Little Cheetah Cat Rescue

Feline Vaccinations -::- Vaccine Associated Sarcoma -::- Report Reactions -::- Vaccination Recommendations



Feline Vaccination Information:
Vaccines and Sarcomas, a concern for cat owners
More info on Vaccine-Related Feline Sarcomas
Vaccine Associated Sarcoma Awareness
Vaccine Site Recommendations. Is YOUR vet doing it correctly?
The Vaccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force (VAFSTF)
Vaccine Associated Sarcoma Task Force 2005 Update
Critter Advocacy - Important New Info About Vaccines
More About Vaccine Protocol Changes
Vaccine Associated Sarcoma Support Group
Guide for Amputee Caregivers (VAS survivors)
Possible Problems Associated with Feline Vaccines
The UC Davis VMTH Vaccination Guidelines (scroll down past dog section to get to cat section)
The AAFP's Feline Vaccination Recommendations
MERIAL LTD. Products Guide (they make cat vaccines, including the "new" nonadjuvanted vaccines)
About Adjuvant-free Vaccines, brands and recommendations
PLEASE REPORT ALL Vaccine Reactions HERE! (urge your vet to file reports as well!)
REPORT ADVERSE REACTIONS ONLINE HERE
(Adverse events may also be reported by calling the CVB at 1-800-752-6255)

An Important Message From the Editor Concerning Vaccinations:

Vaccines can and do lead to CANCER in cats! The specific form of cancer associated with the FELV and RABIES vaccine is called Vaccine Associated FibroSarcoma (VAS). Sources quote the risk of VAS is from 1 in every 1,000 to 1 in every 20,000 cats vaccinated (the risks are HUGE, regardless of source). Vaccines containing adjuvant, a component to stimulate the immune system, are at least 5 times more likely to cause a VAS. Adjuvanted vaccines have been demonstrated to induce mutation in cell cultures. Adjuvanted Rabies, Distemper and Feline Leukemia vaccines have been classified as Class II carcinogens by the World Health Organization! VAS is 100% fatal if the tumor is between the shoulder blades. With surgical removal, radiation therapy and chemotherapy survival time is less than 3 years. If the tumor is in the distal part of the rear leg, amputation, plus radiation, & chemo may be curative in 20% of cases. Non-adjuvanted vaccines are available for cats for all preventable diseases including Rabies, Distemper, Rhinotracheitis, Calici virus and Feline Leukemia, and are considered safer. Over 22,000 cats in the U.S. die from VAS every year, many from vaccinations they did not even need.
I absolutely DO NOT give my cats FELV vaccines (I did before I read all about them and the risks, and before I learned that they are pointless in adult cats). I also limit the Rabies to once every 3 years (or longer, to be honest), and only give herpesvirus 1 (FHV1, also known as Rhinotracheitis), feline calicivirus (FCV), feline panleukopenia virus (FPV) to KITTENS, once at 10 weeks and once more at 5 months of age. "Booster vaccines" or annual re-administration of modified live virus vaccines do not provide added protection. In previously vaccinated adult animals the antibodies from previous vaccinations block the new vaccine. Antibody levels are not increased, memory cells are not increased. Note that you MUST be sure your vet does not give your cat a 4 in 1 or 5 in 1 vaccine that contains Chlamydophila felis (also known as Chlamydia psittaci)! Some vets will give a "combo vaccine" that contains this, and it is NOT a recommended vaccine in cats (it is very rare, and the vaccine only provides a month of protection, and the side effects are severe and as high as 3%)! Some "combo" vaccines also contain FELV. Not recommended either, the FELV vaccine, if given at all, should ALWAYS be given ALONE, on the outside of a lower rear leg. Which brings us back to the FELV vaccine... Healthy cats develop a NATURAL immunity against the FELV virus at about a year of age. Cats over one year of age are naturally 89% immune to FeLV (age related resistance) whether they are vaccinated or not. IN addition, the FELV vaccine only has a 75-85% efficacy rate (and this may be partially due to natural immunity already developed before the vaccine was even given).

If You MUST give your cat vaccines, here are the safest choices, DEMAND THEM FROM YOUR VET!

FVRCP (rhinotracheitis/herpesvirus, calicivirus, panleukopenia):
Heska Feline ULTRANASAL FVRCP
Heska's ULTRANASAL FVRCP Client Brochure
Durvet Feline Focus 3 Intranasal FVRCP
Durvet - Feline Focus 3, Intranasal FVRCP Client Brochure
Rabies:
Merial Purevax Feline Rabies (click "label" on page)
Feline Leukemia:
Merial PUREVAX Recombinant Leukemia Vaccine/VET JET Transdermal Vaccination System
For More Info on the Merial Purevax FELV Vaccine (click "label" on page)

REMEMBER: Vaccines should only be given to cats at risk for contracting the virus the vaccine protects against! This DOES mean that most cats DO need a FVRCP vaccine, since they will have to visit the vet's office to be spayed/neutered and for exams, where they could be exposed to these viruses. Most cats do not need to be vaccinated for anything else, unless Rabies vaccines are required by law.

Susan Little DVM (susanlittledvm@gmail.com):
The new calicivirus vaccine is not considered a core vaccine by AAFP, and most feline specialists are not recommending its use. It is an adjuvanted vaccine (increased risk of sarcoma formation) and it contains one strain of VS calicivirus. Each outbreak of VS calicivirus has involved a brand new strain, unique to that outbreak. We have no idea whether this vaccine would protect against future outbreaks. Finally, VS calicivirus is a very RARE disease, and has never been seen in the pet cat population. There would seem little reason to recommend widespread vaccination.
Susan Little, DVM, DABVP

Click to view my conversations with Dr. Bob Rogers about vaccine duration and effectiveness

The natural resistance to FeLV infection in cats older than a year of age is very well established among feline retrovirologists. While susceptibility to FIV remains constant throughout life, that simply is not the case with FeLV. While it is NOT impossible to infect an adult cat, the inoculate of FeLV has to be really significant (or repeated) in order to infect. This has been shown in virtually all FeLV vaccine challenge studies involving adult cats. It is MOST difficult to assess efficacy of an FeLV vaccine when using adults as controls... because they just don't get infected. This phenomenon is related to T-cell maturity in the individual cat and the interaction of those lymphocytes with specific epitopes of FeLV. (quoted in part from a research journal)
Studies on Natural Immunity (ask you vet to access them for you):
1. Rojko JL, Olsen RG.
The immunobiology of the feline leukemia virus.
Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 1984 May;6(1-2):107-65.
PMID: 6204435 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
2. Rojko JL, Hoover EA, Finn BL, Olsen RG.
Determinant of susceptibility and resistance to feline leukemia virus infection. Susceptibility of feline lymphocytes to productive feline leukemia virus infection.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 1981 Oct;67(4):899-910.
PMID: 6268886 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
3. Hoover EA, Rojko JL, Wilson PL, Olsen RG.
Determinants of susceptibility and resistance to feline leukemia virus infection. I. Role of macrophages.
J Natl Cancer Inst. 1981 Oct;67(4):889-98.
PMID: 6268885 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Vaccine Manufacturers:
Merial: Product List
Durvet: Feline Product List
Pfizer: Feline Product List
Wyeth (Ft. Dodge): Product List
Intervet: Feline Product List
Heska: Feline Product List