Vaccinating your cat is the best way to protect them from a range of contagious—and potentially deadly—diseases. From rabies to panleukopenia, your feline friend could fall victim to serious illness if they aren’t kept up to date on essential vaccines. Even if you keep your cat strictly indoors, it’s important to keep their vaccinations current. It only takes seconds for a cat to slip out a door or window, and if mice or other pests find their way into your home, you never know what they might be carrying.
As veterinarians, we’ve seen far too many cats suffering from preventable illnesses because they were not vaccinated. For that reason, we strongly recommend keeping your cat up to date on the vaccines they need. Modern vaccines are safe and highly effective, and serious side effects are rare. If you are wondering what vaccinations your cat needs, keep reading to learn more.
When to Have Your Cat Vaccinated
Kittens usually receive their first vaccines at around 6 to 8 weeks old. These are given as a series, so you’ll need to bring your kitten back every three to four weeks until they are roughly 16 weeks old—the series matters because the protection a kitten gets from their mother’s milk gradually fades, and a single early shot won’t carry them through. After that they need a booster, and then boosters at intervals through life. Some are given annually and others every three years, depending on the vaccine and your cat’s circumstances.
If you adopt an older cat with an unknown vaccination history, we’ll work out the best protocol for them—there’s no harm in starting from scratch, and it’s never too late. When we start your kitten or adult cat on vaccinations, we’ll give you a clear schedule and send reminders when they’re due.
Do Indoor Cats Need to Be Vaccinated?
One of the most common misconceptions we hear about feline care is that cats who don’t go outside don’t need vaccinating. Your indoor cat’s needs may well be different from those of an outdoor cat, but every cat needs certain core vaccines.
Viruses can be carried into your home on shoes, clothing, and hands—panleukopenia in particular is a hardy virus that survives a long time in the environment. Rodents and bats carry disease too, and bats are the most common source of rabies in the U.S. Plus, even a laid-back cat who has never tried to escape can dart out of an open door if frightened or in pursuit of prey, and their vaccinations are what protect them while they’re out on that unauthorized adventure. We recommend having your indoor cat microchipped for the same reason.
Rabies vaccination is also a legal requirement for cats in most states, whether or not they go outside. And keep in mind that your cat will need to be up to date if you ever use a boarding facility or a groomer, and that flying with a cat generally requires a health certificate and proof of rabies vaccination.
Core Vaccines
We recommend certain vaccines for all cats. They protect against the most common and most serious illnesses affecting cats.
These core vaccines for cats include:
- Rabies
- Feline viral rhinotracheitis (feline herpesvirus)
- Feline calicivirus
- Panleukopenia (feline distemper)
The rhinotracheitis, calicivirus, and panleukopenia vaccines are usually given together in a single combination shot known as FVRCP. It’s often called the “distemper shot,” even though it protects against two other diseases as well. Feline leukemia is also considered a core vaccine for kittens, since a young cat’s future lifestyle usually isn’t settled yet—more on that below.
Non-Core Vaccines
Non-core vaccines, sometimes called lifestyle vaccines, are ones we recommend for some cats and not others. We base that on how much time your cat spends outdoors, whether they live with or encounter other cats, whether they’ll be boarded, and which diseases are common in your area.
Common non-core vaccines for cats include:
Feline leukemia: FeLV is a serious viral infection spread through close contact between cats—by mutual grooming, shared bowls, bite wounds, and from a queen to her kittens. It suppresses the immune system and can cause lymphoma and other cancers, and it can’t be cured, so prevention is what matters. We recommend the vaccine for all kittens, with a booster around 12 months. Whether an adult cat continues to need it depends on their risk of contact with other cats, particularly cats of unknown status, and we’ll talk that through with you.
Bordetella: Bordetella bronchiseptica is a bacterium that causes contagious respiratory disease. It spreads through direct and indirect contact and can pass between dogs and cats, and it moves quickly in places with a lot of animals, such as boarding facilities, shelters, and multi-cat households. The vaccine doesn’t entirely prevent infection, but it can reduce how severely an exposed cat is affected. It isn’t needed by most pet cats, and we generally consider it for cats going into higher-risk situations.
What About Side Effects?
Most cats are completely fine after a vaccination. Some are a little quiet or off their food for a day, or tender at the injection site, and that settles on its own. A small firm lump at the site can appear and usually resolves over a few weeks—if one persists beyond about three months, grows, or gets larger than a pea, please let us know so we can check it.
Serious reactions are rare, but they do happen. Call us or an emergency hospital straight away if your cat develops facial swelling, hives, persistent vomiting or diarrhea, difficulty breathing, or collapse in the hours after a vaccination. It’s also worth telling us if your cat has reacted to a vaccine before, as we can adjust how and when we vaccinate them.
Wrapping Up
Keeping your cat up to date on their vaccines is a core part of responsible pet ownership. Vaccines prevent cats from needlessly suffering from serious illnesses, and serious side effects are uncommon. If you’ve recently adopted a kitten, getting them started on their vaccine series is one of the first things to do. And if you have an older cat whose history is patchy or unknown, it’s never too late to get them onto a proper schedule. If your cat is due, or you’d like to talk through which vaccines they actually need, give us a call.