cat vacination

blondie7

so just a quick one here do people vacinate there cats every year or just a once off when there a kitten? our vet has told us he wants to vacinate the 3 cats on a yearly basis i assumed it was a once off like it is with a dog. its going to cost us a fortune to keep them if this is the case!:mad:

misha240

Yes your cats should be vaccinated once a year after their initial set of vaccines when they're kittens. As should dogs.

An annual booster vaccine is vitally important to maintain the initial immunity they have to diseases such as Cat Flu, FeLV, and others which you can look up, I've listed some below but I can't remember them all. Your cats can pick these diseases up in the environment or from interaction with other cats and some of them can be fatal.

Feline viral Rhinotracheitis (Feline Herpesvirus) (FVR) = Cat Flu
Feline Calcivirus (FCV) = Major virus in Cat Flu
Feline Panleucopaenia (FIE) also known as Feline infectious Enteritis (FIE)
Feline Leukaemia (FeLV) = No 1 infectious killer of cats in the western world.

lorebringer

Both dogs and cats should be vaccinated (booster) every year. Some people believe is doing it every 3 years but I cannot find anything to convince me to do this. Especially if yout cat is an outdoor cat, it will need immunity against various illnesses, listed above (plus feline dystemper). Also, for 24 hours after the cat has been vaccinted keep an eye on them to make sure there are no dodgy reactions. Pricey, but worth it.

Jack B. Badd

Our vet in the UK (where fees are generally higher than Ireland if my information is correct), does a montly payment scheme for standard health check ups, vaccination boosters, etc - works out similar to the pet insurance for 1 cat, about £12 a month. Check with your vet to see if they run something similar. Alternatively, calculate how much you will be spending in a year, divide by 12 and put it in a petty cash account on a monthly basis. That will help you spread the cost.

Blueprint

Boosters are only around 45 Euro a year. And even if you don't booster, you should still bring your dog or cat to the vets once a year for a check up, which will cost the same as the Booster anyhow. If you can't even afford that, I suggest you don't have animals, as feeding them properly costs way more than 45 Euro a year!

JKM

I have to agree with blueprint. You should have looked into the cost of owning 3 cats before you took on the responsibility, as it is a big one. I have 3 cats and would stop at nothing to make sure they are healthy and happy. Just within the last year I would estimate i've spent probably €400-€500 on vets bills, and not just for vaccinations. I've had all 3 nuetered, which you definately need to do. Also, they get sick and get themselves into scrapes. I've had one cat at the vets twice (at €30 per consultation), once for a persistent cough and once because he got a scrape on his eye. Both times he was put on a round of antibiotics and had to have eyedrops for his eye. I've had my 2 youngest kittens at the vets several times when they were small for sore eyes and coughs (again at €30 per consultation). And those were non-routine visits.
Also, you're going to have to pay for flea treatment once a month (€17.50/month for me) and for worming treatment once every 3 months (once every few weeks until they are 16 weeks old).
If you're going to struggle maybe you should consider rehoming them as they deserve the best of care.