Do cats require vacinations like dogs?

Alfasudcrazy

I must confess to not being much of a cat person up to now as all the cats we had before basically wanted to do their own thing and so I never had much contact with them in general.

However our latest cutie is so expressive she is almost like a dog. She sneaks into my room every evening and likes to watch tv between snoozes. Then at 9am she virtually announces she wants to be let out again.

I am just wondering can a cat be vaccinated and chipped like a dog. Id hate for her to get lost or sick as she is now such a pal to me.

Sorry if this Q sounds a bit stupid but as I said cats around here usually looked after themselves most of the time.

Ruu_Old

Most definitely. They can catch viruses from other cats even if they are only outside for a short time and get them examined at least once a year. While you are there get a booster as well. No harm in having them chipped as well, all our cats are. At least 45 europeans in my experience.

Karoma

...cat owner fluffy stuff .... can a cat be vaccinated

Yes. There are different vaccinations.
Typically, it's done around 9 weeks (kitten) and a booster about 2-3 weeks after it, IIRC -depending on the vaccine obviously.

... can it be chipped?

Yes. No idea how much it costs.

kerrysgold

Sorry I don't know much about cats, but re the chipping, I think is it the DSPCA or the ISPCA that do it for like €5 or something. I don't know if they do cats though and it might only be a once a year thing. I'm not sure, maybe you could ask on the petsireland board? There are a good few people on there that are very knowledgeable about cats.

peasant

Cats also can (and should be) neutered/spayed

kerrysgold

agree with peasent, if she's not already done of course lol. It seems female cats can get pregnant if a tom so much as looks at them lol.

Alfasudcrazy

Yes - we have her nurtured - will get the vaccinations done this week.

Her ears seem to be giving her grief too as she is always itching them. But the vet will look into that too.

Ruu_Old

Could be ear mites, simple solution to get that sorted though.

Ruby Soho

Great idea to have the cat chipped, they seem to be overlooked in the chipping department for some reason (even though stray cats are more likely to be presented as RTA cases in vets than dogs). Virtually any animal can be chipped, even snakes and birds, and usually from as early as two days old!! My local vets charge 40 quid, im sure this varies a lot from practice to practice though, but it is definitely worth it, its only a once off payment too, once its done its done for life.

Schlemm

Don't forget the worming and de-fleaing!