THE EVALUATION OF A NEW FIP VACCINE

by Catherine Rokaw

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=234&S=2

SOCK IT TO FIP, one of the leading research groups agrees that the FIP vaccine is an unnecesary risk.

FeLV Vaccine – Risk vs. Benefit, Too Risky for Indoor Cats

And the FeLV vaccine.  Another one associated with VAS and also with causing the disease it is supposed to prevent.  It does not necessarily impart immunity and does not offer guaranteed protection.  However it does come with extreme risks and again for an indoor cat, with proper testing in the cattery of any incoming cats, it is not a problem to even worry about exposure.

The Cat Fancier’s Association recommends the best prevention is not vaccination but testing and cattery management and we agree. http://www.cfa.org/articles/health/FeLV.html

We’ve Decided not to Risk Our Cats

As you can see I do not just make decisions arbitrarily.  I have researched these issues and more for over 10 years now.  If you haven’t done research, want to learn more or still disagree then I highly recommend you check out this website and consider getting the books listed on the site or seeing if your local library has them.  http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/petvacc.htm I will also create a recommended reading list for Vaccine issues.

Vaccinations are being linked with many growing health issues in cats including fibrosarcoma, autoimmune disorders, and even Renal Failure.  We introduce toxins every time we vaccinate so it is important to minimize the risk and choose to vaccinate only with what is absolutely imperitive or required by law and then take reasonable measures to protect my cats from the other diseases like not allowing them outdoors, testing new cats before they come into my cattery and also quarantining new arrivals.

With some good old fashioned common sense, good feline husbandry and research we can protect ourselves and our cats without having to subject them to dangerous and unnecessary vaccinations.

More Information on VAS:
http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00109.htm

Take note of the prevention section: Prevention

Vaccine-associated sarcomas may be easier to prevent than they are to treat and many measures have been recommended to decrease the likelihood of tumor development. Veterinarians should consider switching to nonadjuvanted vaccines. If adjuvanted products are used, single dose vials are recommended so that the dose of adjuvant received by each vaccinated animal is standardized. Meticulous and detailed record keeping is essential. Information present in the animal’s medical record should include the date of vaccination; the vaccine name, manufacturer, lot or serial number and expiration date; the site of vaccine administration (rabies to be given in the right thigh, FeLV in the left); the name of the person administering the vaccine; and documentation of informed client consent. Multiple vaccines should never be given in the same site, and feline leukemia virus vaccines should only be administered to those cats truly at risk. Clients should be encouraged to monitor vaccine sites through regular palpation, and any mass detected should be treated as malignant until proven otherwise. Complete surgical resection is recommended for injection site masses that persist for longer than two to three months after vaccination, are increasing in size over one month after vaccination, or are greater than 2 centimeters in diameter. Finally, histologically confirmed vaccine-associated sarcomas should be reported to the vaccine manufacturer as well as appropriate oversight agencies, i.e., the United States Pharmacopeia Veterinary Practitioners’ Reporting Program (800-4-USP-PRN).