Comments on: JAVMA Study Reveals Many Vets Aren’t Following Feline Vaccination Guidelines

By: Nutamu

Nutamu — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 08:04:07 +0000

I actually had quite the argument with my vet about this right in front of about 3-4 other pet owners.

One he insisted he knew of no vaccines that were only every three years, insisted I come in every year for all my vaccines.

Two I brought up the subject of these tumors and he told me it was very rare, too rare to worry about it. He still does the in between the shoulders vaccination for both of these. If he wouldn’t vaccinate in the legs, I would go elsewhere if my cats were deemed in need of these two vaccines, my cats are strictly indoors so it’s not as much of a risk.

There’s also vaccines without the ‘adjuvants’ common leukemia and rabies vaccines have (which are thought to cause these tumors) from purevax (sp?). I’ve been told Adjuvants are added to make the vaccine last longer. But that was over 6 years ago and it was still new, I have no idea how that went since. Or if it was actually proved to be safer.

By: vicki

vicki — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 00:23:09 +0000

Why can’t vets do a rabies titer to see if the vaccine is still active? If it is, then why are we vaccinating our pets, especially cats? I would rather pay for the test first to see if my cat needs it. They insist on giving the vaccine every 3 years. I’m worried….

My sympathies to Chrissy Angel kitty…

By: Chrissy Angel kitty

Chrissy Angel kitty — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 18:24:02 +0000

I got this cancer… and I wasn’t able to fight it~ I was eleven when my mommy walked me to the bridge…

Mommy just begs everyone to talk to their vets about shots… and to watch their kitties… my tumors grew QUICKLY both times ( I had MAJOR surgery to remove them once– but they grew back and I didnt have the strength to fight anymore…)

PLEASE let your mommy’s and daddy’s love on you so they know what your supposed to feel like… and they can get you to the doctor early if you do gets a tumor…

By: Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM

Dr. Eric Barchas, DVM — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:36:10 +0000

Arnold, the JAVMA article stated that the timeframe for tumor development is one to 10 years. It is unlikely that a kitten vaccine would lead to a tumor in a 17-year-old cat.

Regarding the one-year versus three-year vaccines: I have not yet seen conclusive evidence that the one-year vaccine is three times less likely to cause a tumor.

A few years ago I attended a lecture given by a representative of the one-year vaccine’s manufacturer. She claimed that the lack of a vaccine component called adjuvant in the one-year vaccine made it safer. That argument is not universally accepted by experts.

After the lecture I cornered her and asked her point blank whether she had quantitative evidence that giving three of the one-year vaccines was safer than giving one of the three-year vaccines. Her answer was no.

By: Guido the Italian Kitty

Guido the Italian Kitty — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 15:34:50 +0000

Just last week my Vet told us this, saying there is just 1 rabies vaccination that has not shown tumors yet. Its a 1 yr rabies for we felines. Being an Animal Assisted Therapy cat but residing in doors, I still have to have rabies. Oddly, another vet wanted to give me the 3 yr shot – so meowsters check out your vets and question them If they want to give you a 3 yr rabies, find a new vet as the outcome can be very CATastrophic.

By: Pet Connection Blog » Shoot ‘em up: What some veterinarians still don’t get about vaccination

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:03:19 +0000

[...] Barchas has more information and some tips on how to do just that here. Share and Enjoy:These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover [...]

By: Arnold

Arnold — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:29:33 +0000

The one question that wasn’t addressed here was : What is the time frame from injection to sarcoma? Perhaps the continued development of sarcoma reflects practices from years back? Could a 16 or 17 year old cat develop the sarcoma from shots it got as a kitten? Or have they established that the time frame is quite short? Mom says if I don’t travel anymore, I’m not getting any more shots. (You HAVE to get shots to go on an airplane!)

By: Jack

Jack — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:45:29 +0000

Our vet used to give the 3-year shot but now does the yearly one. When Momma asked him about it, he said the yearly one was safer — something about the way the shot was formulated and live virus versus dead virus or something.

By: Sassy

Sassy — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:36:14 +0000

I recently had a scare when the vet found a lump on my neck/back by my shoulder blades. At my current vets they always do shots in our legs but mum got me as a stray so she didn’t know what my vaccine history before that. Luckily the vet took a small sample and got it tested and its just a lipoma (benign fatty lump) so I’m going to be OK!

By: Tabby

Tabby — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:47:16 +0000

I’m due for my rabies shot; soooooo glad I have this information!